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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

NEWS RELEASE: Mining vs. Aboriginal Rights in Canada – Rio Tinto told to pay its rent to the Innu People

LONDON, UK, April 16, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – Three First Nations chiefs, dressed in traditional garb and aware of the historic nature of their action, have come to London to address the shareholders of mining giant Rio Tinto directly during their annual general meeting in today, April 16, 2015. On the floor of the meeting, they asked Rio Tinto’s president and CEO, Sam Walsh, and its board of directors to intervene to end a longstanding conflict between the Innu Nation in Quebec, Canada, and mining company IOC, majority owned by Rio Tinto.

Inspired by Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning, a political song demanding the return to Australian aboriginals of ancestral lands stolen 200 years earlier by British colonists, the Innu chiefs informed Rio Tinto that “it’s time to pay the rent,” 60 years after exploitation of their territory began.

Supported by international law recognizing that indigenous peoples have rights—notably free, prior and informed consent—the Innu chiefs wanted to inform Rio Tinto shareholders that they can shed light on the negligence of IOC in Canada.

The Innu chiefs sought to inform Rio Tinto shareholders that there is specific legal precedent in Canada, where a recent Supreme Court ruling recognized the existence of First Nations ancestral title and stated that Aboriginal peoples holding this title, including the Innu of Quebec, “have the right to the benefits associated with the land—to use it, enjoy it and profit from its economic development” (excerpt from the ruling).

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Quebec plans $100-millon loan to troubled Nunavik mine – by Sarah Rogers (Nunatsiaq News – April 16, 2015)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

The Quebec government is prepared to loan $100 million through a government-linked investment agency to Canadian Royalties and its parent company Jien Canada Mining Ltd., which owns and operates the Nunavik Nickel mine.

The news comes just days after Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard re-launched the government’s Plan Nord, which promised to invest billions into building the province’s economy north of the 49th parallel.

But opposition parties in the National Assembly had questions April 14 about the government’s decision to invest in the Nunavik mine, given the premier’s background. Couillard was named to Canadian Royalties’ board of directors in 2009, a year after he resigned as health minister under the Charest government.

Couillard also sat on the board alongside Dr. Arthur Porter, the disgraced former CEO of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, who faces fraud charges alleging his involvement with a multi-million dollar, kick-back scheme linked to the construction of a new hospital centre.

Opposition MNAs suggested Couillard’s connection to the mining company raises a conflict in the face of such a large government investment.

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Canadian-Japanese partners eye promising copper project in western Nunavut – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – April 15, 2015)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“We think we have a great start at building something terrific”

There’s something a little different about a new copper-silver project near Kugluktuk. This doesn’t come as a surprise because Matthew Hornor, president and CEO of a company called Kaizen Discovery, confided “our dream was to do things different” during an April 14 presentation to the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit.

“Kaizen,” by the way, means continuous improvement in Japanese, a language that Hornor, who has a long-time relationship with Japan, speaks fluently.

Kaizen Discovery’s Coppermine project is one of two Nunavut mining projects with Japanese partners — the other being Areva Resources Canada’s Kiggavik uranium project whose minority partners include Japan-Canada Uranium Co. Ltd. and Daewoo International Corp.

Kaizen’s Coppermine copper-silver project, acquired last November, is also a newcomer to the western Nunavut mining scene. Hornor said he’s reluctant to make promises until the company is sure the resources are there to support a large copper-silver mine project.

But this fledgling project has a few things that make it stand out among the slow-starting, stalled or failed mining projects in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region.

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Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Comments on Renewing Ontario’s Mineral Development Strategy

The following letter outlines the Northwestern Ontario Prospector Association’s (NWOPA) recommendations for Ontario’s new Mineral Development Strategy. NWOPA believes that the new Mineral Development Strategy should focus on three main points:

1) Solving the problem of uncertainty of land tenure
2) Assisting prospectors and junior exploration Companies
3) Acquisition and dissemination of new, high quality geoscience datasets

Recommendations follow the discussion of each point below.

1) Uncertainty of Land Tenure

The new Mining Act has taken a once thriving industry and crippled it with new rules and regulations at a time when global markets are suffering. The new rules and regulations are enough of a deterrent to exploration; however, what has truly driven investors away from the province of Ontario and demoted Ontario to rank 23rd in Mining Attractiveness, according to the 2015 Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies, is uncertainty of land tenure. Ontario’s Mining Attractiveness ranking has been decreasing in recent years, down from 14th place in year 2014 and 9th place in 2013.

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COMMENT: First Nations beating war drums – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – April 13, 2015)

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

I read a couple news releases last week involving complaints by First Nations about being left out of resource development decisions. No one doubts that they must be included. The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent rulings give weight to their claims.

But what is to be gained by opposing Noront’s desire to acquire those lands abandoned by Cliffs Natural Resources?

Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation put it thus: “With Noront’s announcement that it is trying to acquire the Cliffs assets, our First Nations have effectively been denied a real opportunity to benefit from key resources in our lands on our terms. This unilateral move by Noront is unacceptable to our First Nations.”

To say the First Nations have been sidelined already is a bit premature. Unless the chief is intimating that the First Nations have the wherewithal (think money) to buy out Cliffs and stage a multi-billion-dollar resource development themselves.

If the First Nations have a beef with Noront or don’t want to meet the company to work out economic participation, why is that? Again and again Canadian companies have shown that they welcome First Nation participation on many levels.

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Different Paths – Common Ground The viability of remote First Nations communities – by Peter Andre Globensky (Netnewsledger.com – April 14, 2015)

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – This series of articles on the future viability of remote First Nations communities began with our article on the importance of education to the future of First Nations in Canada. We celebrated the fact that First Nations youth are graduating in ever-increasing numbers. This, despite a troubling paradox: the newly educated, “the brightest and best,” rarely return to their communities of origin as there are so few employment prospects for them. We further suggested that First Nations communities located within an urban ambit or adjacent to major transportation arteries are more likely to provide a future for its members when compared to remote communities accessible only by air or winter roads, and lacking few viable prospects for economic development.

We then named the elephant in the room. There is a creeping reality which has become extremely difficult for most remote First Nations communities to accept. A reality that their traditional subsistence economies have migrated from foundational livelihood to cultural artifact. While central to the Aboriginal worldview and sense of self, traditional survival activities have been supplanted by an ad hoc, impermanent wage-based economy and/or social assistance. Nevertheless, to First Nations peoples these homelands serve to connect “the extremities to the heart,” and home is where the heart is.

But what are the prospects for these communities? What are the chances that remote First Nations will be able to support a vibrant, culturally rich homeland while providing sustainable opportunities for economic growth and development? Development consistent with the Aboriginal respect for the intrinsic value of the land upon which their ancestors thrived and their spiritual connection to it?

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First nations oppose Ring of Fire sale – by Staff (Sudbury Star – April 13, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Two first nation communities in the James Bay lowlands are protesting the proposed takeover of Ring of Fire assets by a Toronto-based company. In early March, Noront Resources Inc. announced it plans to buy the chromite assets owned by Cliffs Natural Resources, based out of Cleveland, for $20 million.

The chiefs of Marten Falls and Aroland First Nations, however, are now speaking out against this move, saying it will tread on their rights and prevent them from reaping the economic opportunities to which they are entitled.

“Our first nations have effectively been denied a real opportunity to benefit from key resources in our lands on our terms,” said Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation in a release issued Friday. “This unilateral move by Noront is unacceptable to our first nations.”

Bruce Achneepineskum, interim chief of Marten Falls First Nation, said the deal represents an “old way of thinking” when it comes to development in native lands.

“Progressive mining companies are inclusive, share resources equitably with indigenous peoples, and know that only real partnerships protect our rights, interests and environment,” he argued in the release.

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On land title, which road will aboriginal groups take? – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – April 11, 2015)

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.

It will take some time to measure the impact of the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgment on aboriginal title, and the significant additional powers it gives aboriginal groups with that title.

The judgment, nine months ago, involved the Tsilhqot’in Nation, with about 3,000 people. They had been fighting commercial logging since 1983 in the territory they claimed as theirs.

Courtesy of the Supreme Court, their aboriginal title was affirmed, which meant in layman’s language almost a de jure veto over anything done in that territory. The ruling was, of course, hailed by aboriginal leaders everywhere, but especially in British Columbia where there are few treaties.

Yes, the court said governments could assert some power to allow a development with a “compelling and substantial public purpose.” But in the real world, as opposed to the one of legal reasoning, such a showdown between a government’s “compelling and substantial public purpose” and an empowered aboriginal group would be messy at best and a stalemate at worst. A government would be very reluctant to put the amorphous “public interest” against a narrow but determined aboriginal one.

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MEDIA RELEASE: FIRST NATION CHIEFS OPPOSE NORONT’S PURCHASE OF CLIFFS’ ASSETS IN THE RING OF FIRE

Aroland First Nation

Marten Falls First Nation

Marten Falls First Nation, Ontario – April 10, 2015. The Chiefs of Marten Falls First Nation and Aroland First Nation re-affirmed today their opposition to Noront Resources’ proposed purchase of Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite assets.

Interim Chief Bruce Achneepineskum of Marten Falls First Nation and Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation met for two days this week with their advisors at a Bay Street law office in Toronto to review the status of the proposed Noront purchase of Cliffs chromite assets in the Ring of Fire. The Cliffs assets are in Marten Falls’ traditional territory. The proposed North-South corridor, which is essential to haul ore
out of the Ring of Fire, is in the traditional territory of both First Nations.

“With Noront’s announcement that it is trying to acquire the Cliffs assets, our First Nations have effectively been denied a real opportunity to benefit from key resources in our lands on our terms,” said Chief Gagnon. “This unilateral move by Noront is unacceptable to our First Nations.”

“We oppose this old way of thinking about mining and trampling on First Nation rights,” said Interim Chief Achneepineskum. “The world has changed.

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Aboriginal Leader Says Consult or Risk Canada Resource Gains – by Greg Quinn (Bloomberg News – April 10, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Canada’s top aboriginal leader warned that the country’s push for resource projects will be bogged down in legal and political strife unless governments consult more on revenue sharing and environmental protection.

“People won’t invest in Canada if there is instability, if there is no partnership with indigenous peoples,” Perry Bellegarde, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, said Wednesday in an interview at Bloomberg’s Ottawa office. He said disputes over resource rights with aboriginals will affect most of the estimated C$675 billion ($536 billion) of projects over the next decade.

Aboriginal power is growing, as was shown in recent court victories involving land-claim issues and the Idle No More street protests that began about two years ago, said Bellegarde, who in December was elected to head the group representing about 900,000 people in 634 communities. Leaders of Canada’s First Nations will choose from a range of political and legal “alternatives” if the government continues to fail to “consult and accommodate” aboriginals, he said.

“So how do you stop that? Check your political strategy, check your legal strategy, and people will probably get on the land to protect the land,” he said. The pressure will also include more political lobbying in the run-up to the federal election expected in October, Bellegarde said.

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New Plan Nord calls for smaller investment as metal, mineral prices tumble – by Peter Hadekel (Montreal Gazette – April 9, 2015)

http://montrealgazette.com/

From the start, the Quebec government’s Plan Nord strategy to develop the resource-rich northern regions of the province has been more about marketing than anything else.

First conceived by then-premier Jean Charest in 2011, it called for $80 billion in public and private investment over 25 years. But critics pointed out that many of the projects would have gone ahead anyway and that the whole operation was a convenient way for Charest to grab some headlines.

Four years later, the current version of the Liberal government has dusted off the Plan Nord and relaunched it. True to form, the announcement Wednesday was a slick marketing presentation with a lot more style than substance.

While details were scarce, the new plan revealed the government is much less optimistic about the amount of investment expected. Instead of $80 billion, we’re talking $50 billion by 2035, said Premier Philippe Couillard.

Some $20 billion will come from Hydro-Québec in the form of new projects and $2 billion will be spent on public infrastructure like roads and airports.

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A new deal for the Ring of Fire – by Rick Millette (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 5, 2015)

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

Rick Millette is senior executive director: Ring of Fire at Northern Policy Institute.

The cards have been shuffled on the ownership and history of the Ring of Fire. Noront Resources has made a brilliant play in buying the claims of Cliffs Natural Resources for a small fraction of what was originally paid for them. Noront’s shares jumped on the news. Optimism has returned.

The recent announcement of a road study for an east-west link to First Nations communities near the Ring has furthered hopes for movement on the entire project. The study is inclusive of the Matawa Tribal Council.

Some of their communities will be connected to the outside world in a way that will help improve living conditions by making everything from food to building materials more affordable. And, whatever route the road takes, it will get Noront closer to its proposed mine site.

The cherry on the cake is that the joint federal-provincial funding of the road study has served as an olive branch, calming the stormy rhetoric between the two levels of government. From shareholders, to landholders, to vote holders, everyone is beaming.

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NEWS RELEASE: Minister Rickford: Canada’s Plan for Responsible Resource Development Supports British Columbia’s Energy and Mineral Potential

VANCOUVER, March 31, 2015 /CNW/ – The Honourable Greg Rickford, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, today delivered keynote remarks hosted by the Vancouver Board of Trade, where he highlighted how Canada’s plan for Responsible Resource Development is supporting jobs, protecting the environment and enhancing First Nations engagement.

Minister Rickford reinforced Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent announcement accelerating the capital cost allowance on equipment used for liquefied natural gas (LNG) development from eight percent to 30 percent. Our government is supporting the Province of British Columbia’s efforts to advance LNG development, thereby creating Canadian jobs and generating revenue to support critical social programs.

The Minister also highlighted the Harper Government’s recent decision extending the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit. During a challenging global economy, this incentive helps keep investment in the mining industry flowing. Since 2006, it has assisted junior mining companies in raising over $5.5 billion.

Minister Rickford also emphasized the Harper Government’s announcement earlier this month expanding the definition of Canadian Exploration Expenses for tax purposes to include costs of environmental studies and community consultations that are required to obtain a permit for grassroots exploration. Companies can deduct these costs, making it easier for them to raise capital, create jobs and contribute to the economy.

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Mine your own business: Plan Nord’s disastrous consequences – by Jasreet Kaur (McGill Daily – March 30, 2015)

http://www.mcgilldaily.com/

With recent austerity measures affecting many economic sectors within Quebec, the provincial government is desperately looking for new sources of income. The precious metal industry is still profitable, and mining developments such as Plan Nord could bring investors to the province, acting as a safety net to protect people from the ongoing cuts. However, this would not come without a cost that would be shouldered by current and future generations.

The benefits of invasive projects such as Plan Nord are often only measured by their immediate value, leaving out negative externalities. Plan Nord is expected to cause substantial environmental damage to the region, due both to the resource extraction the project would entail, as well as its magnitude. In addition to the environmental damage, however, the project will have significant negative impacts on the local communities in the North, particularly with regards to women.

Plan Nord was initially proposed by the Liberal government led by Jean Charest in 2011, but was shut down by Pauline Marois after the Parti Québécois (PQ) came into power in 2012. The PQ has traditionally held an antagonistic position toward the mining sector. Recently, however, with the comeback of the Liberals, a revised version of the project has started to gain steam once again.

This version, which encompasses 72 per cent of the land area of Quebec, an area twice the size of France, is expected to create significant economic benefits for the province, including the creation of 20,000 jobs.

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