CALGARY – Ron Quintal was barbecuing with his family on Sunday when he received a text from one of Teck Resources Ltd.’s vice-presidents, requesting an urgent phone call.

“I thought it was an invite to Ottawa,” said Quintal, president of the Fort McKay Metis Nation, noting that he expected good news and to attend a ceremony approving the project this week. “It’s devastating,” he said.

The Fort McKay Metis was one of the 14 Indigenous groups that had signed benefits agreements with Vancouver-based Teck for Frontier, a proposed 260,000 barrels per day oilsands mine that would have required 7,000 people to build it. 

Image: Financial Post