Relationship with Indigenous Peoples

We respectfully acknowledge that the Rossdale Water Treatment Plant, and nearby Rossdale and Bellamy Substations, are located on Treaty 6 territory – the traditional lands of the Blackfoot, the Cree, the Dene, the Nakota Sioux, and the Saulteaux and later the Métis.

The banks of the North Saskatchewan River, where both our water treatment plants are located, have been a sacred gathering place since time immemorial.

We recognize that the ongoing success of our projects relies upon the success we have in establishing the appropriate, respectful relationships with Indigenous Nations and communities.

Our commitments

• We will engage First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people from a position of mutual trust, combined with a willingness to understand their needs and concerns — cultural, social, spiritual, environmental and economic.
• We engage with Indigenous peoples to ensure that potential impacts of our projects are properly identified and understood, and that we are working alongside one another to reach mutually agreed-upon solutions to those impacts.

A shared history

The area where the Rossdale plant is situated has a long history of Indigenous use and significance.

The site sits on the area where one of the iterations of Fort Edmonton once resided. The reason that site was attractive to the people who built the Fort there were the same reasons that Alberta's First People had used that area as a meeting and trading ground since time immemorial. Their connection to the land pre-dates colonial introduction, was emphasized through the creation of a central hub for expanding European interests in the area, and continues as cultural and spiritual connections to this land are renewed and reinvigorated.

Today, a memorial park, situated to the west of the Rossdale plant, commemorates the historic grave site. Here are some resources to learn more about the site's history.

• Study: Rossdale Historical Land Use Study
• Book: Rossdale Flats Aboriginal Oral Histories Project
• Blog: Rossdale & Reconciliation

Our Memorandum of Understanding with Enoch First Nation creates a path forward on all projects that cause ground disturbance at the Rossdale and E.L. Smith Water Treatment Plants going forward.