“We may have a week left on the boat. “After that there is really no Plan B,” Bischler told Global News on April 27. “Either this water goes down the canal and starts filling the dugout, or I do not know. We can not transfer these cattle in the middle of the calving period to another source of water. It will not work. “ Bischler operates in a part of southern Alberta that does not rain much. Agricultural work supporting more than 200,000 acres and 750,000 head of cattle is based on irrigation provided by the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation Area. Water is diverted from the Old Man River through a canal gate to the Piikani Nation Refuge. On April 12, the leadership of the Piikani Nation ordered that this gate be closed. The story goes on under the ad READ MORE: Water Blocking Details Revealed for Lethbridge Farmers, 2 Weeks Later “The river is very important to the Piikani nation,” said Riik Houle, Piikani’s advisor. “We understand the impact of farmers and other people who need access to water, but (we are also) very protective of our river. It’s sacred to us. “ 2:50 Concerns about water levels throughout Alberta due to high temperatures, low humidity Concerns about water levels throughout Alberta due to high temperatures, low humidity – July 30, 2021 Houle says the act of contempt was carefully considered. Twenty years after the signing of the water rights agreement between the Piikani and the federal and provincial governments, Houle says much has changed. First, the diversion dam on Piikani land is aging and planning for new infrastructure is under way. “The province wants to come and build a new (dam) and the Piikani nation wants to be part of it because it is a big project happening on our land.” The story goes on under the ad READ MORE: Willams Lake First Nation kicks off historic land claim referendum After five years of texting in the province with environmental and financial concerns, closing the tap was one last attempt to grab the government’s attention. And it worked. Two weeks after the gate closed, water levels on farms fell dangerously low. The province signed an agreement with the Piikani promising to work together on the water issue to move forward. Trending Stories
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“Piikani must have a place at the table to make sure that any work we do on the dam or any infrastructure system protects the environment in the long run,” Alberta Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon told Global News the day after the deal. signed. 2:18 Should we amend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Canada 40 years later? Should we amend the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 40 years later? – 17 April 2022 The canal gate reopened on Tuesday night. The story goes on under the ad “We are finally moving in the right direction, but to be honest, it took until the (eleventh) hour for them to come and speak to the Piikani nation and that is what we were not happy about,” Houle said. University of Saskatchewan Professor of Public Policy Ken Coates is studying indigenous land claims. “From the point of view of the natives, this is a source of much frustration for them. “When we are excluded, when it is a problem for our communities, nothing happens, but when it is a problem for the non-native community, it becomes a matter of crisis or urgency,” he said. “So this is a really good example of the long-term, even the modern, consequences of failing to resolve these historical differences.” READ MORE: Ottawa Reveals $ 40 Billion Indigenous Welfare Compensation Agreement However, for the hundreds of disagreements between First Nations and groups and governments across Canada, Coates says the infrastructure that disrupts the protests is extremely rare. In most cases, he says, indigenous groups lead these battles to the courts, where they often win. “Then the question becomes ‘why don’t we solve them faster?’ The answer is simply that until recently there was a great appetite for $ 100 million settlements, $ 150 million settlements with First Nations people. “If you look closely at the whole of Canada, there have been a whole series of settlements in the last six to eight months.” The story goes on under the ad 2:09 Vote for the settlement of the first nations of Lake Williams Historic Vote for the settlement of the first nations of Lake Williams Coates credits this change to procedural changes made by former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould – the first Native woman to take up the cabinet. “He worked very hard to speed up the settlement process to overcome the demon of going through multiple levels of courts and find settlements through negotiations. The Government of Canada has now said, “Yes, let’s get these things off the table.”
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Jason Nixon says reconciliation is also a priority for the Alberta government. “We will continue to work very hard with Piikani in a long-term partnership on many of the issues they have raised. “It fits in with our government’s general vision of working with First Nation communities to ensure that we can share long-term prosperity together.” © 2022 Global News, part of Corus Entertainment Inc.
