There was a time not long ago in BC when the main environmental pariah in the province was the forest industry, but that is no longer so. Over the last 15 years the forest industry changed how it worked and forged serious partnerships with First Nations. It saw it had to change and it did. The sub-surface industries are now at a similar crossroads: they have to change or close up shop.
For the mining and fossil fuel energy sectors it is not a good situation to have become the number one environmental enemy, but this is made worse with how the industries deal with the public, rural communities and First Nations.
The industries could be doing a lot to improve their situation but they are acting like the BC forest industry did in the 1980s and early 90s. On top of this we have the recent Tsilhqot’in decision and the Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach.
The Tsilhqot’in decision indicates that a significant part of BC is likely to have aboriginal title and for companies to operate on that land they will need First Nations consent. That consent is much easier to achieve when there is a positive relationship. Overall the mining industry, especially mineral exploration juniors, has not worked hard to build these sorts of relationships.
The New Prosperity gold mine project in the Chilcotin has had a tough time getting approvals to be built. Taseko Mines’s relationship with the Tsilhqot’in is at best awful and this was made no better when on June 26 the company issued a press release that denied the mine site had any aboriginal title issues.