Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 10

First Nation in northwestern Ont. moves ahead with permanent bridge, all-season road – by Darren MacDonald (CTV Northern Ontario – August 23, 2024)

August 23, 2024

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

The project will “unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake,” the province said in a news release this week.

Berens River bridge, road funding will be regional catalyst for northwest First Nations – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 22, 2024)

August 22, 2024

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Spring construction start will bring road access to seven remote communities and a proposed lithium mine

The wheels are finally starting to roll on the planned construction of the long-overdue Berens River bridge and an initial 25-kilometre stretch of all-season road to reach Pikangikum First Nation, north of Red Lake.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP and cabinet minister Greg Rickford announced Aug. 21 that the province is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build the bridge and an all-season road to Pikangikum.

Opinion: Supreme Court gives government a spanking for failing to uphold Indigenous treaty rights – by Ken Coates and Karen Restoule (National Post – August 21, 2024)

August 22, 2024

https://nationalpost.com/

A recent court decision will fundamentally reshape Crown-First Nations relations for decades to come

The Supreme Court of Canada, ruling on the treaty rights case involving the Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties, has given one of the sharpest rebukes of the Government of Canada (and, in this instance, Ontario) in legal history.

Federal and provincial governments — current and historic — were chastised, criticized and legally spanked, in a decision that will resonate through the coming decades and that could transform Canada’s approach to resolving Indigenous legal grievances.

Agnico, New Gold, Iamgold seen as possible buyers for shuttered Eagle Gold mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 22, 2024)

August 22, 2024

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Stakeholders are hoping for a restart of the contaminated Eagle gold mine, but experts say finding a buyer isn’t guaranteed, and creditors are likely to take a major haircut regardless of the outcome.

Toronto-based Victoria Gold Corp. was placed in receivership last week, its management ejected and its shareholders wiped out after an Ontario judge ruled it wasn’t moving with enough urgency and lacked sufficient funding to remediate a major cyanide spill in central Yukon.

B.C. is a burgeoning oil and gas powerhouse – by Geoff Russ (National Post – August 19, 2024)

August 21, 2024

https://nationalpost.com/

The LNG revolution will be a boon for the province and its First Nations

Outside of small pleasures and personal adventures, life in British Columbia has offered little that can be celebrated as of late. For proponents of Canadian energy, however, B.C.’s transformation into a major player in oil and gas has been a triumph.

No, vast quantities of fossil fuels are not being extracted from the ground like in Alberta, but the westernmost province has become the great bridge that connects Alberta’s oil and gas to global markets. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are springing up along B.C.’s coastline, driving technological innovation and unprecedented reconciliation with First Nations.

NEWS RELEASE: Sandy Lake First Nation Energized by Wataynikaneyap Power (Watay Power – June 21, 2024)

August 21, 2024

https://www.wataypower.ca/

(June 21, 2024 – Fort William First Nation, Ontario) Wataynikaneyap Power is pleased to announce the energization of Sandy Lake First Nation. The northern Ontario community was connected to the provincial power grid on April 18, 2024.

“It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the community’s connection to the power grid on Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Sandy Lake Chief Delores Kakegamic comments. “The Wataynikaneyap Power transmission system means more than reliable electricity for the community. It means we can build new homes and buildings, such as our new Health Centre, and connect them to power.

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario, Pikangikum First Nation and Canada Partnering to Advance Construction of Berens River Bridge (Ministry of Northern Development – August 21, 2024)

August 21, 2024

Year-round road access to Pikangikum First Nation and improved winter road connections will enhance quality of life for seven remote communities

PIKANGIKUM FIRST NATION – The Ontario government announced its plan to partner with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the Government of Canada to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation. The project will unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake.

“From the beginning, our government committed to strengthening opportunities and improving safety for First Nations communities in the North,” said the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

Is Canada’s critical-minerals strategy a green shift or greenwashing? – by Thierry Rodon and Sophie Thériault (Policy Option – August 14, 2024)

August 16, 2024

Policy Options – Institute for Research on Public Policy

Indigenous and remote communities will bear the long-lasting ecological, social and cultural impacts of mining. This cannot be ignored.

Canada has followed the lead of many countries recently by adopting policies and measures to promote rapid development of its value chain for domestic critical minerals essential in clean energy technology.

Climate change, geopolitical and economic turmoil are leading governments to emphasize the need to secure a supply of critical minerals, such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, to help decarbonize the economy through, for example, solar panels, wind turbines and electric-vehicle batteries.

Victoria Gold CEO regrets silence during crisis, suspects cyanide spill caused by fluid buildup – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 16, 2024)

August 16, 2024

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Victoria Gold Corp. chief executive officer John McConnell says he regrets staying silent while the company was in crisis, and suspects June’s catastrophic cyanide spill at its Yukon mine was caused by an uncontrolled buildup of fluid.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the outdoor heap-leaching facility on June 24 and half of that spilled into the local environment beyond the company’s containment zone. The scale of the environmental damage is unknown, but the local First Nation fears the spill could devastate salmon fisheries, hunting grounds and groundwater. Dozens of dead fish were recently found in a creek near the mine and groundwater in the vicinity of the mine will have to be monitored for toxic cyanide for years to come.

6 First Nations challenge Ontario’s Mining Act, a month after similar legal action by Grassy Narrows – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – August 12, 2024)

August 16, 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Separate court applications argue the provincial act breaches treaty, Charter rights

Six First Nations in northern Ontario are challenging the province’s Mining Act, arguing it violates their treaty and Charter equality rights. Representatives from the First Nations and their legal counsel held a news conference at Queen’s Park on Monday, three days after the notice of application was filed in the Superior Court of Justice.

“The Ontario Mining Act is a piece of racist legislation that bulldozes over First Nations lands and rights. It says to the world that the land in Ontario is free for the taking and drilling and blowing up,” said Chief June Black of Apitipi Anicinapek Nation. “These are not your lands to give away, Ontario.”

‘Massive investments’ coming for Far North infrastructure, says Ford – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 12, 2024)

August 16, 2024

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Province set to announce news on Ring of Fire road infrastructure in September

It may be curtains for the Terrace Bay pulp mill under the AV Group flag, but Premier Doug Ford suggested late last week bigger and better developments are in store for northwestern Ontario.

Ford was in Thunder Bay at the LiUNA Local 67 training centre on Aug. 9 to drop $17 million from the province’s Skilled Development Fund toward training and facility upgrades to support the mining, construction, energy and forestry industries. Agnico Eagle Mines pocketed $10 million for training partnerships with Matachewan First Nation, Taykwa Tagamou Nation and Moose Cree First Nation.

BHP launches Indigenous partnership plan in Canada – by Staff (Mining.com – August 11, 2024)

August 12, 2024

https://www.mining.com/

BHP is taking another step in its commitment to build strong, respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous communities with the launch of the Canada Indigenous Partnership Plan (CIPP).

This approach has been central in BHP’s development of the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, where it started building relationships with local Indigenous groups surrounding the site almost a decade before construction began. First production is expected in 2026.

Mining regulatory regime called ‘appalling, insulting, discriminatory’ by lawyer for five communities – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 12, 2024)

August 12, 2024August 12, 2024

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Six Northern Ontario First Nations are challenging the province’s Mining Act in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, arguing it is unconstitutional and overrides their treaty and Charter equality rights.

The leaders of Apitipi Anicinapek Nation, Aroland First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, Fort Albany First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug filed a notice of application with the court on Aug. 9.

First Nations declare opposition to nuclear waste project – by Mike Stimpson (NWO News Watch – August 7, 2024)

August 12, 2024

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

A deep geological repository would be bad news for the environment and people of Northwestern Ontario, according to the AKRC.

SIOUX NARROWS – The Township of Ignace has said yes to a nuclear waste repository project, but five First Nations in the Lake of the Woods area say no way.

Storing nuclear waste between Ignace and Dryden would endanger the region’s ecosystem and violate their rights as Indigenous peoples, according to a declaration from the Anishinaabeg of Kabapikotawangag Resource Council (AKRC).

‘We’re not out of the woods yet’: Victoria Gold CEO speaks publicly for 1st time since heap leach failure (CBC News North – July 30, 2024)

August 7, 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Company has no intention of leaving the site, says John McConnell

The president and CEO of Victoria Gold says there’s still a lot of work to do before the heap leach failure at the company’s Eagle mine site near Mayo, Yukon, is contained — but the company has no intention of leaving the site.

Speaking publicly Tuesday — the first time he has done so since the heap leach pad went down on June 24 — John McConnell said he believes there is no longer the potential for major environmental impacts from the failure, which is believed to have released up to 300,000 cubic metres of toxic sodium cyanide solution.