The Common Sense Canadian website,
which I think most would agree has opinions leaning more to the left, has added
a new feature called “Your Voice”. It’s
an opinion / editorial (op-ed) blog for the environment and public interest.
“Why
Culture Matters: Prosperity Mine's Impacts on the People and Land of the
Nemaiah Valley” by David Williams (a member of Friends of Nemaiah Valley) is the first op-ed piece to be shared in it. After reading it, there were a couple of
comments which I added. First though,
here are the words of David Williams about the Prosperity Mine, which is proposed
for the Chilcotin region of British Columbia.
Earlier this week, we at Friends
of the Nemaiah Valley (FONV) heard that the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency (CEAA) has agreed to conduct an environmental assessment of Taseko Mines
Ltd. (TML) proposed “New Prosperity” mine application in Tsilhqot'in territory.
This unfortunate decision is
misguided for many reasons. This is the third try by TML to develop this mine,
one of the largest gold/copper deposits in British Columbia. It was turned down
twice in the recent past because the environmental consequences would be too
great. Even by Taseko's own admission during hearings last year, this “tweaked”
proposal, then known as Option II, would have even worse environmental
consequences than the one rejected by the federal government.
While there are environmental
reasons to reject this mine – it is in prime grizzly habitat, will destroy a
large rainbow trout population, and threatens large salmon runs that are part
of the Fraser River fishery – it is the impact it will have on the local Xeni
Gwet'in community in the Nemaiah Valley that I want to focus on.
Picture a “camp” of up to 600
miners placed into a remote First Nations Community that is still largely
dependent upon the land for sustenance and identity. This camp will be in place
for up to 35 years. 250 Xeni Gwet'in,
the People of the Rivers, live in the Nemaiah Valley alongside a small settler
community of about fifty people. The latter operate small ranches, run
wilderness lodges, fish, hunt and trap, and just like the way of life that
prevails here.
