Catface Mine Controversial But Will be Pursued
By 250 News
Monday, June 07, 2010 03:57 AM
Catface Mtn
Prince George, B.C.- The Catface Mountain mine project, about 13 kilometers from Tofino is not a mining project Imperial Metals needs to pursue but Imperial Chairman and Director Pierre Lebel says it is a project they will pursue.
The project is fairly controversial. The asset lies within Catface Mountain, in Clayoquot Sound.
Just a couple of weeks ago, when Imperial Metals had it’s annual general meeting, outside, there was a large protest .
Catface Mountain is an asset Imperial Metals acquired last year when it acquired Selkirk Metals. “It’s an asset that personally I thought we shouldn’t pursue because of the emotional attachment people have to Clayoquot Sound and the sensitivity. I thought this was really too much to expose our people to the kind of criticism and grief that will result from even whispering that project. So we will de-prioritize it.”
Lebel says it was the people who joined Imperial through the acquisition of Selkirk, who brought it to his attention that leaving the Catface asset alone, may not be the right thing to do. They said his view was ill informed because he didn’t understand the living conditions of the Ahousaht people and the state of their village.
The Ahousaht village is 4 km away from the mine site, across the channel, and he went to Ahousaht. “We heard from the elders who said we have no hope, we have no self esteem, we have no jobs for our young people, we have drug abuse, alcohol use, physical abuse, there’s 15 to 20 of us piled into housing with no plumbing.” Lebel says he saw the conditions, the “deplorable state of the village, I can’t even begin to describe it to you, but if you read Dickens, you might begin to get a sense.”
Lebel says the elders said they needed the mine. “We explained this mine will be 24-7, the lights are on, you’ll hear the blasts, it’s right across your channel, it’s right there,. They said no, we will do everything we possibly can to support this.”
Lebel says the Ahousaht have since viewed other mine properties to get a better sense of the operations, have formed committees to work and have stood side by side with the mining company supporting this project as their own project.
“On that basis I have said, we will not turn out back on this obligation. We are miners and we have a social obligation to do that job. If this community wants this development to take place, we will not shy away from that, even if it means protests and so forth.”
Lebel says he still remains of two minds on the project “I wonder how resolved those folks will be going forward , but if they are resolved, we will be resolved. This is not an asset that we need to pursue but this is an asset we will pursue under the right conditions.”
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Posted by: northman on June 7 2010 10:25 AM
How long have these Natives been there
How did they survive to this point.
How can they live in BC under these conditions and the Governments of the day do nothing about it.
How much money is given to these Natives every year, and how is it spent.
Are we to beleive that these people live under these conditions and are completely ignored by other people of BC and the Governments. If so, we are indeed a sad example of a society.
Lets hear some feedback on this situation from people who live in the area.
Remember the old saying **Beware of Geeks bearing gifts**