By Matteo Cimellaro, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Mining projects and protected land can co-exist, two provincial environment ministers said at a press conference on Friday after two days of meetings with their counterparts from across the country.
Continue reading Mining and conservation can go hand in hand, environment ministers sayBy 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?
By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Sleydo’ Molly Wickham was composed and quiet as she stared out the window of a helicopter flying over vast stretches of TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory (yintah). Below, a wide swath cut through forests and wetlands, crossing creeks and rivers.
A wing chief of the Gidimt’en clan, Sleydo’ was part of a small group on a monitoring flight to document the contentious project’s impacts as soaring temperatures rapidly melted last winter’s heavy snowpack.
Continue reading ‘Heartbreaking’: an overhead view of Coastal GasLink sediment spills into Wet’suwet’en waters, wetlands
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
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada has announced a moratorium on deep-sea mining in both territorial and international waters on the last day of a global ocean conservation summit.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault made statements Thursday confirming Canada’s position on seabed mining at the IMPAC5 leadership forum in Vancouver.
Continue reading Canada declares moratorium on deep-sea mining at global ocean conservation summit
