Kelsee posted this on Spider board

Chiefs want meaningful talks

KRIS KETONEN

01/21/2010

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories_local.php?id=237983

A group of First Nations believe the blockade of landing strips in the Ring of Fire mineral exploration area will lead to consultations with mining companies that amount to more than a “pat on the back.”

“A lot of companies come here, but they bypass us,” Harry Baxter, former chief of Marten Falls First Nation and a blockade participant, said Wednesday at McFaulds Lake, near Marten Falls.

The frozen McFaulds Lake is one of the airstrips blockaded by the First Nations. The other blockade is at the airstrip on nearby Koper Lake.

Both are used by mining companies exploring the Ring of Fire area, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, which has been shown to contain deposits of nickel, copper and chromite. The chromite deposit is so large that the eventual mining operation could become the largest of its kind and the only one in North America.

“They don‘t consult for this property,” Baxter said while standing in the cozy blue tent serving as the blockade camp kitchen. “It‘s just a matter of a handshake and a pat on the back.

“It doesn‘t resolve anything.”

The blockades are led by Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations – Aroland, Fort Hope, Ginoogaming and Long Lake 58 are supporting the blockades – in an effort to draw attention to what‘s happening in the Ring of Fire, an area both communities have traditional ties to, Marten Falls Chief Eli Moonias said Wednesday in the bitter cold near the blockade camp.

“We plan to stay here until our request for a forum to discuss issues (is accepted by mining companies),” Moonias said.

And there are myriad issues, Moonias said.

One major one is the environment. Work by mining companies to complete a new airstrip in the Ring of Fire has halted, and Moonias wants it completed to reduce damage to the lakes being used as airstrips during the winter.

In addition, he said, the band wants an environmental observer on-site to ensure damage to the lakes and bogs is minimal.

Employment, too, is a concern, Moonias said. The bands want their members trained and employed at the various mining sites, rather than companies bringing in outside workers.

“Right now, the communities are in a bad state employment-wise,” Moonias said. “There‘s no employment. Nobody‘s working.”

He said a few community members are working for the mining companies in “helper” roles around the camps. Moonias would he would like the companies to sign a deal so that the First Nations would operate their camps, in addition to getting trained for mining work.

“If people are working, getting up in the morning and knowing they have a job, that‘s what everybody wants,” he said. “The long-term issue here . . . is to try to gain that access to ownership (of the mines themselves).”

Another issue, he said, is the location of a planned access corridor. Some companies, he said, are working to build one south through Nakina, while the First Nations want it constructed so that it runs through their territories.

Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse said the First Nations aren‘t against the mining developments, but they want to be involved and share the benefits.

About 60 Webequie members were to arrive at McFaulds Lake on Wednesday, but their flight was delayed due to weather. As a result, just a handful were on-site. All told, about a dozen people were at McFaulds Lake.

Nevertheless, Wabasse said, the blockade will get the message out.

“We will look at more blockades if our demands are not met,” he said.

The blockade was working Wednesday.

Aside from a plane carrying media and guests to the McFaulds Lake camp, no other planes touched down there. Moonias said none have landed since the blockade began Monday, as the mining companies are respecting it.

A visit Wednesday to a Freewest camp – with the company‘s permission – revealed it to be all but empty.

If a plane did land during the blockade, Wabasse said, band members would tell those inside that the area is inaccessible and request the plane turn around.

“Our communities have a problem with getting their full education because of the remoteness,” he said. “They have to go to Thunder Bay or (another) urban centre to get their education.

“But working with the mining companies in terms of training and employment . . . that‘s what we are looking for.”

Freewest CEO and president Mac Watson, speaking from Montreal later Wednesday, said employment for First Nations members in the Ring of Fire is a “no-brainer.”

“This process is just starting now,” he said. “Exploration is exploration, and when the real work starts, that‘s when they‘ll really get involved.”

Watson said Freewest – which is conducting exploration work in the Ring of Fire and has a Thunder Bay office – is ready to sit down with affected First Nations at any time.