The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.
ian@thompsoncitizen.net
Representatives of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) held a press conference outside the provincial governments Mines Branch and Mineral Resources Division office in Winnipeg on April 26 to announce that Manitoba First Nations are declaring moratoriums on resource development in their traditional territories and that stop work orders on mine development are being posted and will be enforced.
“We’re no longer going to be sitting back watching corporations and governments come into our traditional territories and ancestral lands and exploit our resources, leaving us nothing at the end of the day,” said AMC Grand Chief Derek Nepinak. “We’re not going to accept that. The status quo is done. For far too many generations now, provincial governments, federal governments have worked in collusion with the corporate industries to come into our territories and to take the vast wealth of our ancestral lands. Meanwhile they come back to us with contribution agreements that are wholly inadequate to provide for the basic needs of our communities and our citizens. Those days are over, those days are done and what’s happening here I think is an emergence of a new unified position. Once again our people are leading the way.”