Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 219

National native chief Shawn Atleo wants resources partnership with Canadian provincial premiers – by Heather Scoffield (Canadian Press/Toronto Star – July 25, 2012)

July 26, 2012

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

OTTAWA — National chief Shawn Atleo wants the premiers to recognize First Nations as full and equal partners in developing natural resources, but he says such recognition should not have to wait for politicians to agree on a national energy plan.

The head of the Assembly of First Nations and other aboriginal leaders are meeting today with premiers in Lunenburg, N.S., in advance of the annual Council of the Federation summit on inter-provincial relations.

The premiers, like Atleo, are consumed with devising better ways to develop natural resources so that more people can benefit, and so that the environment does not pay too steep a price.

But details of what a national energy strategy would look like are vague, and buy-in from all the provinces is uncertain — especially now that Alberta and British Columbia are sparring openly over the Northern Gateway pipeline.

Chiefs near Ring of Fire not seeing eye-to-eye on evictions – by Tbnewswatch.com – July 23, 2012

July 24, 2012

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Chiefs near Ring of Fire not seeing eye-to-eye on evictions

A pending eviction notice to mining companies with interest around the Ring of Fire is causing divisions among Matawa First Nation communities. Six of the nine Matawa First Nations are supporting a plan to evict several mining companies from the area.

Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias says the group is still preparing to take the next step, and he says people are starting to realize that the government is lying about their consultations.

But Chief Eli Moonias from Marten Falls, one of the Matawa communities opposed to the eviction, has a different viewpoint. Eli Moonias said he believes they have achieved consultation and the main operator, Cliffs Natural Resources, is now ready to discuss a memorandum of understanding.

The Marten Falls Chief added that it is First Nation leaders who are the ones now showing disrespect, and resolution of the matter is being pushed forward despite strong opposition.

Ring of Fire court battle on horizon after Neskantaga meets mining minister – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga First Nation is preparing for an extensive court battle over the Ring of Fire, following the latest failed meeting between the First Nation and the Ontario government.

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias and Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation called for a pause of the Ring of Fire during a meeting with Ontario’s mining minister Rick Bartolucci on July 18, but Moonias said the government did not take the suggestion “too seriously.”

“The government is just going ahead with (with development) as if we’re nothing,” Moonias said. “It looks as if ‘yes’ has already been given from the First Nations, but we never did (give consent).”

Moonias and Gagnon argue that development of the Ring of Fire needs to stop in order for First Nations to establish plans for maximizing economic benefits and mitigating environmental risks.

Ring of Fire Minister not listening to First Nations – Blogpost by Shane Moffatt (Greenpeace Canada – July 21, 2012)

July 23, 2012

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/

I recently had the privilege of attending a meeting with the Minister of Northern Development and Mines as an observer with Neskantaga First Nation. You can follow Neskantaga’s campaign to protect their rights here.

Talks were focused on proposed industrial developments in the so-called “Ring of Fire” in Northern Ontario. The “Ring of Fire” refers to a mineral rich area around McFaulds Lake, located over 1,000 kilometres north of Toronto in the heart of the boreal forest and in a one of the largest wetlands in the world. This also is smack in the middle of the traditional territories of Matawa First Nations, a Tribal Council of nine Ontario First Nations.

On May 9th, a giant US mining company (Cliffs Natural Resources) announced that they will go ahead with a $3.3 billion Ring of Fire project, which includes a chromite mine east of Webequie, a transportation route running south from the mine site and a ferrochrome processing plant in Sudbury.

The reaction from First Nations was swift and unequivocal – with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose describing the announcement as a “classic example of development going ahead without adequate consultation, input and consent from our First Nations.”

Aboriginal students graduating from post-secondary schools in record numbers – by Michael V’Inkin Lee and Christopher Reynolds (Vancouver Sun – July 15, 2012)

July 21, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

First nations students are attending — and graduating from — post-secondary schools and professional programs like law and medicine in record numbers

Mary Brearly had no idea as a little girl that she would grow up to be an underground miner. “I didn’t know that I could do that, I guess. Nobody had told me,” said the first nations Thompson Rivers University graduate, who earned her processing operations qualifications through the B.C. Aboriginal Mine Training Association in Kamloops last year.

Brearly, 27, is part of what the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education says has been a 25-per-cent surge in post-secondary enrolment among aboriginal youth over the last four years. Statistics from some colleges and universities in B.C. also show that more aboriginal students are completing certificate and degree programs in a broader range of fields.

“Ensuring that aboriginal learners have access to post-secondary education and training is essential to fulfilling our labour needs,” said Naomi Yamamoto, the minister of advanced education.

The new shape of a centuries-old relationship [resource boom and First Nations] – by Ken Coates and Brian Lee Crowley (Troy Media/Vancouver Sun – July 20, 2012)

July 21, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Resource boom holds potential to set all Canadians, aboriginal or non-aboriginal, on a more promising path

Ken Coates is Canada research chair in regional innovation at the University of Saskatchewan and Brian Lee Crowley is managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a public policy think-tank in Ottawa.

Regardless of short term ups and downs, Canada’s resource economy is booming as never before. Industrialization and urbanization, chiefly in Asia, will be the unstoppable engine driving the world’s appetite for our resources. This should be an opportunity not just for all Canadians, but especially for many aboriginal Canadians who inhabit the land surrounding the mining and energy projects under-way or planned across the mid and far North.

In fact, this new resource-based wealth could be the key to progress in ending the shameful plight of too many first nations people in Canada. To do so, however, we are going to have to change behaviour and expectations on both sides of the aboriginal/non-aboriginal divide. Happily, far from being a distant and improbable prospect, we can already discern the new shape of the relationship.

Indigenous conflict with resource developers is hardly new. Since the arrival of Europeans, mass evictions, pollution and social turmoil related to resource wealth have been facts of indigenous history.

Stan Beardy on treaties, resources and national agendas – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 19, 2012)

July 21, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Wawatay spoke with Regional Chief of Ontario Stan Beardy soon after he won the election to represent 133 First Nations. Here is an excerpt from that interview.

Wawatay: What are your thoughts on winning the election, and what that means for yourself and for northern First Nations?

Stan Beardy: First of all, it’s definitely a great honour to be selected as Regional Chief of Ontario with 133 First Nations. Yes, I am from the North, and I have a good understanding of northern issues, but I am responsible for all First Nations in Ontario. I believe there is great diversity, and we need to find a way to use that diversity for our strength.

My mandate is for three years, and I believe I was selected based on the platform which I put forward. I am very strong on our rights-base, and I am very strong on our Treaty position. That Treaty relationship, I believe, is the number one priority in terms of moving forward on improving the quality of life.

When we talk of First Nation laws across Ontario, and asserting our jurisdiction, we’re talking about finding a way to harmonize the federal government’s legislation and laws with ours.

Regional chief wants Ring of Fire revenue sharing – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 19, 2012)

July 21, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Ontario’s new regional chief wants to see First Nations get a cut of royalties and taxes collected from resource extraction projects on traditional lands. In an interview following his election victory, Stan Beardy told Wawatay that it is not enough for industry and governments to simply provide jobs and training to First Nations people in exchange for access to resources on First Nations’ land.

Beardy said that the treaty relationship, where First Nations agreed to share the land and resources, means that the wealth generated by both the provincial and federal governments from that land should be shared with First Nations.

“We agree that when we talk about benefits (from resource extraction) we talk about guaranteed jobs and training, across the board, for First Nations people,” Beardy said. “But also there has to be a discussion on arrangements in regards to sharing the wealth. That means not only being compensated for being displaced from your homelands, but also we’re talking about sharing the wealth of the funds collected by the governments for user fees, royalties and taxes.”

Support for Ring of Fire Moratorium – AFN Annual General Assembly – Draft Resolution #16/2012

July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

(L to R: Angus Toulouse, former AFN Regional Chief for Ontario; Sonny Gagnon, Chief of Aroland First Nation; Peter Moonias, Chief of Neskantaga First Nation (Lansdowne House); Shawn Atleo, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (November 2011/Photo supplied by Matawa First Nations Tribal Council)

AFN Annual General Assembly, July 17 – 19, 2012, Toronto, Ontario/ Draft Resolution #16/2012

TITLE: Support for Ring of Fire Moratorium

SUBJECT: Free, Prior and Informed Consent; Treaty

MOVED BY: Chief Peter Moonias, Neskantaga First Nation, ON

SECONDED BY: Chief Sonny Gagnon Aroland First Nation, ON

WHEREAS:

A. Article 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that “1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources; 2. States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources; 3. States shall provide effective mechanisms for just and fair redress for any such activities, and appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact”.

Atleo to press private sector on respect for aboriginal treaty rights – by Tamara Baluja (Globe and Mail – July 20, 2012)

July 20, 2012

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.

Following the lead of many chiefs who demanded the AFN take a more assertive role,
the AFN passed a resolution calling for the eviction of mining companies in Northern
Ontario’s Ring of Fire.”We’re being bullied by a giant mining company and a
desperate province,” Chris Moonias, a band councillor from the Neskantaga First
Nation, told the assembled chiefs.

With natives feeling ignored on key treaty rights, Shawn Atleo, the newly re-elected Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says the advocacy organization will take the conversation directly to businesses on resource development. At the same time, he didn’t rule out delaying key projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline.

“The chiefs are standing together and saying if you do not deal with the recognition of our title rights, it will not result in more efficient development,” he said the day after he was re-elected to a three-year term as national chief of Canada’s largest aboriginal organization.

With billions of dollars at stake in projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline and mines in Northern Ontario, Canadian business leaders have urged politicians to give aboriginal communities a larger role in the development of Canada’s energy industry.

China buys into Canada – by Vanessa Lu (Toronto Star – July 20, 2012)

July 20, 2012

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Just five years ago, China’s foreign direct investment in Canada was too little to report. But since the 2008 financial crisis, the inflows of cash from across the Pacific have soared, especially as a booming China with $3 trillion (U.S.) in reserves, moves to shore up its supply chain access to certain commodities.

Given Canada’s natural resources potential, China has looking here for investment opportunities. Well-publicized deals include China Investment Corp., the sovereign wealth fund, buying a $1.74 billion stake in Teck Resources, or the state-owned China Petroleum Corp, better known as Sinopec Group, buying a 9 per cent chunk of oil sands producer Syncrude for $4.56 billion.

Last year, Sinopec also acquired 100 per cent ownership in Calgary-based Daylight Energy, an oil and gas explorer with operations in Alberta and British Columbia, for $2.2 billion last year.

The deals keep coming, a far cry from 2004, when China Minmetals Corp. initially bid to acquire Noranda, raising considerable political concerns, given that Minmetals is a state-owned Chinese enterprise. The deal eventually fell apart, with Noranda merging instead with Falconbridge.

Atleo must use mandate [resource development] – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (July 20, 2012)

July 20, 2012

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

IT turns out that claims of a close race putting Shawn Atleo in danger of defeat were off the mark. But while the incumbent is back in charge of the Assembly of First Nations with a comfortable majority and a renewed mandate, his challenge is greater than ever. Challenges, really, for there are two.

First, he must quell those voices among First Nations who claim Atleo is too tight with Ottawa. Healthy consultation will achieve more than still more confrontation which now wearies many Canadians.

Atleo’s second obstacle is cobbling together something resembling a united front among an assembly of traditionally but notoriously independent members in order to convince them and the other levels of government to build a model of success around a new natural resources boom.

For the first time ever there exists a path for First Nations to lift themselves out of the poverty and dependence that for most is the norm. The exceptions have been those whose leaders used opportunity to their advantage. Whether it was building a local economy around business or the proximity of forests, oil, gas or minerals, there are a relative few First Nations who got out of the old traps and built a new life for their people.

Native people on cusp of change, AFN chief Atleo says [resource revenue sharing] – CBC News (July 19, 2012)

July 19, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Shawn Atleo, the newly re-elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, called on all Canadians to unite with his people in making a new future for native people, saying they “are on the cusp of major transformative change.”

“It is about time we pull back the veil on misunderstanding and we engage all Canadians to walk with us and give effect to the notion… we are all treaty people,” said Atleo at his Toronto news conference Thursday. He also paid tribute to the young people in native communities.

“You can’t helped but be moved by stories of resilience of what young people are achieving irrespective of seven generations of residential schools.” Atleo reiterated what he considered key issues: resource development, economic sustainability and called for a national inquiry into the hundreds of dead or missing native women across the country.

Atleo said he would stand up to any attempts to sweep away native rights to their resources or control over their lands:”We will act on our rights, our treaty rights, our inherent rights, our title rights.”

Co-operation wins over confrontation as AFN re-elects Shawn Atleo – by John Ivison (National Post – July 19, 2012)

July 19, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

TORONTO — Compromise is for losers, read the T-shirt worn by one delegate to the Assembly of First Nations leadership convention. As it turns out….not so much.

Shawn Atleo, who boasts proudly of his background as a mediator and facilitator, beat seven other candidates to retain the AFN leadership, winning on the third ballot.

A number of them, including his closest rival, Pam Palmater, had called for the AFN to start wielding a big stick in its dealings with Ottawa. Ms. Palmater openly accused Mr. Atleo of selling the AFN’s soul to the devil. Mr. Atleo countered by talking tough about the prospect for unilateral action. “We will never compromise,” he told delegates Tuesday.

But, in reality, the National Chief knows he needs a willing partner in Ottawa if he wants to achieve his goals of reforming land claims policy and ushering in resource revenue sharing.

Atleo’s victory a sign national chiefs want to work with Ottawa – by John Ibbitson (Globe and Mail – July 19, 2012)

July 19, 2012

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

In giving Shawn Atleo their emphatic endorsement for a second term as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s native leaders chose to work with Ottawa rather than fight against it.

But if the first fails, the second could follow. Mr. Atleo has a clear mandate to work with the Harper government on reforming education on reserves, fighting the scourge of violence against native women, and improving housing and health for Canada’s native people.

The majority of chiefs endorsed Mr. Atleo’s re-election on the first ballot, though it took two more votes for him to reach the required 60 per cent. Such strong support answers the complaints of critics who said Mr. Atleo should be taking a more confrontational approach in demanding control over resources on land claimed by first nations.

“The office of national chief is not the head of first nations government,” Mr. Atleo said after his victory, when asked whether it was time to become more forceful in advocating native claims.