Landore Resources and Ontario mines ministry failed to properly consult Eabametoong First Nation over drilling permit, court rules
The Ontario Superior Court threw out a junior mining company’s permit for drilling work on Eabametoong First Nation’s traditional territory in northern Ontario after ruling that the company and the province had failed in their duty to adequately consult with the Nation.
Justice Harriet Sachs wrote in a mid-July ruling that Landore Resources Canada and Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) did not meet the required level of consultation to be seen as “upholding the honour of the Crown” when dealing with Eabametoong.
The judge wrote that both Landore and the MNDM dealt with Eabametoong in an opaque way that left the First Nation in the dark about why and how decisions were being made, and excluded them from parts of the process.
Sachs remitted the exploration permit back to the government “pending completion of adequate consultation” with the First Nation.
“Certain clear expectations were created by the Crown and its delegate, Landore, as to how the duty to consult would be fulfilled in this case and then, without meeting those expectations or offering an explanation as to why they could not be met, the Crown changed the process in such a way as to render it one that could not reasonably be considered to be a genuine attempt at ‘talking together for mutual understanding,’” Sachs wrote in her judgment.
For the rest of this article: http://magazine.cim.org/en/news/2018/ontario-court-dismisses-junior-miner-exploration-permit-failure-to-consult/