Chief Allan Adam is the Chief of the

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN, chp, K'ai Taile Dené) is a band government. It represents local people of the Denesuline (Chipewyan) ethnic group. It controls eight Indian reserves: Chipewyan 201 and Chipewyan 201A through Chipe ...

in northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He has served as Chief since 2007. Before becoming Chief, Adam had served as a band councillor since 2003, with responsibility for housing issues.

Political views

In 2015, Adam, along with the leaders of several other First Nations, spoke out against the '' First Nations Financial Transparency Act.''

Environmental views

Adam has advocated against

oil sands Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...

development, having coordinated efforts involving prominent climate activists such as

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

and Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2014, Adam brought suit on his own behalf and on behalf of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation against Canada's Minister of Environment and

Shell Canada Shell Canada Limited (french: Shell Canada Limitée) is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a majo ...

in relation to Shell's proposed expansion of the Jackpine Mine oil sands project, located near

Fort McMurray, Alberta Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

on the lands of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. Adam alleged that Canada had breached its

duty to consult and accommodate In Canada, the duty to consult and accommodate with Aboriginal peoples arises when the Crown contemplates actions or decisions that may affect Aboriginal or Treaty rights. This duty arises most often in the context of natural resource extraction suc ...

by allowing the proposed expansion to go forward in spite of significant environmental impacts from the project. The Federal Court dismissed his action. In 2015, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, under Adam's leadership, brought a legal challenge against the Grand Rapids pipeline, then under construction by

TC Energy TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, a ...

. In August 2018, Adam was the keynote speaker at the Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference held in

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the o ...

, where he spoke in favour of developments such as the

Trans Mountain pipeline The Trans Mountain Pipeline System, or simply the Trans Mountain Pipeline, is a Pipeline transport, pipeline that carries Petroleum, crude and Petroleum product, refined oil from Alberta to the British Columbia Coast, coast of British Columbia, ...

2020 arrest

In June 2020, a 12-minute police video was released showing an officer of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

tackling Allan to the ground, punching him in the head and putting him in a choke hold after Adam repeatedly antagonizing and disobeying the first police officer's instructions to remain in the vehicle while conducting an investigation into a possible impaired driver. Adam had been charged with

resisting arrest Resisting arrest, or simply resisting, is an illegal act of a suspected criminal either fleeing, threatening, assaulting, or providing a fake ID to a police officer during arrest. In most cases, the person responsible for resisting arrest is crimi ...

and assaulting a peace officer in connection with the incident, but the charges were later dropped. The video drew media attention to systemic racism in the policing of Indigenous communities in Canada. Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

expressed 'shock' and ordered investigations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Allan Living people 21st-century First Nations people Dene people Indigenous leaders in Alberta Year of birth missing (living people) Political office-holders of Indigenous governments in Canada