Strong opposition to Métis development in River Valley

Over a year after Edmonton city council refused to alter the new Municipal Development Plan to allow for mining of a gravel pit in the River Valley, Kanata Culture Enterprise Ltd. is asking for reconsideration.

But a favourable decision from council could be hard to come by.

“There’s strong opposition to this,” said Tim Ford, the city’s senior planner for the west unit. Ford’s comment followed an open house held in April in which about 300 people came to view plans and ask questions.

Kanata purchased 107 acres of the River Valley land for $8 million in April 2009. Kanata, which is headed by the Elizabeth Métis Settlement, with full support of the province’s other seven Métis settlements, plans to mine the gravel pit for five years and reclaim the land in the sixth year creating a natural area.

Working the gravel pit offers a number of economic benefits for Métis people, said Kanata project manager Shelley Wegner.

“The fact is, in most cases, Aboriginal people are the last to be hired on a job and the first to be laid off,” said Wegner.

Not only would mining the pit offer direct employment, but also secondary employment such as building roads, safety officers, flag people, and catering.

The $50 million worth of revenue to be generated through mining the River Valley property would be used to train Métis and Aboriginal workers; to build the Métis cultural natural area; and to purchase land from the city to develop a housing complex, said Wegner.

In November 2009, council began working on revising the MDP, which is 10 years old. A month later, Kanata applied to the city for rezoning of the site to allow for gravel extraction. The application was complete with all the assessments required by the city including a number of environmental reports. But because documentation for the environmental review was complex, the application did not go through until now, said Ford.

“Everyone has reached a level where we feel comfortable we can bring it before council,” said Ford.

The environmental considerations Kanata has given to the area exceed requirements, said Wegner. She pointed out that the land to be mined is already disturbed land.
Some of the concerns voiced by area residents include increase in traffic and noise and disruption of their lifestyle.

“We’ve built a really strong business case,” said Wegner. “Our feeling from a lot of city councilors is that this project has tremendous vision and it addresses many concerns.”

Kanata is asking city council to amend the MDP to allow for mining in that specific area of the River Valley. Ford expects council to give the first two readings to amend the bylaw at the May 16 meeting. He expects the third and final reading to the bylaw amendment to come at the end of May.

If the amendment is defeated, Kanata needs to wait a year before the organization can reapply, said Ford.