Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 228

Northern reserves have been separated from their resources – by Stephen Hume (Vancouver Sun – December 16, 2011)

December 16, 2011

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

A dominant motif in the Canadian discourse regarding first nations is that reserve communities, particularly those in remote areas, are economically unviable.

People should move from communities such as Attawapiskat to where they can get a job and become economically self-reliant like the rest of us, the argument commonly goes.

Attawapiskat is now the object of blame-casting by a federal government that is itself responsible for capacity-building, financial oversight and adequate funding of infrastructure and services in first-nations communities. Canada assumed this responsibility when it unilaterally appropriated lands formerly occupied by the inhabitants of many such communities.

Let’s be clear about what reserves are. They are a government invention. Reserves were created by government to concentrate, for administrative purposes, peoples who roamed those landscapes and exploited their resources.

Transport Infrastructure and Ontario’s North: Floating New Ideas – by Livio Di Matteo (December 15, 2011)

December 15, 2011

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

One of the persistent themes in Northern Ontario economic history is transportation and access. From the days of the fur trade, to the arrival of the railroad and later on the onset of modern highways and air travel, transportation has been essential to accessing natural resources and getting them out to market. Yet, Northern Ontario’s transport network has borne the marks of being tailored to economic resource exploitation rather than linking together people. The network has been designed to move resources and goods out of the region rather than facilitate travel and communication within the region. This has been a factor in the regional divisions within a vast and sparsely populated region.

A new report by the Conference Board of Canada titled Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities highlights the challenges of northern Canadian transportation in general and particularly the new changes being wrought by climate change such as permafrost degradation. While the report focuses on a case study of Churchill, Manitoba, many of the issues also apply to remote rural resource communities in Northern Ontario particularly with respect to the dawn of resource exploitation in the Ring of Fire.

According the report, transportation infrastructure is more expensive to build and maintain in Canada’s North and climate change is disrupting existing rail and winter-road links.

Rethinking the future of Ontario’s north – by Janet Sumner and Anna Baggio (Toronto Star – December 7, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 15, 2011

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.

Janet Sumner is executive director and Anna Baggio is conservation land use planning director for CPAWS-Wildlands League, based in Ontario.

Like many other Canadians, we’ve been searching our souls in response to the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, home to the Muskego Cree First Nation. We have visited Attawapiskat several times. We’ve stayed at the Kataquapit Inn and enjoyed the community’s hospitality, including a traditional feast of caribou and lake sturgeon. Our work to conserve Ontario’s northern boreal forest has been enriched by the insights of the elders and other members of the community.

That is why the people of Attawapiskat are very much in our hearts today. While a donation to the Red Cross is always a good idea, we believe Canada needs to do far more to fix the problems bedevilling Attawapiskat and many other northern First Nations communities.

It’s time for a fundamental rethink of the relationship between major industrial players in the north, our governments and affected First Nations communities.

We first became involved with Attawapiskat when the environmental assessment of the nearby De Beers Victor Diamond Mine was underway nearly seven years ago.

Ottawa proposes first nations property ownership – by Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – December 15, 2011)

December 15, 2011

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.

OTTAWA— Conservative MPs are proposing a fundamental change to Canada’s reserve system, advocating legislation that would allow natives to own private property within the communal land of reserves.

The change – recommended Wednesday in a Conservative-led prebudget report by the House of Commons finance committee – would mark a dramatic shift for individuals living on reserve. It would make it easier to accumulate wealth and to use homes as collateral when seeking bank loans to start businesses.

But the notion is likely to face stiff opposition: The Assembly of First Nations has already bristled over earlier hints that the government was planning a move in this direction.

The proposal arrives as federal aboriginal policy is coming under close scrutiny. Graphic images of poverty in Attawapiskat have cast the spotlight on shameful conditions in dozens of reserves across the country.

Depressing rerun for anti-native stereotypes – by Brent Wesley (Toronto Star – December 14, 2011)

December 14, 2011

Brent Wesley is news director for Wawatay News in Sioux Lookout, which includes Attawapiskat First Nation in its coverage area.

Lazy. Incompetent. Dead weight. Basically, a burden on the taxpayers. Harsh descriptives for anyone to swallow, yet it’s par for the course for First Nations in this country. Especially when a major issue hits mainstream news like the state of emergency in Attawapiskat First Nation over inadequate housing.

The James Bay community in Northern Ontario made the declaration in late October, yet people in the community have lived in makeshift houses since 2009. Some residents are facing the onslaught of a third winter without proper homes. And in Ontario’s Far North, winter is harsh and unforgiving, It’s a situation that can tug at the heart strings of most people. But when Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan exercised his ministerial right to put the community under third-party management, suddenly the spotlight was on band finances. Where has the money gone?

Others have done a good job of breaking down the numbers, so I won’t dwell on it. Rather, as a First Nation person, the public backlash has weighed heavy. Instead of compassion, First Nations were suddenly generalized and told we don’t know how to fend for ourselves.

Attawapiskat gets housing help – by Barrie Mckenna (Globe and Mail – December 12, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 13, 2011

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.

Longer term, Mr. Angus wants Ottawa and the province to
start talking about sharing the economic benefits of the
development of nearby diamond mines and other resources.
That’s what Hydro-Québec did with the Cree on the Quebec
side of James Bay as it built massive hydroelectric
projects.

OTTAWA— Ottawa responded to the Attawapiskat Cree’s plea for more housing by promising Sunday to ship the impoverished community an additional seven modular homes, bringing the total to 22.

However, amid efforts to ease the housing crisis, community leaders continue to clash with the Harper government over its decision to take over the band’s finances earlier this month.

Ottawa has blamed the community’s problems on financial mismanagement of roughly $90-million in federal funds spent in Attawapiskat in the past five years.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan insisted Sunday the community has now agreed to co-operate with a federally appointed third-party financial manager – a claim band Chief Theresa Spence vehemently denied.

Harper’s aboriginal firsts – by Kathryn Blaze Carlson (National Post – December 10, 2011)

December 10, 2011

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

“To have successful resource development in this country,
you have to have strong and mutually beneficial relationships
with First Nations,” Mr. Powers said. “I think he wants a
New Dawn with as many aboriginal communities as he can.”

The New Dawn Agreements were signed by Ottawa, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Innu or Labrador, and not only clarified land claims but also gave the Innu Nation a 5% royalty stake in the Lower Churchill energy project.

Wayne Helgason saw tears in the eyes of Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin when they spoke of his peoples’ plight. It was clear as day, he said, that improving the lives of aboriginals was more than political – for them, it was personal.

“When Chrétien and Martin spoke about these issues and confronted the deep challenges of First Nations people, you could tell it really meant something to them,” the vicepresident of the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg said. “They developed a sense of trust because it was obvious they appreciated the severity of the circumstance.”

Environmental assessment process continues for mining project – by Northwest Bureau (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 10, 2011)

November 3, 2015December 10, 2011

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

Noront Resources Ltd. is working on the environmental assessment process for its base-metal mining project in the Ring of Fire mining district.

The company released its draft terms of reference for the Eagle’s Nest Mine project last week and is seeking public input on its plans.

The draft terms of reference have been prepared by Noront in compliance with Ontario Ministry of the Environment requirements. The document is available for review by the public, and copies can be downloaded at www.norontresources.com, or www.eaglesnestmine.com.

The federal government’s environmental assessment process for the project is also moving along, and the draft environmental impact statement guidelines for the Eagle’s Nest Mine Project have also been released for public review.

Marketing the Aboriginal housing crisis – by Simon Houpt (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 10, 2011

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.

The tragic tale of Attawapiskat grabbed the spotlight on the national stage only two weeks ago, but it was in rehearsal for six years.

In 2005, New Democrat MP Charlie Angus was trying to bring attention to the misery in Kashechewan, a Cree community on the shores of James Bay struggling with water-borne illnesses, when he came to a realization: People wouldn’t care unless they saw the evidence. So he orchestrated a press conference at Queen’s Park and released horrific photographs taken by doctors in the community.

“It was when we came to Toronto with the pictures of the children that suddenly it hit home,” Mr. Angus explained on Friday. “Pictures always make the difference.”

When Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency in late October, Mr. Angus knew he could go much further by leveraging a pair of tools that weren’t around in 2005: Facebook and YouTube.

In Attawapiskat, deep-rooted problems won’t disappear in an instant – by Genesee Keevil (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 10, 2011

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.

There is no word for diamond in Cree. “They hear about the diamonds,” said Maryanne Wheesk, a middle-aged grandmother in the remote James Bay community of Attawapiskat, “and they think we’re rich.”

I sat down with Ms. Wheesk two years ago, long before Attawapiskat had declared a state of emergency, and long before a housing crisis transformed the mispronounced dot on a map to a mainstay of the national conversation.

The plight of the inhabitants here is a familiar one among isolated aboriginal communities. They lack access to clean drinking water. They lack adequate shelter. And the persistent questions about economic viability are lost in a haze of mutual recrimination with Ottawa: Complaints about mistreatment by the federal government are met with accusations of fiscal mismanagement and poor governance.

But there is one thing unique to Attawapiskat, something that had – for a time, at least – given residents reason to believe their story would be a different one.

NEWS RELEASE: GRAVELLE CITES THE ‘GOOD AND BAD’ IN FOREIGN OWNERSHIP, TAKEOVERS OF MINES

December 8, 2011

Claude Gravelle in the federal NDP Member of Parliament for the riding of Nickel Belt. http://claudegravelle.ndp.ca/

2011 12 08

Public disclosure, full reviews needed for takeovers and Ring of Fire project

OTTAWA, ON – At a Parliament study hearing on northern resources Wednesday, Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle used the appearance of a Northeastern Ontario group to raise the “good and bad” of foreign ownership and takeovers of mining companies and the giant chromite “Ring of Fire” project.

Citing this week’s news on a Polish firm takeover bid of Quadra FNX, Gravelle acknowledged foreign ownership sometimes will happen but Canada’s record has not been good on takeovers.

“Contrary to what some people will tend to make you believe, the NDP is not against foreign ownership, but we are against foreign takeovers,” Gravelle said. “I have three private member’s bills that would make foreign takeovers more transparent, would involve the communities, and would involve workers.”

RepublicOfMining’s Stan Sudol interviewed about Far North Act on The Gary Doyle News Radio Show

December 8, 2011

570 News listeners have come to know the “Gary Doyle Show” as a voice for better living in the community. Each day from Noon to 3:00pm, Gary brings a non-controversial and non-confrontational approach to topics of lifestyle, money, health, finances and more. With the big news stories of the day in mind, Gary will also …

Not all native stories centre on a ‘crisis’- Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (December 6, 2011)

December 8, 2011

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

The housing crisis at the James Bay-area First Nation of Attawapiskat is troubling and needs to be fixed, but the attention being paid to it on a national scale shouldn’t overshadow the many Aboriginal successes.
A panel of Toronto journalists who convened on CBC Radio last week commented that if the media wanted to, it could report on a First Nation “crisis” every day.

Unfortunately, this is so because there is no shortage of Aboriginal communities across Canada that, like Attawapiskat, continue to struggle intensely with dilapidated homes, broken-down drinking water systems and the ravages of drug addiction.

Every so often, just like what’s happening now, the national media will zoom in on one community in particular, reinforcing in the minds of urban dwellers (and possibly urban-based journalists) an extremely lopsided and distorted picture of Aboriginal people in general.