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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

De Beers threatens legal action – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 14, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

ATTAWAPISKAT – De Beers officials are getting fed up with the repeated illegal blockades of the winter road leading to the Victor diamond mine.

Since the road opened 13 days ago, blockades have prevented supplies and equipment from being delivered for nine of those days. After resolving a blockade that began early last week, another one started up this week.

On Tuesday night, “representatives from De Beers Canada met with Attwapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence, in person, to deliver a formal letter to chief and council stating that is the community does not take immediate action to remove the current illegal blockade of the winter road leading to the De Beers Victor mine, we will pursue all options at our disposal, including legal action,” said Tom Ormsby, the company’s director of external and corporate affairs.

Ormsby said after meeting with the chief, De Beers officials went to the location of the blockade where they delivered a formal letter to those blocking the road, indicating the company’s intention to explore legal options. At last report, the blockade remains in place.

While the mine continues to operate at full capacity, Ormsby said there are economic implications to these disruptions that pose a serious threat to the future of the mine.

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First Nations must ‘learn from’ De Beers deal – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – February 13, 2013)

 

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Documents show Attawapiskat gets 0.5% share of annual diamond revenues

Disputes over the value of Attawapiskat’s nearby diamond mine provide a lesson for other First Nations considering mining deals, according to the Assembly of First Nations’ Ontario Regional Chief.

“It’s a learning tool and we have to learn from that,” Stan Beardy said. “But going to the future, I think we need to look at what is fair, what is adequate and what is reasonable.” Members of Attawapiskat First Nation erected another blockade this week on the road to the mine.

According to the First Nation’s trust fund documents, Attawapiskat receives about $2 million annually from De Beers as a royalty. Based on information available on the company’s website, the annual revenue of De Beers’ diamond production at its Victor Mine near Attawapiskat is about $400 million.

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Harvey Yesno: A visionary leader takes the reigns of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 2013)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Making a comeback into First Nations politics was definitely not in Harvey Yesno’s plans. But the opportunity to make an impact at a pivotal time in the North’s history and lay a foundation of prosperity and self-determination for generations to come was something he could not pass up.

The 57-year-old Yesno was sworn in as grand chief of the Thunder Bay-based Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) last August, replacing Stan Beardy who was elected the new Ontario regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

To make a run for office, Yesno left his position as director for Aboriginal community and stakeholder relations with the province’s Ring of Fire Secretariat office. Prior to that, he had been the well-known president and CEO of the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund since 1993. “I was reluctant to come back after a 21-year absence in the political arena,” said Yesno, “but some things have not really changed and advanced.”

Conditions remain the same in many of the 49 Ojibway, Cree and Ojicree communities in the Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 territories: high unemployment, drug addiction, high cost of living, inaccessibility, inadequate housing, and revenue streams largely dependent on government transfer payments.

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Attawakpiskat’s De Beers protest ill-directed – by Lorne Gunter (Toronto Sun – February 13, 2013)

 http://www.torontosun.com/home

On Sunday evening, just three days after an earlier blockade had been lifted, a group of about 12 aboriginal protesters from Attawapiskat, Ont., once again closed the winter road to the De Beers diamond mine 90 km west of the First Nations settlement. De Beers counts on the frozen road to resupply fuel, building materials and heavy equipment for the entire year since the ground around the giant excavation is too soft in summer to permit heavy loads.

This second blockade seems to be the doing a single family — the Edwards. And they claim their grievance with De Beers is over lack of compensation from miners for infringing on the family’s long-time traplines.

But if that’s their complaint, their grievance is with their own leaders at Attawapiskat, not with De Beers.

In late 2005, three years before the mine officially opened, De Beers concluded an “impact benefit agreement” (IBA) with Attawapiskat leaders. The IBA was approved in a referendum by 85% of residents.

Since that time, De Beers has paid money into a trust administered by the band council. The company is currently putting in an average of $3 million annually so the band has money to pay claims of lost livelihood and income from mine activity — precisely like the Edwards family.

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NEWS RELEASE: NISHNAWBE ASKI NATION EXPECTS RESULTS FROM NEW ONTARIO PREMIER; KICK-START THE ECONOMY FOR ALL ONTARIANS

Monday, February 11, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THUNDER BAY, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno expects results from the new Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne as she was officially sworn into her office today at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Now that the Ontario Liberal Party has completed their leadership selection process, it is time to get down to business in the north.

The James Bay Treaty No. 9 and the Ontario portions of Treaty No. 5 covers two-thirds of Ontario, and NAN First Nations expect results from the Ontario government – in order to bring economic growth and prosperity to Ontario from the remote north – benefiting all Ontarians with investments, opportunities, jobs, infrastructure and business that are all much needed in this province.

“The Premier of Ontario needs to kick-start the Ontario economy and improve the future prospects for all Ontarians. It’s not a mystery to anyone in government – the lands and resources required to generate wealth for the future of Ontario are going to come out of the remote north – our treaty territories,” said NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno. “The future of any Premier in Ontario may hinge on how they choose to proceed with resource and economic development in the remote north; and NAN First Nations are anticipating those discussions.”

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NAN First Nations want negotiations on resources – by NNL Staff (NetNewsLedger.com – February 11, 2013)

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – News – ”The position of Nishnawbe Aski Nation remains firm,” said Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Grand Chief Yesno. “Whether it’s the Wynne government or the next, it is time for the government of Ontario to begin negotiations with our First Nations on treaty-wide resource revenue sharing so development can proceed in the north. The Premier must be committed to Ontario and First Nations to address treaty and aboriginal rights, and bring forward resource revenue sharing, equity and benefits for all of us.”

NAN – Future of any Premier in Ontario may hinge on decisions

“The Premier of Ontario needs to kick-start the Ontario economy and improve the future prospects for all Ontarians. It’s not a mystery to anyone in government – the lands and resources required to generate wealth for the future of Ontario are going to come out of the remote north – our treaty territories,” said NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno.

“The future of any Premier in Ontario may hinge on how they choose to proceed with resource and economic development in the remote north; and NAN First Nations are anticipating those discussions.”

Grand Chief Harvey Yesno expects results from the new Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne as she was officially sworn into her office today at Queen’s Park in Toronto. “Now that the Ontario Liberal Party has completed their leadership selection process, it is time to get down to business in the north.

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New blockade on winter road to mine – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 11, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

ATTAWAPISKAT – Just days after reaching a settlement to end a blockade on the ice road in Attawapiskat, officials with De Beers Canada were contending with yet another small group of protesters who were blocking the way to the Victor diamond mine.

“We’ve got guys on the ground” who were meeting with the demonstrators, Tom Ormbsy, director of external and corporate affairs, told The Daily Press late Monday night.

The “core individuals” behind in the latest blockade were not among those involved in last week’s four-day demonstration, Ormsby said. According to information Ormsby received, the core participants were “two or three individuals who were possibly joined on the picket line by some family members.”

As was the case last week, Monday night’s blockade was preventing supplies from reaching the mine but not posing any interruption in its operation. The Victor mine had had to contend with demonstrations and blockades on the winter ice road from time over its five years of operation.

Ormsby said typically the demonstrators have very specific personal demands and their actions are generally not supported by the community at large.

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[Attawapiskat] Leaders out of their mines – Toronto Sun Editorial (February 8, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

With little else to do in Attawapiskat, and with no leadership worth noting, it is no surprise that a bunch of residents from that frozen ghetto would bite the hand that feeds them with a blockade of the ice road to the De Beers diamond mine.

It is just one more example in a long list of why unmanageable and unsustainable reserves like Attawapiskat should be shut down.

After all, De Beers has only deposited around $300 million into the band council’s coffers over five years – that’s $60 million per annum, or $50,000 per resident per year – so there’s no sense letting that good deed go unpunished, now is there?

So block the road.And who cares if 100 of the 500 employees at that mine are actually Cree workers from Attawapiskat? Let them eat frozen cake. And, most of all, why allow them to be examples to others when the federal government, via the taxpayer, will continue pumping in the cash to all and sundry with disappointing results.

And, while we’re at it, why not give a big raise to whatever lawyer the band hired to make its deal with De Beers? Why? Because De Beers purportedly signed what amounts to a non-disclosure clause with Chief Theresa Spence’s crew to not reveal what any of that $300 million is for, or how it is spent.

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Yukon’s court ruling on free-entry mining could help Idle No More – by Bertrand Schepper (Rabble.ca – January 22, 2013)

http://rabble.ca/

On December 27 this past year, the appeals court of the Yukon Territory gave an important ruling regarding the rights of First Nations in relation to Yukon’s free-entry mining policy. The plaintiff in the case, the Ross River Dena Council tribe, considers that Yukon’s government cannot allow quartz production on its territory without first consulting the Council. The Kaska nation, to which the Ross River Council belongs, owns more than 63,000 square km, which represents nearly 13 per cent of the entire Yukon Territory.

Just as does Quebec’s Mining Act, based on free mining principles, Yukon’s Quartz Mining Act allows any person (physical or moral) the right to claim a given territory of up to 1,500 square feet, but to record it only afterwards. This after-the-fact procedure is a mere administrative formality. To keep one’s rights over the land, one just needs to demonstrate that more than $100 has been invested on the claimed territory.

A person, in most cases a mining company, which has claimed land may start exploration activities without giving any additional information to governments. However, since these activities entail transforming the land both environmentally and economically, the Ross River Dena Council considers that its ancestral rights take precedence over the Quartz Mining Act, voted in 2003, and that Yukon’s government must consult First Nations before it can allow anyone to claim parcels of their land.

Justice Tysoe, Justice Groberman, and Justice Hinkson have ruled that “While Class 1 exploration programs are limited, they may still seriously impede or prevent the enjoyment of some Aboriginal rights in more than a transient or trivial manner.” The appeals court goes on to conclude that “the [mining] regime must allow for an appropriate level of consultation before Aboriginal claims are adversely affected.”

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Getting a stake in the mining patch – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 11, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VICTORIA — British Columbia had a banner year for mining investment in 2012. But the $463-million poured into the ground represents just a handful of successful projects. Most junior mining companies were running up against skeptical investors who have watched one too many projects fall apart because of the endless battle over ownership of the land and the resources below ground.

The mining industry does not need to follow the Idle No More movement to know it has a problem. For decades, conflict with first nations over mining resources has been blamed for curtailing the industry’s growth. When mining executives meet later this month for their annual conference in Vancouver, they’ll do so in an aboriginal-themed pavilion, part of a growing recognition that successful ventures will hinge on the co-operation of affected first nations.

A Dec. 27 court ruling offers a new reason to try to build a better relationship. The decision directs the Yukon government to consult with first nations before allowing prospectors to stake a mining claim. In B.C.,where most of the Crown land is still subject to aboriginal land claims, the ruling can’t be ignored.

The 16-page unanimous decision of the Yukon Court of Appeal – penned by three B.C. Appeal Court judges – gives the government there one year to introduce a consultation mechanism.

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NEWS RELEASE: Landmark Yukon Free-Entry Mining Court Ruling a Serious Wake-up Call for BC (January 14, 2013)

VANCOUVER, Jan. 14, 2013 /CNW/ – The BC government and mining industry have been given a blaring wake-up call in the form of a precedent-setting court ruling against the existing free-entry claims process, says the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council.

The government and industry now has the choice of spending huge sums and possibly several years trying to fight this decision before the Supreme Court of Canada, where First Nations have a winning record, or sit down now with First Nations to finally come up with a better way of doing business, says the FNEMC.

The ruling has huge national ramifications and is most immediately and directly applicable to the BC system – on which the Yukon system is based. Delivered Dec. 27 by three justices from the BC Court of Appeal sitting in Whitehorse, the court decision granted an appeal by the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) and found that allowing claims staking without first consulting First Nations is a break of the Crown’s duty to consult.

“This decision will eventually result in significant reforms to the mining industry across British Columbia,” said FNEMC Board Director Chief Roland Willson. “For the first time in a mining case the Courts have said the duty to consult and accommodate must take place prior to the granting of an exploration interest, including the commencement of activities.”

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Attawapiskat and diamonds – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (February 8, 2013)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

SORTING out the situation confronting Attawapiskat First Nation and the nearby Victor diamond mine is difficult at best. On the surface, all should be well. Mine owner DeBeers Canada spends a considerable amount of money in the community of 1,900 people — $40 million in business contracts in 2012 alone, it says.

It contributes more through an impact development agreement it signed when the mine opened — which earned it Mining Magazine’s Mine of the Year award in 2009 — though it agreed not to divulge details and the band office won’t. The company gives Attawapiskat about $2 million a year for use of its traditional land. It also hires locally and provides various training programs. Up to 100 of the mine’s 500 employees are from Attawapiskat.

While an audit of the federal government’s $95-million transfer to the band found paperwork discrepancies, together with the money the mine pays and spends, the people of the First Nation would hardly seem to be short of money. Yet a group of residents have been blockading the road to the mine over vague allegations that the money is not getting to the community.

DeBeers developed a comprehensive policy on aboriginal involvement in its operations. On its website the company “acknowledges the status of aboriginal people of Canada and their constitutionally entrenched rights” and “will work to strike a balance between these considerations and other economic, social and environmental responsibilities.”

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Debeers road blockade ends – by Lenny Carpenter (Wawatay News – February 7, 2013)

http://wawataynews.ca/

The blockade of the road from Attawapiskat to the Debeers Canada diamond mine site is over. A small group of Attawapiskat community members blockaded the road on Feb. 4, calling on issues with the community’s agreement with the diamond company to be addressed. The blockade ended on the evening of Feb. 6.

Attawapiskat’s Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) coordinator Danny Metatawabin said the blockaders’ issues pertained to either problems with employment at the site or the use of their traditional territory.

The circumstances behind the end of the blockade is not known at this time. Earlier that afternoon, the First Nation leadership met with community members and Debeers officials in a public meeting. Metatawabin said the blockade began with four individuals before other community members joined in support.

He said the chief and council do not support the blockade, since the IBA the community signed with Debeers allowed the company to set up the Victor Mine, the winter road, and ensure that its trucks could move without interference on the road.

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Attawapiskat diamond mine blockade continues, protesters eye De Beers airport – by Jorge Barrera (APTN National News – February 6, 2013)

http://www.aptn.ca/

An Attawapiskat blockade of a winter road leading to a diamond mine operated by De Beers could last until spring and expand to the company’s airport, says Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence.

Spence said the handful of protestors who launched the blockade on Monday said they won’t end their protest until they get some concrete changes to the impact benefit agreement (IBA) between Attawapiskat and De Beers.

“The people who are blocking have a lot of concerns,” said Spence, who is currently on sick leave and recovering from her six week-long protest fast.

Spence attended a community meeting held Tuesday evening that ran until near midnight. About 60 people attended the meeting which included De Beers officials. Another meeting began Wednesday at about 5 p.m.

Spence said during Tuesday’s meeting one community member discussed giving De Beers 48 hours to vacate the mine before facing a blockade at its airport. The mining company flies out its diamonds via charters with schedules known only to a few key people.

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Blockade a ‘symptom’ of ongoing Attawapiskat issues: Wynne – by Antonella Artuso (Toronto Sun – February 6, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

BRADFORD – A blockade set up by Attawapiskat protesters on a winter road to the De Beers mine on the coast of James Bay is a symptom of unmet social needs in First Nations communities, Ontario premier-designate Kathleen Wynne says.

“The economic development that can come from either the mine on the James Bay coast or from the Ring of Fire has to be seen in the context of the relationship between government and the First Nations communities,” Wynne said Wednesday. “There’s a whole range of social issues that are not necessarily directly related to economic development but as a government, and I would suggest the federal government as well… needs to in, my opinion, tackle that whole range of issues if we want to be able to move ahead and have those economic opportunities be fulfilled.”

Wynne said she’s unaware of the actual trigger for the blockade but knows the Attawapiskat community is concerned about a number of issues including lack of housing and the availability of clean water.

“It’s never okay in my opinion to take violent or obstructive action,” Wynne said. “We have to find resolution to those issues at the same time as … allowing economic development to go ahead because in the end, if there is no economic development, then a lot of those issues are not going to be resolved.”

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