Representatives from Taseko Mines told a federal review panel that misinformation being spread about their proposed New Prosperity copper and gold mine has soured public opinion about the project among Aboriginals.
During concluding remarks at community hearings in Xeni Gwet'in last week, five officials from the B.C. mining company said their inability to secure meetings with First Nations leaders combined with what the company believes is inaccurate information about the risks of the proposed mine have made it difficult for them the garner support.
Through three days of hearings last week local First Nations residents in the Nemaiah Valley expressed their concerns about the project, ranging from environmental risks to the disruption of sacred ground to an inability to operate eco-tourism businesses in proximity to a working mine.
Taseko senior vice-president of operations John McManus told the three-member Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel that the company believes many of those assumptions are based on faulty premisses.
"There's been experts who have been hired that are telling the people that the mine will cause massive environmental damage, salmon in the rivers will die, the grizzly bears will be made extinct, that the land that Xeni Gwet'in depends on for their way of life will be destroyed," McManus said. "We've heard that if the mine goes ahead there will no longer be any place to practice the traditions and rituals that are so important to their culture and their spirituality and to their heritage."
McManus said none of those things are true and that the project both be done safely and "provide the foundation springboard" to improve economic opportunities for First Nations in the Cariboo.
Taseko's first attempt to build a mine about 125 kilometres south of Williams Lake failed after an environmental review revealed concerns about the impact on Fish Lake. The company modified its plan, in part by deciding to no longer use Fish Lake as a tailings pond, and is seeking permission to proceed with construction.
The federal review panel will offer its opinion to the government, but it's cabinet who will have the final say. Provincial approval will also be required, but the province did conclude the benefits of the initial proposal outweighed the risks.
In addition to the misinformation, McManus also bemoaned the fact the company has been unable to secure meetings with leaders of the Tsilhqot'in National Government in recent years. As a result he said the interactions have only occurred in formal hearings like the environmental assessment hearings which he characterized as not a productive place to meet.
The company also used their reply statements to emphasize their belief that First Nations people don't have a veto over land use on their traditional territories. Company lawyer Karl Gustafson told the panel that regardless of past court decisions, Taskeo believes it has a right to build and operate the mine.
"In our view, what we have heard in the past few days is a lot of commentary that reflects a larger political agenda and a struggle for broader rights" Gustafson said. "We understand that ambition, but for now, and for all purposes of this proceeding, we need to deal with the law as it is."
Community hearings at other First Nations communities continue this week where the panel is expected to hear from more people opposed to the project. Despite all the opposition, McManus said the company stands behind its assertion that the mine would be good for people in the region, including Aboriginals.
"It's not the company's business or duty to right all of the past wrongs," McManus said. "Our responsibility and duty is to be responsible now and into the future, and we believe we're doing that."
