Six Ring of Fire First Nations communities have warned the companies hoping to develop the area’s rich chromite and nickel-PGM deposits, including international iron ore and coal miner Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF-N), that they’re about to be evicted.
In a press release on June 22, several communities warned that they were in the “final stages of issuing a 30-day eviction notice to all mining companies with exploration and development camps in the region” of northern Ontario’s James Bay lowlands.
“We are sending a strong message to Ontario and Canada that we need to negotiate a process for First Nation participation in the mining projects that will be changing our lives forever,” said Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias in a statement. “Unless and until we have a table for government to government negotiations we will evict the intruders from our lands.”
Asked if the eviction could be avoided, Moonias said yes, and outlined several issues that first need to be addressed by government.
First, Moonias says that the relationship between governments and First Nations must be treated as a government to government relationship, adding that First Nations are not “stakeholders.”
“We are a treaty nation. We’re not cottage holders or stakeholders of any kind, we are a government, we have authority over our lands. That’s why we need to create a table where we can sit across from the government on a tripartite level.”
Moonias also wants the province to embrace the principle of free, prior informed consent, something that isn’t included in the recently revised Ontario Mining Act.
In addition, he says more environmental oversight over Ring of Fire companies is needed, because the government is not monitoring their impact.
If an eviction notice is issued and the mineral companies don’t respect it within 30 days, Moonias says the coalition will peacefully occupy their camps to prevent work on their claims. The First Nation coalition will ask for the support of chiefs across Canada at the upcoming Assembly of First Nations meeting in Toronto, July 17-19.
For the rest of this article, please go to the Mining Markets website: http://www.miningmarkets.ca/news/ring-of-fire-eviction-can-be-avoided-says-neskantaga-chief/1001505159/
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