Chief Sam, I do believe if you were to run a poll in your community, your standing alone. Mt Milligan should go ahead. It was approved in the Eighties, and approved again by the EA from both levels of government.

As per usual Nak'azdli just want money. They always say the same rhetoric about it being traditional lands..but show them the right amount of money and they easily toss aside all these supposed concerns.

Everyone is so shocked by this statement - came right our of left field didn't it?



Perhaps a few more Million$ in Band's pocket are what is needed to change his mind? Nooooo.........that could not possibly be the motive.

Get the check book out...That's all they want. This project is of the utmost importance to this area. We can't afford these delays any longer. These First Nations folk have got to stop and realize where their money comes from. Time to put a stop to this BS and all pull the wagon in the same direction. There is no longer any need for these confrontations. It has got to stop before there are no projects left to support our tax base. Without resource development we are all finished. First Nations has to wake up and realize how their bread gets buttered. It most certainly does not come from there own efforts.

Well, why do we need to give them any money. The province said it was OK, the Feds say its OK. Why are we feeding them,.... because there being whinney. Ah suck it.

Nope, its just Sam, with his own personal agenda's using his title to his advantage.

If they want a blockade. We'll get the unemployed logging truckers to clear the roads.

I am positive, there is a lot first nation people don't mind the mine at all, they are not all on the system. They want to be successful just like everyone else. The first nation communities do not ask for much.... equal opportunity.

years ago there was a blockade on the road north of fort st james. The natives would not let the logging trucks haul. I am told a local contractor went out with a feller buncher and dropped a couple of trees on the power line and cut off the power to the reserve. As it was quite cold it took the natives less than 24 hrs to remove the blockade so hydro could restore their power this is the kind of things the local natives understand. I think it is time they were told what is theirs and what belongs to the taxpayers.

I think the chief needs to look up the word 'consult'. He is thinking 'ask permission' maybe.

My hubby is working out of Grande Prairie in the oil patch to keep a roof over our heads, make payments on a pickup truck (purchased locally just before we lost our timber contract),and to send our son to UNBC. How long can we live like this? Hopefully we can make it till new work comes up.
We want to stay, but we will not stay if it means becoming a burden to society.

Perhaps there are enough people underemployed here now who have time to begin and sustain pressure for this new mine to open.

They have been consulted every inch of the way! The truth of the matter is they should not have been, because the mine is not on their traditional territory. They already signed off on that years ago. By the way, the logging conactor they blockaded was a Nak'azdli band member. They don't even want their own members to succeed. What a shame!

If anybody wants to voice their opinion to the Band here is the contact info

For more information, please contact Anne Marie Sam, Nak’azdli First Nation Primary Phone: 250-649-8284 Secondary Phone: 250-996-7171

To the Federal and Provincial Environmental aSsessment people. We support you decision.

Sure, Mt Milligan going ahead is progress.
Shooting down Kemess North costs jobs, but the EA people did the right thing.

Keep up the good work. Your job impacts a lot of people. Its not an easy job. Its got to be one of the toughest desks jobs out there. But of the two mines mentioned, I think you were dead on, on both of them

Good job.

Great show of integrity Anne Marie Sam! Not many people will put themselves out their and actually open that door to a real conversation regarding the situation. Most just vent and react to urban myths based on a lack of education about the topic at hand!

I don't know whether there is some hidden reason that the Nakazdli elders do not want this mine, or whether what has been said is the reason, but the completely unsubstantiated and insulting accusation that money will buy their compliance is, quite frankly, ignorant.

Now let mew see, the mining companies and all their investors are putting up the millions of dollars to develop this mine out of the goodness of their hearts, aren't they? They don't want anything back from it, and most certainly none of the filthy, disgusting money that the mine will generate. No, of course not. They have the most altruistic of motives, and the thought of all the profits from that gold and copper most certainly do not make them drool all the way to the bank, does it?

As I said, absolutely ignorant!

Sorry to burst your bubble with the itegrity angle Becca but Ann Marie Sam didn't post the comment with the bands contact information. I posted it because I think the band should be openly questioned regarding their motives.

To much idle Time on your Hand, to much time to think, where does all the Money come from to pay you, do you really think this will go on forever, like one Lady said her Husband went to work in Alberta so they can survive, give your Head a shake, wake up!

People want to stay here. We want good jobs HERE! I have no desire to go back to Alberta for a job where I know nobody and my family remains behind because even with a good job in Alberta I cannot afford a mortgage or even rent for a decent house to replace what I need here.

Sure businesses want to make money. It is what makes our world go round. Here is a viable mine that will provide well paying jobs for everyone regardless of colour. I have no issues with the native people working side by side with the rest of us.

Nothing to talk about, EA says OK. That is all that matters.

Seriously, the mine owners only concern now is to line up the financing and away they go. Great.

Hey an independent body says its OK, so lets go with it. If they said No, like at Kemess North, it does not go.

Talk, talk, yak , yak , yak. Whose gonna bring home the bacon! Yep you guessed it, the working man... aka "Northern Redneck"

This "stuff" will never stop because this stuff is a symptom of a total absence of clarity of how our country is supposed to deal with native claims and native rights.

The province's and territories hands are essentially tied as this is the domain of the federal government.

What the federal government has neglected for as long as anyone could remember is having the guts and foresight to set down a workable solution and stick by it.

Ever since Pierre Trudeau and then Minister Of Indian affairs, Jean Cretian broke open this issue when the James Bay Hydro project started..its been a politically unstopable slide towards an impossible end.( impossible because the country cannot afford it)
Trudeau later admitted this was a huge mistake and regretted opening this door which he later realised could be impossible to close.

Ever since that era we have had things, major things like the Berger commission on the Mackenzie pipeline which is still being delayed some 30+ years later.
Hundreds if not thousands of other projects which have either been delayed or cancelled or not attempted because of this uncertainty.

Canada is either a nation which encompasses all of the country and everyone within its borders OR its just an outer perimiter line on a map which has hundreds of independent nations within it.

The federal government has lead native people to believe this; "numerous first nations within a nation concept"..and they have lead this notion, as possible, while having no possible means to actually provide it. Every time an issue arises the government and the political heads must step back from it and send this to the courts to decide. Well... the feds have not done their job and the courts have decided many things which might have served a solution to one dispute, however they have lead to numerous conclusions which are precedents that cannot be applied everywhere. It is not the role of the courts to decide such matters and that is exactly who has had to do this. It is not right that the taxpayors must fund this and its not right that native peoples are forced to find answers from the courts. Its not right that business and development be caught in the middle of all this either.

Canadian people, which includes native peoples, have an obligation to hold to account all governments, federal, provincial and native governments to the overall greater good of all.

It is simply a farce to believe it can work any other way.

hopeforfuture The natives should thank you and your husband. He has to leave town for work to support his family. Now some of the taxes he pays will go to supporting the natves so they don't have to leave town. That is real nice of him. Now when this mine starts hiring who will be at the front of the line picking off the first jobs, the natives whom he supported. He may or may not get a job at the mine.

Tough

While it's true that Anne Sam didn't post her contact information here, it's hardly a secret. It's on every Nak'azdli press release on this topic. The most recent one is here: http://www.cstc.bc.ca/news/text/583/35/press+release+-+the+federal+government+has+joined+the+bc+government+in?.

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
The Nak’azdli band leaders will keep on delaying projects on thier so called traditional land/berry picking property as long as the government(Prov/feds)keep on filling thier pockets to shut them up. The Mcleaod Lake band as well as The Nak’azdli(Fort St.James)band have been involved with the Mount Millican property nocotiatons for years. It WAS put to rest about a year ago, and now that the Feds put thier stamp on the project, there is MORE oppurtunity to, lets say, nocotiate some more. Did I forget to mention that the property is actually on the Mcleod Lake band land.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

After reading the political diatribe on the above link I come to the conclusion that the objections have nothing to do with possible environmental impacts.

Even if there were zero environmental impacts and all kinds of consultations some other reasons would likely be made up to try to stall and shelve the mine project.

"I don't know whether there is some hidden reason that the Nakazdli elders do not want this mine...(ammonra).

That's possible. Let's have the real reason(s)!

Btw, why would investors invest and create a corporation in order to conduct a business (employing workers) if only the workers were allowed to profit (with wages and benefits) and nothing for the ones who put up and risk the money?

If the business fails who takes all the losses?

Where is the fairness and incentive to do anything in such an arrangement???

shovels and brooms and make all those on welfare or visiting the Salvation army or St. Vincint dePaul"s soup kitchens and food banks clean up the streets sidewalks ditchs and what ever kind of job there is before they can collect Some opinions might change then.

Wow, I must say, our education system REALLY needs to start teaching Canadian students about their own history!

I cannot believe all the uneducated knee-jerk comments here.

If the mine goes ahead without this issue being settled the problem just gets passed on to our children and grandchildren.

This is Canadian law - and it is being broken, and the victims are being crucified in the court of public opinion.

If you agree with what our government has done here, please don't EVER complain if you feel your legal rights have been trampled on.

I'm confused as to why the Nak’azdli indian band even has the right to dispute the EA. Mt Milligan is not even on the land they claim as theirs. The Mcleod indian band has the territorial rights to this land. Its time to stop paying off these greedy bands. Our government needs to grow some balls, we all live in Canada how about we all get treated the same. If you want to go live in your tradition ways fair enough the land is yours, but no more tax free trucks, no more power, no more guns, no more hardwood floors and houses to use as firewood. oh and no more driving on the roads your local sawmill built. You can walk your ass through the bush to Mt Milligan and do whatever it is there that makes it so important to you.

"why would investors invest and create a corporation in order to conduct a business (employing workers) if only the workers were allowed to profit (with wages and benefits) and nothing for the ones who put up and risk the money?"

Well, of course, they would not, and neither should they. Investors have every right to expect a return on their money.

So do the owners of the mineral rights. If that is an Indian Band, then buy the mineral rights from them or pay royalties some way. That doesn't mean they are greedy and unethical, it means they are being good business people. The royalties for the mineral rights are just the cost of doing business on someone else's land.

I think it is time for a BC Taxpayers blockade. When they erect a blockade of a road or project such as this mine after it has met all the requirements. Like the logger in Ft St James drop trees across the power lines cutting the power. Block the roads so they can not get out of their so called "traditional lands" unless the wish to walk like their forefathers. Is the white man perfect. It is time to put the native bands on a level playing field with every one else in society. In other words if you want to eat get a job. If their are no jobs in your traditional area then move to where the jobs are. Just as the Newfoundlander's did in Ft. MacMurry. I don't think Walmart cutting a trail through the bush to put a Walmart in Ft. Ware.
I don't see Cambodian Tire beating the bush to put up a store in McLoud Lake.

It is funny how they "The Natives" are always crying about the unemployment on their reserves or traditional lands and when a project does come to their "Traditional Lands" they wine and cry about it until the trough flows with cash.
This type of mentality is unsustainable.
Sooner or later the public trough has got to dry up. How long does the rest of society have to pay ransom for the way things we done 150 years ago.

Great! The owners of the mineral rights (whoever they are) should come clean and say outright how much in royalties they want in order to make a deal - a business deal!

We need the jobs, we need the taxes that businesses and people pay - to run the country and pay for all the entitlement programs that are already in place - including the billions that natives get in transfer payments every year!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just snap our fingers and untold billions of dollars would pop up from somewhere to pay for everything?

That's my opinion and it is based on reality, not wishful thinking.

Diplomat wrote:

"If the business fails who takes all the losses?"

Let's count them up .....

1. Those who have provided the services to the land - mainly the province and its taxpayers

2. Those who ensure cleanup after the mine closes and is left in limbo - the province and its taxpayers, possibly some performance bonding companies = people who invest in such companies and buy bonds.

3. the workers who relocated their families at their cost, made local investments in housing, etc. which might bomb, and continue to live a nomadic life rather than finding a "real" job in a stable community.

4. The local people, who are once more being pulled along through short term extractive industries rather than longer term, more sustainable industries.

5. the local people who see the repeated inmigration of workers from other parts of Canada taking the good jobs and sending much of the money back home such as is the case with "Mercenary".

6. Finally, those who invest in the stocks of the companies who will do the main work and are not wise enough or lucky enough to take the winnings on the way up and get out early enough, and thus get stuck with the losses.

Extractive industries are the same the world over. They are nomadic enterprises who get away with as much as the local governemnts allow them to get away with or as much as the local governments are stupid enough to not even understand what they are getting away with.

I think any reasonable First Nation is after exaclty the same thing that the rest of the population is after - stability, sustainability, quality of life, a better tomorrow for their families they are bringing to the world.

Those objectives are quite different from the objectives of nomadic enterprises that live off the land we all live in.

The question is, how much should those nomadic enterprises have to pay for the priviledge of working on OUR land?

Does anyone know whether, over the long run, they take away from the communities which exist in the region or add to the them? The answer to that question is not as simple as it looks.

BW, it is an answer that the EA does not look for. THAT is the problem!!!!!

The amount of royalties is a matter for negotiation between the owners (in this case a First Nations band) and the wannabee developers. Instead, we have the senior level of government interfering BEFORE that is done and approving a mine at the request of the developers, and doing so without involving the owners of the mineral rights.

Riding roughshod over someone's rights is not the way to get cooperation. Respectful consideration gets people a lot further, I would say. Paying lip service to First Nations' aboriginal rights is not the same as actually doing it. The governments and the company need to learn that.

The old days are gone, get used to it. Pay the cost of doing business, in money and attitude!

The old philosphical question is whether a tree falling in the forest makes a sound if no one is there to hear it.

The analogy is, does an extrative industry have an environmental impact if no one is there to notice, drink the water, breathe the air, fish the fish, enjoy the view, etc. etc.

The real impact is the social impact of the people who live in the communities directly involved that can make some money from the local services required, but also have to invest in ramping up the capacity. The mines are not the only ones to invest.

The community dynamics of one horse towns, and that is essentially what many of the smaller surrounding communities are, are relatively well known. They typically include social problems at home, poor schooling for the children, substance abuse of one sort or another, financial instability, etc. etc.

Several one horse towns, such as the Mackenzie of the 1970s, were subjects of studies which nicely outlined the problems in such communities compared to larger, more diverse communities.

As I wrote above, very few people understand or even care about the ture cost accounting of an operation moving inot a community and then back out again.

That is one of the considerations which an enterprise will look at when they decide to extract minerals in location A rather than location B.

Remember, this region is not the only one that has the minerals. When someone decides to extract them here rather than there, there is a reason many of us are not aware of, but it has to do a lot with something spelled S-U-B-S-I-D-I-E-S. And guess who the subsidizer is.

From a Russian site dealing with single industry towns ....

http://www.riocenter.ru/en/_news/4609

"Summing up the discussion, Gontmakher pointed out that today there were three major issues facing single-industry cities:
1. employment,
2. housing and
3. establishing a dialogue between businesses, the state and people."
-------------------------
Where is the dialogue in Canada between businesses, the province and the people living in the communities? Certainly not handled during the EA process.

So, are we any better than Russia?

Another very recent document about single industry towns, especially those based on extractive industries as opposed to such communities that have educational industries as the dominant force, for example ....

http://www.nilf.no/Forsiden/Bm/2009/S20091012-NaringslivDistrikt-BrydenJohn.pdf

Those who think that the First Nations do not know what they are talking about really need to take another look with a bit more wholistic approach to see who is really the more self centered "I want it now at any cost" individual.