The federal government has approved changes to the boundaries of the Tsuu T’ina Nation, clearing the way for the southwest ring road deal to go ahead.
More than 400 hectares of Tsuu T’ina land needed for the freeway have now been transferred to the provincial government, while 2,000 hectares of provincial Crown land is now part of the Tsuu T’ina reserve.
The image above shows the new boundaries of the Tsuu T’ina reserve. The purple portion is the new land being transferred to Tsuu T’ina, and the blue portion now has a sliver of land not highlighted in the northeast corner which now belongs to the Alberta government. (calgaryringroad.com)
Tsuu T’ina Chief Roy Whitney described the approval as “major milestone on the way to the final completion of the S.W. ring road deal, and the commencement of construction.”
“This is an important day for Tsuu T’ina, one that helps us see the benefit of the work that has been done to date,” he said in a release.
A map of the ring road project in Calgary. The southwest portion is highlighted in light blue. (Government of Alberta)
Whitney says the southwest ring road will stimulate economic development on a major scale for the nation.
“We look forward to presenting those plans to Tsuu T’ina people first at upcoming internal meetings,” he said.
Alberta’s out-going minister of transportation, Wayne Drysdale, says the transfer starts the clock on a seven-year deadline for the province to complete the portion of the ring road near Tsuu T’ina.
But he says that job will be up to the new NDP government.
“We … couldn’t start the tendering process or anything until we had the title in our hand, so now we have the title I would hope that they will continue and get on with putting the tender out this summer but I guess I’d better not say much about that. That’s up to the new government.”
The new NDP government’s plans for the ring road aren’t known. During the election campaign, party leader Rachel Notley said her government would come up with an infrastructure priority list.
The southwest ring road corridor comprises a total of roughly 430 hectares, and runs along nearly the entire eastern border of the Tsuu T’ina reserve. (calgaryringroad.com)
