Fort Mckay pulls out of JOSM

Frustration with the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring program has led to Fort McKay First Nation withdrawing. The JOSM, a three-year effort announced in 2012 by the province and federal government, is mandated to improve environmental monitoring in the oil sands. Alvaro Pinto, director of Fort McKay’s Sustainability Department, said in a letter that information sharing was “often inconsistent due to the evolving and uncoordinated development of JOSM by Alberta and Canada.” However, he added, “We are open to participating in JOSM, as long as changes in our relationship and the process are made to reflect the major concerns outlined here and in our Terms of Reference.” Correspondence records between the province and federal government obtained by the Globe and Mail indicate that the two levels of government spent a year negotiating terms of the JOSM. The joint government effort was a result of a 2010 report from a federal Oil Sands Advisory Panel which found “significant shortcomings” in the existing system, and Ottawa promised a “gold standard” monitoring plan.