Tag Archives: West Coast Environmental Law

Mining companies are snapping up claims to develop Indigenous land. But what happens when a nation doesn’t consent?

By Matteo Cimellaro, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Reconciliation isn’t the only thing threatened when mining exploration companies fail to get consent from Indigenous nations, says one ethical investor.

Provinces — and the junior mining companies that obtain exploration permits connected to a nation’s ancestral territories — ignore consultation with Indigenous Peoples at their own peril, as the oversight can set the stage for future conflict, court challenges and delays, hampering any future economic development before it begins.

Continue reading Mining companies are snapping up claims to develop Indigenous land. But what happens when a nation doesn’t consent?

First Nation launches court challenge testing B.C.’s legal commitment to recognizing Indigenous rights

By Matteo Cimellaro, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An online form and $58.75.

That is what it takes to claim a mining stake in the traditional territory of the Gitxaała Nation, according to a written submission to the B.C. Supreme Court. At no point in the process does the mining claim, accessed through a provincial portal, ask the individual or company applying for it to consult with the nation. 

For this reason, the Gitxaała Nation is challenging B.C.’s Mineral Tenure Act in a case that will test whether the province’s legal commitment to recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples has the teeth to change laws. 

Continue reading First Nation launches court challenge testing B.C.’s legal commitment to recognizing Indigenous rights

Bloc Québécois MP Monique Pauzé confronts feds about Trans Mountain’s ‘cooked’ books

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Bloc Québécois MP Monique Pauzé blasted the federal government in question period after a report forecasted roughly $17 billion of Trans Mountain’s public debt will be forgiven.

“The government has cooked the books to hide the fact that it continues to sink our money into the Trans Mountain pipeline,” the MP for Repentigny told the House of Commons in French on Oct. 7.

Continue reading Bloc Québécois MP Monique Pauzé confronts feds about Trans Mountain’s ‘cooked’ books

Finance Canada won’t rule out debt forgiveness for TMX

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Finance Canada won’t confirm whether it will consider forgiving Trans Mountain’s massive public debts at the expense of taxpayers, despite ample indications that loan forgiveness is inevitable.

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The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is currently B.C.’s most infamous — with the arrests of Indigenous land defenders and journalists, repeated environmental infractions and celebrity activism from the likes of Mark RuffaloGreta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio

But the list of controversial pipeline projects in the province doesn’t stop there.  

Continue reading The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector