After widespread support for the Tsilhqot'in National Government in their efforts to protect Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) from destruction by the proposed Prosperity Mine, and the results of the CEAA review panel, the federal government rejected the proposal in November 2010.

Recently, Taseko Mines Ltd. submitted a new proposal to the federal government. This “new” proposal has not been made available to the public, nor has the BC government done an environmental assessment of it. Rather than proceeding with an assessment, BC's new Premier has already started lobbying the federal government to approve this proposal, which has yet to be subjected to any kind of assessment.

Taseko now claims that the mine can be developed without destroying Teztan Biny, but Little Fish Lake and Fish Creek would still be filled in with tailings. In their submissions to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency last year, Taseko asserted that, of all the available options, the plan that destroyed Teztan Biny would cause the least environmental damage. The federal review panel found that other alternatives that avoided direct destruction of Fish lake would still not protect its ecological and cultural values.

The communities of the Tsilhqot'in Nation continue to clearly and collectively say “No” to a project that would destroy a sacred site of great cultural and historic significance. The Tsilhqot'in communities have not given consent to the Prosperity Mine project that would be in an area of proven aboriginal rights as determined in the Supreme Court of BC. Secwepmec communities have also expressed opposition to the development of a power line through their territories that is needed to develop the mine.

“The company and supporters, such as some provincial government members, including Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon, continue to act as if money is the only issue here,” said Chief Marilyn Baptiste in a previous press release.  “We are not willing to sell out the land, the water, our rights, future generations, and our way of life at any price. Period.”

Furthermore, much of the copper and gold Taseko would like to access lies under the lake. In their submissions to the CEAA panel, the company said, “From a mine planning perspective, in order to meet the objective of maximizing the full potential of the mineral resource at Prosperity, mine planners and decision-makers need to contemplate and prepare for the development of a pit that infringes on Fish Lake.” The company went further to suggest that alternative development options would only preserve Teztan Biny in the short term.

The fragile ecosystems supported by the Taseko River, of which Teztan Biny is a part, would be seriously impacted by any development of a mine in the pristine watershed. The area where the mine is proposed is truly an ecological wonder, providing habitat for  an endangered population of grizzly bears, wild horses, and much more. Teztan Biny supports a genetically unique species of rainbow trout, a population that is self-sustained within the lake and creeks upstream. Though we do not know what alternative proposal Taseko Mines has submitted, they acknowledged options that would preserve the lake in the short term would use “other potentially acid-generating waste rock management methods that had not been proven at the appropriate scale.”

Taseko Mines ignores traditional indigenous economies and a thriving local wilderness tourism industry while trumpeting the economic benefits of this mine, yet they remain silent about the associated public costs. Dr. Marvin Shaffer has estimated that the provincial government would be subsidizing the project with $20 million per year for the life of the project. Tax revenues from the mine are unlikely to be more than $7.5 million. The Tsilhqot'in communities, the public, future generations, and the environment stand to lose much more.

With the fact that this mine, as planned, would be subsidized by public funds, would have an overwhelming amount of environmental damage associated with the original application (Taseko's “best environmental option”), has unresolved impacts on Little Fish Lake and the rest of the watershed, and because the Tsilhqot'in communities still are not providing consent for the project to proceed, there is no reason for the federal government to even consider looking at this project again. Certainly there is no basis for Christy Clark to be supporting it.

Tell the federal government and Christy Clark to respect aboriginal title and rights and the ecosystem by leaving Teztan Biny alone. The mine proposal needs to be permanently stopped and the Tsilqot'in must be allowed to preserve Teztan Biny and the Taseko watershed for future generations.

• Read the Tsilhqot’in National Government’s Press Release from February 24, 2011 here.
• Read more about the campaign against Schedule 2 changes to the Fisheries Act at www.canadians.org/schedule2.
• Read Dr. Marvin Shaffer's submissions to the Federal Review Panel here.
  
• Watch the documentary Blue Gold: The Fight for Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) here.