Roger William, past chief of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations, drums at a meeting this afternoon with the Council of Canadians and MiningWatch Canada.
Peter Zimonjic of Sun Media reports tonight that, “Tribal chiefs from B.C. planned for months to travel to Ottawa in an attempt to save a lake they’ve used for 5,500 years from destruction, but with Parliament prorogued were left discouraged this week at not being able to speak with any key cabinet ministers.”
“The three chiefs, and one former chief, from the Williams Lake area in the B.C. interior are trying to save Fish Lake from being turned into a toxic waste dump for a massive gold and copper mine. Mining operations don’t only pull gold and copper from underground, but waste rock that needs to be stored underwater to prevent it from releasing toxins into the environment.”
An amendment to the Fisheries Act allows a lake to be reclassified as a tailings impoundment area. “The proposed Prosperity Mine at Fish Lake would require the same reclassification to move forward.”
“The B.C. government recently approved the mine through its environmental assessment process and the chiefs are awaiting word from the federal government’s equivalent body.”
“‘We’re very, very concerned and are demanding that the Canadian government drop this policy, stop allowing mining companies in this country to destroy clean lakes and ecosystems,’ said Maude Barlow, water campaigner and national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, who met with the group Thursday.”
The full article is at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Environment/2010/02/11/12845311-qmi.html.
