To Courts In Canada: First Nations Versus Mining's Alleged Interlopers

To Courts in Canada: First Nations versus mining's alleged interlopers

29th August 2006

To Court in Canada: First Nations versus mining's alleged interlopers

In at least four ongoing cases, the rights of Canada's Aboriginal peoples (First Nations), backed by environmentalists- are being tested against the claims of four mining companies

bcMetals facing showdown with Indians

Mike Caswell, Stock Watch Street Wire

29th August 2006

bcMetals Corp. will appear in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday seeking to remove Indian environmentalists blocking its Red Chris project in Northern B.C, but the protesters may not move. A group calling itself the Klabona Keepers blockaded drilling equipment last Wednesday, the company has revealed in court filings, and the protesters will not say if they plan to obey any court order removing them.

The Klabona Keepers claims it initially blocked the project earlier this summer over fish spawning concerns, but now its members could face arrest if they do not allow drilling equipment in. "We, the people who use and occupy these lands, will decide which and how many projects are appropriate for our traditional territory," intoned Rhoda Quock, one of the group's leaders.

The group says it does not oppose mining, but it does oppose the Red Chris project, according to spokesman Peter Jakesta. "It's in traditional territory," and the group has the backing of several other Indian bands, he says.

bcMetals halted proposed drilling on the project in July, and agreed not to resume work until spawning was complete on a nearby stream, according to court filings. The company says the local Indian band, the Tahltan First Nation, agreed to allow the drilling once the fish were done. "I asked [Tahltan council chair Curtis Rattray] if they had any objection to us going up to the site after spawning was finished and he stated there would be no problem at all," says an affidavit by Michael Redfearn, bcMetals' vice-president of operations.

However, when the drills arrived last Wednesday, they were greeted by a group of 30 protesters forming a human barricade, the company says. Two RCMP officers attended, but even with a valid work permit in hand, the work crew could not get the environmentalists to budge. "You are polluting our land and water and putting us at risk," one of them apparently said. The trucks turned around and the crews are still waiting to return.

bcMetals says it is spending $4,021 per day to keep drills ready and a camp open while the protesters prevent its trucks from entering. The company is asking for damages for obstruction and nuisance, among other things.

The Klabona Keepers will not say if they plan to obey the injunction, assuming bcMetals is successful Tuesday. "That can't be answered," says Mr. Jakesta.

The company expects protesters could oppose the court order as "standard procedure," says Mr. Redfearn. "If they don't obey [the injunction] the RCMP will arrest them," he says.

The RCMP arrested 13 Tahltan members last September after a seven-week blockade of Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s Mount Klappan coal project in the area. That dispute deeply divided the Tahltan community, with some wanting the jobs associated with the project, while others opposed the development on environmental grounds. Eventually Fortune Minerals obtained a court order and police removed the roadblock, arresting nine elders and four young people.

In 2004, Coast Mountain Power Corp. went to court to remove a Tahltan roadblock at its Forrest Kerr hydroelectric project, which had the misfortune of being in a land claim area. The company later dropped the case when the Tahltan agreed to drop its opposition to Coast Mountain's land-use permits.

More recently, Shell Canada abandoned methane coalbed exploration in the area because it could not agree to terms with the Tahltan. The Indians said Shell would not let them be fully involved in land-use decisions, while Shell said it offered a deal that could have provided up to $6-million and wages and contracts to Indian workers.

Not all companies have been unsuccessful in dealing with the Tahltan, however. NovaGold Resources Inc. secured the band's support this March for its planned Galore Creek mine with a $20-million deal that includes commitments on mining jobs and other opportunities.

bcMetals disclosed the roadblock problem last Wednesday in a news release, delicately calling the Indians a "dissident group." The company lost eight cents to close at 60 cents that day, and lost two cents to close at 58 cents Monday.