Indigenous, rural leaders band together in opposition to northern Alta. carbon storage project

A new coalition is calling for an independent impact assessment of the Pathways Alliance carbon capture project. CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson reports.

Indigenous people, rural landowners and farmers are joining forces to take action against the Pathways carbon capture project in northern Alberta.

“It’s historic, I guess you could say, because today we unite. An old phrase of a cowboy and Indian tale,” remarked Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam at a news conference at the legislature in Edmonton Tuesday morning.

“We come together to sort out some of the problems that are created by the people that sit in the building behind us.”

Adam, two St. Paul County landowners, a Cold Lake First Nations member, and the National Farmers Union’s (NFU) vice-president of policy gathered to announce a formal coalition opposing the Pathways project, called No CO2 Pipelines Alberta.

The Pathways pitch consists of transporting carbon captured by oil sands operators via a 600-kilometre pipeline to a capped sandstone formation some 1,000 metres below the earth’s surface in the Cold Lake area.

Canadian Natural, Cenovus, ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial and Suncor make up the Oil Sands Alliance, the consortium behind the project.

The project is also part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Alberta and Ottawa to support a new west coast bitumen pipeline.

No CO2 Pipelines Alberta is concerned the proposal in its current form presents environmental and social risks, has not meaningfully engaged with affected groups, and is an inefficient use of public dollars.

To demonstrate the first point, the group presented maps depicting the areas which would suffer the greatest health or environmental harm in the case of a pipeline leak or explosion, citing a CO2 pipeline rupture that caused mass poisoning in Mississippi in 2020.

“It seems we farmers, along with First Nations and rural communities, are the ones expected to accept all the risks with this project,” said Glen Norman, with the NFU.

The coalition’s first organized action is a series of town halls in Mallaig on April 26, Lac La Biche on May 6, and Edmonton on May 13.

Its overarching goal is to have the Canadian and Alberta governments conduct a thorough environmental review.

“Or else we will launch legal actions against the federal government and the Alberta government for allowing this to happen when it shouldn’t,” Adam said.

“If it’s going to be wonderful and it’s going to be great for future generations, then we’re all in. But I’m not going to stand here and trust an industry that we have no reason to trust,” said St. Paul County landowner and coalition organizer Amil Shapka.

Requests for a review have so far gone unanswered, the coalition said.

An unnamed media spokesperson from the Pathways Alliance team said the carbon capture technology is already proven around the world.

“According to the Global CCS Institute’s 2025 report, there are over 77 carbon capture and storage projects in operation. Alberta has experience and expertise in the safe construction and operation of large-scale CCS projects,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to CTV News Edmonton.

“Consultation and engagement with local Indigenous groups and local communities along the proposed Pathways Project pipeline route began in the fall of 2023 and continues. Most recently, in Q4 2025, three project information sessions for Indigenous groups were held in Fort McMurray, Lac la Biche and Bonnyville. This work will continue in 2026.”

Rajan Sawhney, Alberta’s minister of Indigenous relations also said consultations were underway with Indigenous groups.

“They’re working with 18 Indigenous communities, and consultation is still underway,” she told reporters at the Alberta Legislature building on Tuesday.

She said she’s had conversations with Indigenous groups that do support the project, but wouldn’t reveal any further details.

“I don’t want to talk about conversations that I’ve had with Indigenous communities that are off the record. There is support because we know that this project is tied to the MOU which is tied to the west coast oil pipeline, and there is tremendous support for the pipeline.”

The first deadline for specific items in the MOU is April 1. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office said in a statement Tuesday that work on carbon pricing and the Pathways project continues even as the date looms.

“We will continue to do our best to meet the April 1 deadline for all or most of these four milestone agreements, and continue to prepare our government’s west coast pipeline application for submission by June.”

Alberta’s opposition leader Naheed Nenshi questioned whether the government had actually been involved in any discussions with Indigenous groups.

“The premier pays lip service to consultation on major projects that she has staked her political future on, but we know that she hasn’t done any real Indigenous consultation. We know that all the Indigenous nations have, for the first time in history, declared non-confidence in the Government of Alberta,” he said.

“How in the world is she going to get any projects done if this is how she treats stakeholders?”