The Wood Buffalo Metis is a new group that has been formed by four of the oilsands Metis communities for the purpose of negotiating with those in the government and various industries. The four Metis communities that have banded together include the Conklin, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McMurray, and Fort McKay Metis. Leaders from the groups gathere in Fort McMurray so that they could all sign a memorandum of understanding. With the signing the communities were all rebranded into the new Wood Buffalo Metis. A single entity for the Metis was created so that the communities could pool their resources and band together to promote a single message. Fort McKay Metis president Ron Quintal said “We’ve been working together for many years and it was time to formalize our cooperation.”

All of the Metis communities in Wood Buffalo share a number of problems, including industrial expansion and municipal development. Fort Chipewyan is typically downstream of oilsands developments. The Metis in Fort McMurray have concerns about affordable housing, as well as urban expansion and environmental impact concerning traditional lands. The Metis in Conklin and Fort McKay have open pit mines and SAGD sites to contend with. Quintal explained “We here in northeastern Alberta and Wood Buffalo are faced with much different challenges, much different impacts than your typical Metis community around the province.” Fort Chipewyan’s Metis local president Fred “Jumbo” Fraser said “I was just thinking yesterday that if I wanted to do something, I was doing it by myself. But today we’ve got a group that goes from Conklin to the Northwest Territories border. What more could you ask for? We’ve got all the help in the world now so look out, it’s going to be good.”