Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 240

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.

NEWS RELEASE: First Nations to Develop New Power Line to Replace Diesels

December 7, 2011

This general sustainability video from Goldcorp includes the company’s Aboriginal engagement activities at the Musselwhite Mine in Northwestern Ontario.

SIOUX LOOKOUT, ON, Dec. 6, 2011 /CNW/ – Numerous First Nation Communities are working to bring transmission line connectivity and green energy development to remote First Nation communities currently operating on expensive diesel generators in Northwestern Ontario.

Wataynikaneyap Power is being formed as a First Nation led company to design, permit, construct, own and operate a 230 kV transmission line to bring additional grid connection to Pickle Lake. The Company is proposing a two-phase planning and permitting process to bring connectivity to the remote First Nations.

The first phase would reinforce the grid at Pickle Lake and the second phase would extend the grid north of Pickle Lake to service the remote communities. Significant pre-development work has been completed, including a routing study for the new line to Pickle Lake (Phase 1).

Canada’s great native uprising – by Barbara Kay (National Post – December 7, 2011)

December 7, 2011

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

One of my most enduring political memories occurred during the 1995 referendum campaign. The 16,000 Cree Indians in and around James Bay illuminated their resistance to Quebec’s separation from Canada with a reminder that the fate of Quebec’s remote, undefended (and indefensible) hydro-electric facilities was theirs to command. Their not-so-veiled threat awoke me to the obvious fact that Canada’s great territorial mass, a bulwark against external menace, also makes it vulnerable to domestic insurgents.

Most of Canada’s energy and transportation hubs run through native lands. Revanchist natives sometimes taunt Canadians with merely inconvenient road and rail blockades; yet these also semaphore the real economic disaster they could inflict on us if they chose to wage an actual sustained campaign of violence and disruption. Covert, sometimes overt, intimations of an approaching crisis speckle the discourse. Recently, for example, Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said, “Canadian society must heal the damage caused by the Indian residential school system or deal with the violence that will be undoubtedly unleashed against it.”

It seems the more money that is thrown at native problems, the more resentment over past injustices grows, which in turn leads to contests over ungoverned spaces.

Far North mischief – by Stan Sudol (National Post – December 7, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 7, 2011

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

Is Ontario’s Far North Act anti-aboriginal?

De Beers Canada and its Victor diamond mine is currently in the media spotlight regarding the poverty in the nearby First Nations community of Attawapiskat. Many are questioning why the community is not significantly benefiting from this diamond mine, located on its traditional territory. The Victor deposit — which is the smallest of Canada’s four diamond mines — just started production in July 2008 and has an expected life of 11 years. The mine employs about 500 people, half of whom are of First Nations background and 100 come from Attawapiskat.

This controversy highlights the widespread problem of aboriginal poverty, much of which lies at the feet of Premier Dalton McGuinty, environmentalism and the product of this marriage — the much-detested Far North Act. Praised by the south’s many well-funded and powerful environmental movements, this legislation cuts off half of the Far North to resource development — 225,000 square kilometres or roughly 21% of the province’s land mass — and turns it into parks.

The horrific downside to this green ideology is that mineral exploration and potential mines — the only form of economic development that could reduce the impoverished, Third World living conditions in First Nations communities — is being reduced or stopped in the affected territory.

With millions pouring into Attawapiskat, colonial blame only goes so far – by John Ivison (National Post – December 7, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 7, 2011

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

Failed colonial policies are the biggest obstacles to First Nation progress, Shawn Atleo told a gathering of native chiefs in Ottawa Tuesday. The Assembly of First Nations chief was referring to moves such as Ottawa’s decision to put the troubled Attawapiskat reserve in northern Ontario under third party management. “We simply can’t lurch from crisis to crisis and we can’t accept externally imposed solutions,” he said, before lauding the chief of Attawapiskat for demonstrating transparency and accountability.

Yet the decision to intervene was simply the government exercising its fiduciary duty. The apparent mismanagement of this band by its chief, council and the co-manager, who is meant to be advising the chief but turns out to be her “life partner,” made the worst of an already bad situation. Chief Theresa Spence spoke to the chiefs in Ottawa Tuesday and urged them to take an aggressive stand with the government. “We’re not going to take it anymore,” she said.

The simple fact is, she has been stripped of authority because money has been pouring into the reserve and yet conditions have deteriorated beyond any acceptable level.

Mounties spied on native protest groups [KI’s Donny Morris included] – by Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs (Toronto Star – December 5, 2011)

December 5, 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.

Although the Strategic Intelligence Report’s profile
of KI is heavily redacted, as with all the “communities
of concern,” it states that KI First Nation “remains
committed to ensuring their concerns related to the
impacts of mining and forestry are addressed by the
Ontario government” and “possible future disputes
could result in blockades and demonstrations.”

The spectre of heightened aboriginal protest has
become a source of anxiety for government and industry.

The federal government created a vast surveillance network in early 2007 to monitor protests by First Nations, including those that would attract national attention or target “critical infrastructure” like highways, railways and pipelines, according to RCMP documents.

Formed after the Conservatives came to power, the RCMP unit’s mandate was to collect and distribute intelligence about situations involving First Nations that have “escalated to civil disobedience and unrest in the form of protest actions.”

Attawapiskat: await the audit – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 2, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 5, 2011

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

HOW does a remote native community of 2,000 people that receives $18 million a year in federal funds alone — $90 million in total since 2006 — wind up in such a wretched state? Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast is not alone among reserves in poverty, but it’s housing conditions are top of mind across Canada as winter sets in. Large families living in shacks and tents is a national disgrace.

Uninformed critics blame the band council without knowing the details. Those details will shed light where it belongs, but everyone must wait for that information before coming to conclusions.

Others say the Harper government is blaming the victim, so to speak, for taking control of local spending out of the band’s hands and ordering an audit. This examination of spending will look at where it comes from as well as where it goes. The Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development department will thus be under as much scrutiny as the band itself. This alone may prove to be the most illuminating aspect of the audit, for it could shed light on a system of bureaucracy that First Nations have long complained is too complicated and restrictive.

Debeers Representative Tom Ormsby Speaks to CBC Radio/TV About Attawapiskat Crisis

November 5, 2015December 5, 2011

The housing crisis in Attawapiskat has some wondering why the community isn’t benefitting more from the nearby diamond mine. DeBeers Canada Director of External and Corporate Affairs Tom Ormsby spoke with various CBC Radio and TV interviewers: CBC Televion Interview between Tom Ormsby and Suhana Meharchand – November 30, 2011 http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/canews-22424922/diamonds-at-attawapiskat-27436870.html CBC Radio Ottawa – November …

Choices for First Nations – by Christopher Alcantara (Toronto Star – December 2, 2011)

December 5, 2011December 4, 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.

Christopher Alcantara is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. His latest book, Negotiating the Deal: Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements in Canada, is forthcoming from University of Toronto Press.

“Lost in this debate is the larger question of whether
remote indigenous communities are viable in the first
place and if they are not, whether the federal and
provincial governments should support them. Unless
there is a significant natural resource being
developed, many remote locations offer few economic
opportunities to make a decent wage and standard of
living.” (Christopher Alcantara)

About a month ago, a state of emergency was declared for the Attawapiskat First Nation, approximately 500 kilometres north of Timmins. The reason was the deplorable living conditions on the reserve. Many of the houses, for instance, lack proper insulation, reliable heating, running water and sewage disposal.

Unfortunately, the plight of Attawapiskat residents is not an isolated or unique event. Many reserves across Canada face a similar situation, with most commentators arguing that more money needs to be spent on improving living conditions on these reserves.

Lost in this debate is the larger question of whether remote indigenous communities are viable in the first place and if they are not, whether the federal and provincial governments should support them.

[Saskatchewan] Mining boom must include all – StarPhoenix Editorial (The [Saskatoon] StarPhoenix – December 3, 2011)

December 4, 2011

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

The problem with having a $50-billion windfall coming over the horizon is the danger it could mask the dark clouds that come with it.

This week Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, told a Saskatoon business crowd that Saskatchewan is in for a massive capital expansion in its mining sector during the next 20 years. For those in this province who have waited more than a generation for Saskatchewan’s ship to come in, this expansion can’t be but good news.

But if Saskatchewan is to be able to take advantage of the opportunities coming its way, it has some pretty significant ducks it must still get in a row. Not the least of which is addressing First Nations’ concerns – not only in terms of allowing them a cut of the action but also coming to terms with treaty issues that have been woefully neglected by various governments for almost two centuries.

Time to share [Saskatchewan] resource wealth – by Doug Cuthand (The [Saskatoon] StarPhoenix – October, 22, 2011)

December 4, 2011

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

Aboriginal and First Nations issues are largely absent from this provincial election campaign. So far the only issue that has raised any eyebrows is the commitment by the NDP to negotiate a resource revenue sharing arrangement with the First Nations. NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter was speaking to an audience on the Red Pheasant First Nation when he stated that it was an idea whose time has come.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall categorically rejected sharing resource revenues with First Nations or any other group, stating that the province’s resources belonged to all Saskatchewan’s people.

Lingenfelter’s proposal was quickly absorbed into the campaign rhetoric, along with commitments from both sides for health care, education and so on. But resource revenue sharing is an issue that will not go away in Indian Country.

Elephant In the Room: A First Nations perspective on the Far North Act – Stan Beardy (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 3, 2011)

December 3, 2011December 3, 2011

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

Stan Beardy is Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). NAN is a political organization representing 49 First Nation communities across Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 areas of northern Ontario.

“The heart of First Nations’ objections to the [Far North] act
is the unilateral imposition of an interconnected protected
area of at least 225,000 square kilometres (about 21 per
cent of Ontario). This infringes on First Nations’
aboriginal and treaty rights as protected in the Canada
Constitution Act, 1982.” (Stan Beardy – Grand Chief of NAN)

Stan Beardy – Grand Chief of NAN

I am writing in response to the commentary, Development, Protection; Far North Act Clarifies Land Use Planning (Nov. 21) by Ontario Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle.

It appears the Ontario government feels that there is still much convincing to do on an issue that continues to find First Nations and government on opposing sides. Truth be known, the Far North Act is currently being implemented in spite of the objections of First Nations.

The heart of First Nations’ objections to the act is the unilateral imposition of an interconnected protected area of at least 225,000 square kilometres (about 21 per cent of Ontario). This infringes on First Nations’ aboriginal and treaty rights as protected in the Canada Constitution Act, 1982.

The minister said in his commentary that “those who characterize this protected area as a vast park are irresponsible and certainly disrespectful of the First Nations.”

Attawapiskat’s hardships could be helped by roads – by John Ivison (National Post – December 2, 2011)

December 2, 2011

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

Shawn Atleo says he wants to smash the status quo. The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has used the phrase in a number of interviews and likely repeated it in his meeting with the Prime Minister on Parliament Hill Thursday.

But while there’s little doubt he is distressed by the pictures coming out of the troubled Attawapiskat reserve in northern Ontario, he doesn’t really want to overturn the present state of affairs.

Rather, he and the country’s other chiefs, a delegation of whom will meet with Stephen Harper on Jan. 24, it was announced Thursday, would like the federal government to pony up some more money — without asking too many questions about what they intend to spend it on. The chiefs tie themselves in intellectual knots, arguing that the government has been asleep at the switch on Attawapiskat, while at the same time saying the feds have gone too far by instituting an “Ottawa knows best” regime.

[Cobra Drilling] Tragedy toughened up Thunder Bay drilling boss – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December, 2011)

December 2, 2011

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.

Driller’s helper

Barb Courte knows all about the rigours of the diamond drilling business from both ends of the stick. “I was the wife of a driller and I know what the guys go through,” said the president of Thunder Bay’s Cobra Drilling and Northstar Drilling.

In the hallways and boardroom of her new Russell Street headquarters, photos of her brawny and rugged-face employees adorn the walls. “It’s the employees that are important, they are my company,” said Courte, of the pack mentality she has cultivated among her employees in her 15 years in business.

Northstar is a family-owned outfit, while Cobra is a venture she shares with an undisclosed Sudbury partner. The two entities split six drill rigs, a combination of modern hydraulic and older “gear jammers,” and 50 employees.