Indigenous groups in both countries have been clamouring for years for a bilateral investigation of selenium contamination from B.C. coal mines owned by Teck Resources
Canadian and U.S. officials are expected to meet next week with Indigenous leaders as they work on cleaning up toxic mining run-off that’s polluting waters on both sides of the border.
Ktunaxa Nation officials say the meeting will take place Nov. 9 on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, B.C. Indigenous groups in both countries have been clamouring for years for a bilateral investigation of selenium contamination from B.C. coal mines owned by Teck Resources.
An end-of-summer deadline for an agreement in principle, announced in March by President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has since come and gone. Tribal and Indigenous leaders want Canada to agree to a joint investigation under the terms of the International Joint Commission, which oversees transboundary waters.
But consensus has not been forthcoming, even though the B.C. government ended its opposition to such an investigation earlier this year.
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