THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - A proposal to study and possibly build a multi-billion-dollar hydro facility on the Slave River has been shelved and may, in fact, be dead.

Smith's Landing First Nation (SLFN) nixed the idea of a feasibility study for the project.

Smith Landing's primary concern is a reservoir the project would require that would have caused flooding on its reserve lands just south of the NWT-Alberta border. However, the amount of flooding would have been determined by the feasibility study.

At an Oct. 5 meeting in Fort Smith, SLFN made its opposition known to project proponents ATCO Power and Trans-Canada Corporation.

SLFN and the companies jointly announced on Oct. 14 that a feasibility study would not be happening.

Asked if the project is now dead, SLFN Chief Cheyeanne Paulette said, "From Smith's Landing point of view, yes."

However, Doug Tenney, ATCO's vice-president of hydro development, has a different perspective.

"With the way things are right now, it's put on the shelf," said Tenney.

However, he said things change, and SLFN might be interested again in five or 10 years.

"Technologies could change and you could envision a configuration that did not impact Smith's Landing reserve lands," he said.

The two companies have been considering the hydro project since 2006.

Paulette said there is "absolutely" overwhelming opposition to the project among SLFN members, and he and council based their decision on that.

"Hearing the concerns from our members, it was a very easy decision to make," he said.

Paulette said the potential economic impact of the project was not a factor in the decision.

The Slave River has sustained people since time immemorial and continues to provide habitat for pelicans and other forms of wildlife, he said. "We have a vision for the river that ensures that it will continue to be a home for our people for all time and we know that many other Northerners share our vision."

Tenney said ATCO and Trans-Canada have been developing co-operation agreements with aboriginal communities to establish a co-operative process during a feasibility study.

"ATCO and Trans-Canada understand and respect the legal and constitutional rights of Smith's Landing First Nation and accept the decision made by SLFN," he said.

However, he said the companies were surprised and disappointed by the decision, adding they thought they had an agreement with SLFN's negotiating team.

"This was our first meeting with the new chief and council to talk about next steps," he said. "What we thought we were coming to discuss was next steps. That's when they informed us that they had made a decision."

Gavin Embury, Trans-Canada Energy's manager of business development, also attended the Oct. 5 meeting.

Tenney said many of the details of the project would have been determined by a feasibility study, including the amount of power to be produced, the number of jobs, the cost, and where it would have been located on the rapids between Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald, Alta.

"I think it's safe to say that we were talking in the billions of dollars as to what the capital costs would have been of any project that we would have felt was economically feasible," he said, adding that would have meant a lot of economic activity.

An estimate several years ago had the project costing about $5 billion and producing 1,500 megawatts of power to be carried south on 400 kilometres of transmission lines.

It would have taken up to 13 years from the beginning of a feasibility study to the end of construction.

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