Canoe Creek responds to Prosperity review process

"All we’re saying is we need to have our First Nations’ interests, in terms of aboriginal rights and titles, respected..." - Hank Adam, Canoe Creek Indian Band Spokesperson

According to this Williams Lake Tribune story, the Canoe Creek Indian Band also opposes the provincial environmental review process announced for Taseko Mines' proposed Prosperity project.

Exploration reveals "tricky relationship" between environmentalists and native communities: Knox

Victoria Times-Colonist columnist, Jack Knox, comments on how copper exploration in Ahousaht territory near Tofino is straining the relationship between local environment groups and the town and the Ahousaht First Nation, given that the exploration was approved by the Band. Knox suggests that this development "could pit affluent, predominantly white Tofino against its dirt-poor aboriginal neighbours." The economic benefits of the exploration project to the Band were noted in an interview with the Nuu-Chah-Nulth publication, Ha-Shilth-Sa, where Ahousaht Chief Councillor, Keith Atleo, said that in addition to receiving other considerations, 10 members would be trained in drilling. "It may not seem like much, but even one job makes a difference," Atleo said. As for the Band's relationship with the company, Selkirk Metals Corp., Atleo said in that interview: “They have been honest. They kept their word and have shown us respect over the years.”

Free, Prior and Informed Consent

"Resource extraction companies must at least review these new FPIC standards and consider their adoption if they are to ensure their expensive investments see a return. And the more progressive companies are the ones that are recognizing the need for community consultation and the delivery of tangible benefits to impacted communities. If FPIC [Free, Prior and Informed Consent] has not yet fully arrived, it is clearly on the horizon." - Robert Walker, Vice President of Sustainability for Ethical Funds

See: Sustainability Perspectives: Winning the Social License to Operate - Resource Extraction with Free, Prior, and Informed Community Consent, by The Ethical Funds Company

FPIC is enshrined in the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Exploratory mining begins in Ahousaht territory

"We need something to get our economics happening and get to the level that the rest of Canada is at. If the environmentalists could do that for us, my God, we'd walk away from Catface Mountain with a snap of the finger. But if they can't do anything, then what alternatives do we have?"- Chief John Frank, Ahousaht First Nation

Selkirk Metals has begun exploration drilling for copper in Ahousaht First Nation territory on Catface Mountain, near Tofino, according to this Canadian Press report. The prospect of mining concerns the Friends of Clayoquot Sound, a local environmental group. Ahousaht Chief John Frank, in a Globe and Mail report last April, said that if a viable deposit were found then a referendum would be held with Band members. In the same article, he cited community concerns with unemployment levels reaching 65 percent.

Mt. Milligan project moves ahead in EA review

“We get a lot of flack for holding up process; we are being pushed to a point where our only recourse is court and that is not where we want to go. We told them to let Nak’azdli to help and that (our) standards might be higher but that is all that we are willing to [accept].” - Anne Marie Sam, Nak'azdli First Nation Spokesperson

The Prince George Citizen reports that Terrane Metals has submitted its "5,000-6,000 page" environmental impact assessment to the province's environmental assessment office, as part of an application for its proposed Mount Milligan gold-copper mine. Prior to this, however, the Nak'azdli First Nation laid out its issues with the project's pending assessment at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting, as reported in this June 18, 2008 Caledonia Courier article.
[revised: 05/09/08]

Tsilhqot'in to hold Prosperity referendum Aug. 1

“Without the cooperation of the First Nations community, any development hoping to take place in the Chilcotin will simply not occur.” - Cariboo South MLA Charlie Wyse

The Tsilhqot'in National Government will be holding a referendum on Taseko Mines' Prosperity Project on August 1, according this Williams Lake Tribune report.

Chinese mining company to attend Mining Summit

Zhongchuan International Mining Holding Co. Ltd. has accepted an invitation to the B.C. First Nations Mining Summit set for this October in Prince George, according to this Prince George Citizen report. It was reported that the invitation was extended and accepted while a B.C. First Nations forestry economic development team was in China last week.

"We hope they will be responsive": Tribal Chief David Luggi

"It is a paradigm shift." - Byng Giraud, Mining Association of B.C.

In a recent Prince George Citizen story by Gordon Hoekstra, Tribal Chief David Luggi of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, which represents eight First Nations in the northern interior, indicated that organizers of the B.C. First Nations Mining Summit, October 7-9, 2008, in Prince George, are hoping the mining industry and the federal and provincial governments will respond favourably to exploration and mining principles and standards developed by First Nations at the forum. The article contrasts experiences some First Nations have had with the mining sector, specifically citing the Tahltan Nation and its agreement on the Galore Creek mine, as it was then proposed by Teck Cominco and NovaGold (since mothballed), and several First Nations who successfully opposed the Kemess North expansion project, including a recent blockade erected by the Takla First Nation in response to intensive exploration in their territory. Hoekstra notes that First Nations in the northern interior of B.C. have cited frustration with the environmental assessment process, the increasing pace of exploration, and the absence of consultation involving the province's on-line mineral staking process.

Along with the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, the mining summit is being co-organized by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, Kaska Tribal Council, and the B.C. First Nations Leadership Council, the latter is an alliance of provincial First Nation political organizations involving the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit, and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. It will focus on:

• Exploring the necessary legislative, regulatory and policy reforms to ensure adequate consultation and accommodation prior to mining exploration and development;
• Reducing impacts of exploration and development on cultural and ecological values, other land uses and community priorities;
• And expanding opportunities for benefit-sharing with affected First Nations through relationships with the Crown and industry.
  

Byng Giraud, vice-president of policy and communications for the Mining Association of B.C., indicated in the article that the association will be encouraging its members to attend the mining summit and that his industry looks forward to discussing a number of key issues with First Nations.

In March, when the idea of the mining summit was first broached publicly, Tribal Chief Lugg, in an interview (no link) with Arthur Williams of the Prince George Free Press, said that the goal of First Nations was to develop a "terms of reference for engagement." He also indicated that First Nations want to get ahead of the environmental assessment process in terms of proposed projects rather than reacting to them, including establishing a way to cooperate. He elaborated that with a clearly defined starting point, "chances are you'll know early on [whether] your project is feasible, instead of spending a whole bunch of money going to the environment assessment process."

In a follow-up interview (no link) with Williams, Giraud accepted that "First Nations are taking a stronger role" in the sector. He elaborated: "The reality is you can't build a mine anywhere in the world... without community support. It is a paradigm shift. The challenge is the rules are different from place to place. If they did a conference, it would be important that all the major First Nations with mining exploration in their areas are represented. Each First Nation has a different approach to these things and all companies have different approaches. Things kept at a broad level is what we'd be able to do. I think whether it's a local community or a First Nation... develop a set of rules for industry. A road map that people can basically take to the bankers in New York will help give some certainty. Money gets more expensive, the more risk there is. Companies are operating under two sets of rules, the environmental assessment process and First Nations consultation. Whether they're separate or together, we'd like a process."

"Double crossed": Tsilhqot'in

"...we’re going to stop that mine, one way or another." - Chief Ervin Charleyboy

In this Williams Lake Tribune article, Tsilhqot'in government representatives tell their side of the story in regards to the Taseko Mines Prosperity project being approved for a provincial environmental assessment over their objections. This issue, reminiscent of Northgate Minerals' Kemess North project, which was rejected by a joint review panel last September, a decision that Canada and BC confirmed this past March, recalls the provincial environment minister's letter to Northgate's CEO, Ken Stowe, part of which was reprinted in the weekly Vancouver news magazine, the Georgia Straight. The minister wrote: "we wish to make clear that we are not holding that a mine project can never receive approval in circumstances where a lake is used to manage tailings...."

Plans to destroy Fish Lake "unacceptable": Tsilhqot'in Nation

"...the Tsilhqot'in are committed to do whatever is necessary to protect the Nation's best interest." - Tsilhqot'in National Government

The Tsilhqot'in National Government (TNG) recently issued a news release expressing its "absolute disappointment in British Columbia and Canada's decision to proceed with a BC-led Environmental Assessment (EA) process" for Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine Project. The TNG said current plans by the company "to destroy Fish Lake are unacceptable." And that this development came as an "unwelcome surprise" to the Tsilhqot'in Nation, which now has "no confidence that the environmental and social impacts of the project will be properly assessed." The company, the TNG said, previously supported a joint-panel review process for the project. "This is nothing more than a rubber stamp to industry," Chief Ervin Charleyboy, Tribal Chairman, said. Xeni Gwetin Chief Marilyn Baptiste indicated in the release that her community "has exhausted every opportunity to work with BC, Canada [and] Taseko Mines Ltd," and that "the Tsilhqot'in are committed to do whatever is necessary to protect the Nation's best interest."