Indigenous people assert human rights land standards in UN Declaration

Read the full article from Wawatay News Online about proposed changes to the Ontario Mining Act. The changes would impact indigenous lands, a major concern of Northern Ontario First Nation leaders.

Here’s an excerpt:

— “We are one with the land,” Kitcheuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Chief Donny Morris said. “We know that proposed mining exploration site by Platinex, and eventually full scale mining will destroy our territory and our indigenous economies that sustained our peoples for thousands of years. Indigenous rights are human rights and they cannot be side-stepped by the province or mining corporations. Our indigenous economies need to be taken into account before mining exploration and development can take place.”

–“Goldcorp, Xtrata, Rio Tinto, they are all in our territory at various stages of development and extracting minerals meant to also benefit the Anishinabe in the treaty relationship,” Ogichidaakwe Diane Kelly of Grand Council Treaty #3 said, explaining the companies have been working with Treaty #3 through the Manito Aki Inakonigaawin (Great Earth Law) customs and traditions. “We expect the Mining Act modernization and resource benefit sharing models to help us create valuable contributions to our own economy in a productive and sustainable manner.”

— The Matawa First Nations expressed disappointment that their input into the revision of the Mining Act was not sufficiently considered by the Ontario government.

“During the consultation process, the Matawa First Nations people made it overwhelmingly clear to Ontario that an act of exploration, staking or mining activity on First Nation traditional lands without consent is intrusive of First Nations treaty rights and that consent from the community must be sought prior to the start of any activity.”

Other changes include: provisions for withdrawing significant Aboriginal cultural sites from claim staking; notification of Aboriginal communities immediately after a claim is staked; requirements for prospectors and companies to notify Aboriginal communities of plans for significant exploration activities within their traditional lands; provisions to enable restrictions on prescribed prospecting and exploration activities; and the introduction of a graduated approach to Aboriginal consultation, with the scope and degree tied to the impact of proposed exploration activities. This approach would outline consultation requirements, require environmental rehabilitation, and require exploration work plans or permits.

Jodi Rave