By Rebbeca Marroquin

Lawsuit against Husky Energy imminent: James Smith Chief

Jul 24, 2017 | 3:55 PM

After filing suit against the provincial and federal governments regarding an oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River, an additional lawsuit is imminent against Husky Energy, according to the chief of James Smith Cree Nation.

Chief Wally Burns told paNOW the First Nation will be filing a suit against the company over last year’s oil spill in court within a few weeks. 

Burns alleges Husky should have been more transparent with the public about when the oil spill occurred and argues the government’s response was not prompt enough after receiving notice of the spill.

The leak totaled roughly 250,000 liters and cost a total of $107 million according to a December report from Husky Energy. A government investigation determined there was a 14-hour gap before authorities were notified of the spill.

“[Husky] should have been open and honest right away when they had that leak,” Burns said.

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In an email statement to paNOW, Karen Hill, media relations, executive council for the Government of Saskatchewan said, “There were certainly challenges in addressing a spill into a flowing body of water, but measurements indicate that more than 90 per cent of the spilled material has been recovered and removed, which is well above the expectations for this event.” 

Burns said he did not believe the majority of the oil that leaked into the river was recovered.

He added clean-up efforts remain at the James Smith Cree Nation and alleges the spill greatly affected community members’ livelihoods as locals can no longer hunt, fish or swim in the North Saskatchewan River.

“We still have a lot of debris down in the river,” he said. “We pray every day that this thing is going to be cleaned up.”

“I’m not opposed to the [oil] industry,” he said. “I’d rather work with whoever, and make sure that this never happens again. I’d rather look at the future generation and make sure that their dreams come true.”

If the band wins the legal battle, Burns said he will use the money to fund post-secondary education for James Smith Cree Nation students. 

paNOW reached out to Mel Duval, a spokesperson for Husky Energy, who said the company continues to meet with members of the James Smith Cree Nation.

“At this stage we have not been informed of a lawsuit filed against Husky,” Duval said.

The statement of claim filed July 20 against the Government of Saskatchewan and the Attorney General of Canada, states both governments allegedly violated Treaty 6 rights of the band “in various ways” including “loss of water quality, destruction or disruption of wildlife habitats, including those of local animals, birds, and fish, destruction or disruption of populations and critical habitats of endangered, threatened, special concern, and vulnerable wildlife, loss of the harvestable surplus of each wildlife species, loss of the ability of the Beneficiaries to engage in the meaningful exercise of their Treaty Rights.”

According to Jordan Jackle, senior communications consultant for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, they have yet to be served the July 20 statement of claim. The plaintiffs have six months from filing to serve the defendants.

“As of this afternoon, we are not aware of this statement of claim being served to the province. In anticipation of future court proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further on this matter,” Jackle said. 

At time of publication, a statement of claim has not been filed by the James Smith Cree Nation against Husky Energy, and no date has been set for the claim against the two levels of government. None of the above allegations have been tested in court.

rebbeca.marroquin@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @PrinceAlbertNOW