Coast Salish Territory (West Vancouver) – The First Nations Summit Chiefs in Assembly, who wrapped up three days of meetings in North Vancouver today, have passed by consensus, a firm resolution to oppose the recently proposed amendments to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The resolution states that the First Nation Summit Chiefs “seek assurances from the Government of Canada that not one natural fish-bearing water body in British Columbia will be impacted by unwarranted mining projects or any other industrial activity, without the free, prior, and informed consent of affected First Nations.”
First Nations in British Columbia were not involved in any consultation process on proposed changes to these upstream regulations, all of which would pose serious and detrimental impacts on their Aboriginal title and rights, especially given that the proposed changes would facilitate the use of natural fish-bearing water bodies (lakes, rivers, etc) as tailing impoundments areas (TIA) for new mines or for other industrial developments.