{"id":101432,"date":"2026-01-22T08:34:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101432"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:34:43","slug":"first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#8217;t mention water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume Some First Nations chiefs are demanding answers from Ottawa after the federal government signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta that failed to make any mention of fresh water. The memorandum of understanding \u2014 which opens a door to building a pipeline to transport bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast \u2014 does not touch on the high level of water consumption required to pull bitumen out of the oilsands. It also doesn&#8217;t mention the threat to fresh water sources posed by the tailings ponds oilsands operations leave behind. In 2021, the federal government launched the Crown-Indigenous Working Group to develop options alongside affected First Nations and M\u00e9tis communities to manage and remediate the heavily polluted tailings ponds. The Privy Council Office did not respond directly when asked&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F22%2Ffirst-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume Some First Nations chiefs are demanding answers from Ottawa after the federal government signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta that failed to make any mention of fresh water. The memorandum of understanding \u2014 which opens a door to building a pipeline to transport bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast \u2014 does not touch on the high level of water consumption required to pull bitumen out of the oilsands. It also doesn&#8217;t mention the threat to fresh water sources posed by the tailings ponds oilsands operations leave behind. In 2021, the federal government launched the Crown-Indigenous Working Group to develop options alongside affected First Nations and M\u00e9tis communities to manage and remediate the heavily polluted tailings ponds. The Privy Council Office did not respond directly when asked... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F22%2Ffirst-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#039;t mention water - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#039;t mention water - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alessia Passafiume Some First Nations chiefs are demanding answers from Ottawa after the federal government signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta that failed to make any mention of fresh water. The memorandum of understanding \u2014 which opens a door to building a pipeline to transport bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast \u2014 does not touch on the high level of water consumption required to pull bitumen out of the oilsands. It also doesn&#8217;t mention the threat to fresh water sources posed by the tailings ponds oilsands operations leave behind. In 2021, the federal government launched the Crown-Indigenous Working Group to develop options alongside affected First Nations and M\u00e9tis communities to manage and remediate the heavily polluted tailings ponds. The Privy Council Office did not respond directly when asked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#8217;t mention water\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":973,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn't mention water - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#8217;t mention water\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn't mention water - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn't mention water - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Alessia Passafiume Some First Nations chiefs are demanding answers from Ottawa after the federal government signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta that failed to make any mention of fresh water. The memorandum of understanding \u2014 which opens a door to building a pipeline to transport bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast \u2014 does not touch on the high level of water consumption required to pull bitumen out of the oilsands. It also doesn&#8217;t mention the threat to fresh water sources posed by the tailings ponds oilsands operations leave behind. In 2021, the federal government launched the Crown-Indigenous Working Group to develop options alongside affected First Nations and M\u00e9tis communities to manage and remediate the heavily polluted tailings ponds. The Privy Council Office did not respond directly when asked","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#8217;t mention water","datePublished":"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/"},"wordCount":973,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/","name":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn't mention water - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-22T13:34:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/first-nations-chiefs-call-out-ottawa-over-pipeline-deal-that-doesnt-mention-water\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First Nations chiefs call out Ottawa over pipeline deal that doesn&#8217;t mention water"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101433,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101432\/revisions\/101433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}