Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 641

SCC upholds [Ontario F.N.] Grassy Narrows land title ruling – by Steve Rennie (CTV News – July 11, 2014)

July 11, 2014

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

Canadian Press – OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled the Ontario government does not need Ottawa’s permission to permit industrial logging on a First Nation’s traditional lands.

While Friday’s unanimous 7-0 ruling may go down as a defeat for the Grassy Narrows First Nation, it does answer an important legal question: can the province can act alone to take up treaty land for forestry and mining? Yes, it can.

“I agree with the Ontario Court of Appeal that Ontario and only Ontario has the power to take up lands under Treaty 3,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the decision.

Grassy Narrows appealed after Ontario’s highest court ruled in March 2013 that the province has the right to take up treaty land for forestry and mining. Only Ottawa has the power to take up the land, argued the First Nation, because treaty promises were made with the federal Crown.

The Supreme Court rejected that argument. “The promises made in Treaty 3 were promises of the Crown, not those of Canada,” McLachlin wrote. Both levels of government are responsible for fulfilling those promises under the Constitution, she said.

Tsilhqot’in decision fuels uncertainty in Ontario – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – July 11, 2014)

July 11, 2014

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

‘Every treaty in Ontario is about to be challenged’

The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent Tsilhqot’in decision will have a ripple effect across Canada and could deter resource investment in the country, according to Neal Smitheman, a partner at law firm Fasken Martineau.

The decision, released on June 26, gave an aboriginal group in British Columbia aboriginal title over lands for the first time in Canada.

Aboriginal title means the group has a collective ownership of the land and the right to profit from its use, including mining and forestry, and the right to decide how the land is used.

The ruling has huge implications in B.C., where there are few settled land claims, but even projects in Ontario, where most of the province is covered by treaties, could be affected.

The decision is likely to inspire legal actions across the country as historic treaties are compared with the landmark ruling, which granted the Tsilhqot’in aboriginal title over a huge swath of land.

“From what we’re hearing, every treaty in Ontario is about to be challenged by First Nations,” said Smitheman in a presentation this week.

Why the Supreme Court’s Tsilhqot’in land title decision is no game changer – by Robin Junger (National Post – July 10, 2014)

July 11, 2014

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

Robin Junger is a lawyer with McMillan LLP and co-chairs its aboriginal and environmental law groups. He is a former Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources for the Province of British Columbia.

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Tsilhqot’in v. British Columbia is important. But it is not the first case dealing with aboriginal title and it is not a “game changer” that will undermine governmental authority or the ability to approve projects in the resource sector.

Perhaps the most legally significant aspect of the judgment is that it confirms, subject to certain requirements, governments – including provincial governments – can continue to regulate the land base where aboriginal title is claimed or proven.

And the reasons for which title can be infringed are not vague. The court has, twice now, expressly stated that these reasons can include purposes such as infrastructure development, mining, and forestry, provided justification is shown. So while this decision is historic and significant for the Tsilhqot’in people who have been the first to successfully prove title in a specific area, it simply does not represent a fundamental advance for the law of aboriginal title.

Supreme Court to decide on Grassy Narrows logging dispute – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – July 10, 2014)

July 11, 2014

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

Ontario First Nation argues province has no jurisdiction on treaty lands

A ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday will help determine who controls resource extraction across much of the country.

Grassy Narrows First Nation, north of Kenora, Ont., is arguing that the province does not have the right to issue logging or mining permits on its traditional lands.

“After years of trying to get the [forest] industry and the minister of natural resources to take it easy on the forest, we decided to launch a court case,” said trapper J.B. Fobister, one of the plaintiffs in the case that was launched in 2000.

Fobister said many people in Grassy Narrows need the forest to make a living. He estimates he makes up to $10,000 a year trapping pine marten. Some families rely on moose as a major food source.

But Fobister said industrial logging in the area interferes with all of that. “If you have no forest, you don’t have animals,” he said. “We need to see some benefits from the destruction of our homeland. There is no plan to replace what is taken from us.”

Why China’s mood is souring on Canada’s oil patch – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – July 11, 2014)

July 11, 2014

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

Barely two years since the national outcry over China’s aggressive push into Canada’s oil patch, some of the major acquisitions are looking messy to hopeless.

Instead of reaping the rewards of their first big step out into a free market oil industry, Chinese investors seem more focused on cutting costs and bailing out. Scores of executives have been fired for failing to deliver.

Some blame Ottawa’s more restrictive foreign ownership rules for the subsequent Chinese investment chill. But China’s increasingly sour mood has more to do with bitterness over the high prices paid, frustrations with long timelines to turn resources into production and Canada’s difficult operating environment. One senior Chinese investor said there were expectations that operating in Canada would be easy once federal government approval was obtained.

The change in mood is having an impact. Among the companies feeling the brunt is Athabasca Oil Corp., which is awaiting a $1.23-billion payout from PetroChina after the Calgary-based company exercised a put option to sell its remaining stake in the Dover oil sands project.

Athabasca chief operating officer Rob Broen said at a TD Securities investment conference this week his company is in the final stages of closing the deal and “expects to receive the proceeds in the near term.”

Quebec gets first diamond mine as premier pushes north development plan relaunch – by Patrice Bergeron (Brandon Sun – July 10, 2014)

July 10, 2014

http://www.brandonsun.com/

The Canadian Press – EEYOU ISTCHEE JAMES BAY, Que. – Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard trumpeted Quebec’s reinvigorated northern development plan Thursday during a ground-breaking ceremony for province’s first diamond mine, a $1-billion project that he said shows Quebec is “open for business again.”

Developed by Stornoway Diamond Corp. (TSX:SWY), the operation was formally launched with a ceremony in a remote area 350 kilometres north of Chibougamau, nestled in the Otish Mountains in Cree territory.

Once mining gets underway, the mine is expected to make Quebec the sixth-largest producer of diamonds in the world.
The go-ahead comes as Stornoway secured $946 million in funding for its Renard mine earlier this week with Investissement Quebec and the Caisse de depot et placement, Quebec’s largest pension fund manager, both participating in the financing.

The province has a 29 per cent investment in the project, which Economic Development Minister Jacques Daoust says will translate into $1 billion in taxes and interest for the province.

“It’s a clear signal of the relaunch of the Plan Nord,” Couillard said Thursday, keeping with an election promise to return the focus to developing northern Quebec.

Copper Hunt Continues for First Quantum in Bet on Demand – by Firat Kayakiran (Bloomberg News – July 10, 2014)

July 10, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM), which agreed to buy an Argentinian copper project last month, is on the lookout for more deals as it sees a supply shortage of the metal by the end of the decade.

“Copper remains our favorite long-term commodity,” Clive Newall, president of the Vancouver-based company, said in an interview in London. “The supply constraints are really going to start to hit home later in this decade and the supply-demand balance is going to roll over at some point in the not-too-distant future.”

First Quantum completed its biggest deal last year, acquiring Inmet Mining Corp. to add Cobre Panama. The company plans to invest $6.43 billion in the project to produce 320,000 metric tons of copper a year in 2018 and become the world’s fifth-largest provider of the metal. Last month it agreed to buy Lumina Copper Corp. for $430 million to add the Taca Taca deposit in Argentina.

The value of copper-mining deals this year has risen almost fivefold from the same period a year earlier, amounting to $7.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They were led by the $5.85 billion sale of the Las Bambas copper deposit by Glencore Plc to a group let by China Minmetals Corp. in April.

Newall sees the appetite for copper acquisitions rising amid a shortage driven by a lack of projects, the high cost of developing them, and declining grades.

Ontarians have no excuse for being naive about nuclear – by John Barber (Toronto Star – July 10, 2014)

July 10, 2014

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.

Given what we now know about the cost of nuclear power, why is Ontario ready to throw good money after bad to refurbish the Darlington Nuclear plant?

I admit I was young and naive back in the late 1970s when I boarded a school bus at Queen’s Park and travelled along with a shaggy group of protesters 70 kilometres east to demonstrate against the construction of the $4-billion Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. Some brought blankets to help scale the barbed-wire fence — and did that — but most of us just milled around for a few hours before leaving on the same yellow buses that had brought us.

If only we had known then the true cost of Ontario’s 20th-century nuclear empire — how after paying $30 billion to finance Darlington and its kin over the next three and a half decades, Ontarians would still owe $4 billion for the job in 2014 — the protest might have been more effective. Given the foresight, no sane citizen would have bought that deal.

But hindsight is a good enough proxy today as the engineers at Ontario Power Generation rush to complete their plans to refurbish the aging, still-not-paid-for nuclear complex — with the estimated costs of that $13-billion project seeming to rise every few months like alarm bells that never stop ringing.

History is repeating itself, but it’s no farce. With the Darlington refurbishment, Ontario risks another half-century or more of crippling debt to produce inherently dangerous, over-expensive electricity with ongoing waste-disposal costs calculated in molecular half-lives. It was a big mistake the first time, but can only be folly the second time around.

Opinion: First Nations, mining for change – by Russell Hallbauer (Vancouver Sun – July 9, 2014)

July 10, 2014

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

Agreement would give new meaning to New Prosperity mine’s name

Russell Hallbauer is president and CEO of Taseko Mines

Many readers likely will have read that the British Columbia government has now signed 14 economic development agreements with First Nations across the province. These agreements commit the provincial government to share up to 37 per cent of the B.C. mineral tax from B.C. mining operations collected within First Nations’ traditional territories.

Over the past four years, $12 million has been shared with various First Nations. The most recent agreement was the one signed May 21 on the Huckleberry Mine, a few hundred km from Williams Lake.

A similar agreement is being developed between the government and those bands in proximity to our Gibraltar Mine.

These agreements, over the next 25 years of Gibraltar’s life, will allow First Nations communities to benefit directly over and above employment and other opportunities, in the financial success of the Gibraltar Mine.

Taseko personnel were some of the earliest advocates of revenue sharing when the process began with government and the Mining Association of British Columbia a number of years ago.

Ring of Fire alternate infrastructure development model – CBC Thunder Bay Superior Morning (July 9, 2014)

July 10, 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay A different way to develop the infrastructure to support the Ring of Fire. We’ll hear why one consultant is suggesting an authority model that’s patterned on how we run aiports and harbour ports. Nick Mulder is a government relations lobbyist. He’s presenting his plan at a Northern Policy Institute Speakers Breakfast Thurs July 10 …

Founder of Canada’s first diamond mine Fipke sells remaining Ekati stake – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 9, 2014)

July 10, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Multimillionaire Canadian diamond magnate Charles ‘Chuck’ Fipke has agreed to sell his remaining stake in Canada’s first diamond mine, the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories, for $67-million to majority owner Dominion Diamond Corp.

Having discovered diamonds around Lac de Gras, in Canada’s Northwest Territories in the 1970s, Fipke focused his life’s work on finding the precious gems in Canada’s far north. A joint venture (JV) between Fipke’s Dia Met Minerals and BHP Utah in the 1980s and 1990s, climaxed in establishing the Ekati mine in 1998, with Fipke and prospecting partner Dr Stewart Blusson each holding a 10% interest in the mine.

Toronto-based Dominion, which last year bought out diversified miner BHP Billiton’s stake in Ekati for $553-million, said the sale would end Fipke’s financial involvement in the mine.

“Although the sale by Chuck Fipke of his interest in the Ekati project ends his financial involvement with Canada’s first diamond mine, his contribution to its discovery and success goes well beyond that. The history of Canadian mining is full of stories of accidents of fate leading to discoveries, but the discovery of diamonds in the Slave Geological Province is a story of years of dedicated technical work led by a focused technical expert with unwavering belief in the outcome,” Dominion chairperson and CEO Robert Gannicott said.

Aboriginal group on Vancouver Island signs deal for LNG project – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – July 9, 2014)

July 9, 2014

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.

VANCOUVER — A self-governing aboriginal group on Vancouver Island has signed a deal with a fledgling liquefied natural gas company in hopes of developing a massive project to export LNG to Asia.

Members of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations say they are eager to work with project leader Steelhead LNG Corp. to build an export terminal near Bamfield on the southwest side of Vancouver Island.

Huu-ay-aht First Nations chief councillor Jeff Cook said his group is in a strong position to help nurture a major venture in the resource sector. He noted that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last month that the consent of aboriginals is required for how their ancestral lands are used.

The Huu-ay-aht are part of the 2011 Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement, one of only a handful of treaty and land claim pacts in British Columbia. “We’re open for business.

For too long, we’ve been left behind in the resource industry and basically consulted after the fact. We want to be part of this LNG project,” Mr. Cook said in an interview.

Ontario miners, loggers await Supreme Court of Canada decision on treaty rights – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – July 9, 2014)

July 9, 2014

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

Get ready for another big aboriginal rights decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Friday, the Supreme Court will release a crucial decision on the wording of a 1873 treaty between the crown and the Ojibway Nation. The agreement, called Treaty 3, covers about 142,000 square kilometres in what is now a large part of northwestern Ontario and a small part of eastern Manitoba.

The legal rights of aboriginals have soared in public attention after the Supreme Court released its game-changing June decision that recognized the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s claim to aboriginal title in a case called Tsilhqot’in Nation (Roger William) v. British Columbia.

Much of the discussion about the Roger William case focuses on its implications for British Columbia. Most aboriginal groups in the other provinces have ceded their land to the crown by treaty. B.C. is unique because First Nations claim title to most of the provincial land mass. This raises questions about the certainty of tenure for resource projects located in B.C., and it leads to the suggestion that projects located in the treaty provinces might be more secure because they won’t be affected by aboriginal title claims.

Yet the existence of a treaty alone may not provide absolute certainty of tenure. It all comes down to how the courts interpret the wording used in those treaties.

New Potash Corp. CEO Jochen Tilk stresses continuity despite differences from Bill Doyle – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 9, 2014)

July 9, 2014

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

Investors who tired of Bill Doyle’s bombast will probably appreciate Jochen Tilk.

The new chief executive of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. could not be more different from his predecessor. While Mr. Doyle was the ultimate stock promoter, Mr. Tilk is a quiet and conservative mine operator. While Mr. Doyle rarely got through an interview or conference call without saying something outrageous, Mr. Tilk has dodged the limelight his entire career.

What Mr. Tilk does know how to do is operate mines as efficiently as possible. That is what Potash Corp. needs at this stage of the cycle, experts said, and that is one of the things he stressed on Tuesday.

“I believe, as most operators believe, there’s always an opportunity to get better,” the 50-year-old said in an interview from Saskatoon.

Mr. Tilk, who took over last week upon Mr. Doyle’s retirement, is only the third CEO in Potash Corp.’s history. He acknowledged that he has very big shoes to fill after Mr. Doyle’s wildly successful 15-year run, and he stressed continuity of his predecessor’s longstanding strategies — including the famous price-over-volume strategy — rather than any serious overhaul.

“When you look at the evolution of Potash Corp. from its origins to where it is today, you have to give [Mr. Doyle] credit for that. I certainly do,” said Mr. Tilk, who was formerly CEO of copper miner Inmet Mining Corp.

Joe Oliver to announce more provinces to join national securities regulator – by Gordon Isfeld (National Post – July 9, 2014)

July 9, 2014

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

OTTAWA — Saskatchewan, and perhaps one or more Atlantic provinces, will join Ontario and British Columbia in Ottawa’s proposed national securities watchdog, sources say.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Joe Oliver will announce that Saskatchewan will sign onto the fledgling Co-operative Capital Markets Regulator (CCMR), according to sources.

Possibly one or more of the Atlantic provinces will come on board, as well. If so, there is speculation that New Brunswick will be the front-runner to join the CCMR. Officials in provincial Finance Minister Blaine Higgs’ office did not respond to a request for confirmation.

However, even with just one province agreeing to participate, the federal government will have the “critical mass” of regional support to go ahead with the CCMR, said Ian Russell, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Association of Canada.

“You need at least three provinces to give you the critical mass that you need. And that would give you virtually 50% of the capital markets,” Mr. Russell said.

“There have been rumours for some time that at least one or two Atlantic Canada provinces have been leaning towards joining the cooperative regulator,” he added.