Can one of the most unfriendly activities humankind has ever inflicted on the planet possibly be done sustainably and respectfully?[rssbreak]
I wonder about this at the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada earlier this month, where the agenda includes substantial talk about the environment, human rights and corporate social responsibility.
PDAC’s gathering is no minor affair. More than 20,000 people from all walks of mining and business life descend on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for sessions on airborne mapping, ground-?penetrating radar and the prospects for nickel and gold. Most sessions are financial and technical in nature. Still, surface cracks are beginning to show.
Outside the convention, protesters carry placards bearing the photographs of mine opponents Mariano Abarca Roblero of Chiapas and Marcelo Rivera Moreno of El Salvador, both killed after raising alarms about eco and human rights abuses.
Inside, it’s business as usual, but with a silver lining. Aboriginal participation is at an all-?time high. Alex Jacobs, an elder with the Ojibwe First Nation of Whitefish Lake near Sudbury, opens the convention, as he has for the past couple of years, with a smudging ceremony and blessing.
An entire day is devoted to aboriginal awareness training, facilitated by Robert Laboucane of Alberta-?based Ripple Effects. Laboucane, who is Métis, delivers a moving account of the legacy of residential schools, and the ongoing challenges of poverty, isolation and substance abuse.
Of course, the convention is run by and for the mining industry, not Survival International, so the proceedings have a business tinge. This is evident when Laboucane declares the traditional land-?based aboriginal way of life ended.
“It’s being replaced by the need for industrialization,” he says, explaining that remote communities are desperate for opportunities. He cautions attendees to consult respectfully and in good faith.
At Mining, People And The Environment, a seminar held in conjunction with PDAC, Ian Thomson of Vancouver-?based consultancy On Common Ground says water rights have proven central to many disputes.
“Acid mine drainage brings up the [need for] perpetual care, and from a community point of view perpetual care implies perpetual risk,” Thomson says, acknowledging the industry’s new access to conservation and remediation technologies.
However, the buzzword remains “consultation.” Governments generally grant free-entry and subsurface rights to prospectors and mine developers regardless of who owns the land. The newly revamped Ontario Mining Act now requires exploration permits before entry, but activists say it’s hard to tell yet exactly who will do the permitting.
The new act also calls for consultation with First Nations but doesn’t require their consent. During one session, I ask if a community should have the right to say no.
“There are a number of examples where companies have walked away,” replies John Groom of London-?based mining firm Anglo American. “However, there’s an important discussion to be had around which group in the community is saying no. And to what extent does the state have a right to override the interests of a local community?”
Less than two years ago, members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation north of Thunder Bay were jailed and sued for opposing a platinum mine on their land. A lot has changed since then the Ontario government recently bought out the company’s claims.
In a session on local engagement, free and prior informed consent – meaning the right of refusal – finally lands on the agenda. Glenn Nolan, a VP of PDAC and chief of the Missanabie Cree First Nation near Timmins, says locals should have the right to refuse.
“But,” he continues, “what are we saying no to? Too many of our people are moving from traditional lands to large urban centres because there isn’t anything back home.”
Marilyn Baptiste, chief of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation in BC, also attends this session and tells me her community intends to resist a gold and copper mine. “We know we can’t go way back, but we also can’t sacrifice what and who we are,” she says.
Interwoven with the issue of free and prior informed consent is PDAC’s opposition to Liberal MP John McKay’s private member’s bill. Bill C-300, supported by MiningWatch Canada, would withdraw federal financial and political support from mining, oil and gas firms violating human or enviro rights abroad.
Despite the fact that the bill stipulates no criminal sanctions, PDAC still warns that it would harm the mining sector. “It sends a message that our government lacks confidence in the integrity and performance of Canada’s leading global industry,” a statement reads. PDAC instead touts its e3 Plus “framework for responsible exploration,” an industry-?driven, voluntary guideline.
Wandering the trade floor one last time, I can’t avoid the sight of companies promoting projects in the Ring of Fire area northeast of Thunder Bay. If they’re successful, there will be massive development in the James Bay Lowlands, wetlands along the periphery of the boreal, one of the world’s last intact original forests. Mining there would pose tremendous risk to the ecosystem. But it would also create jobs.
My thoughts drift to Alex Jacobs and the sweet smell of sage that trailed through the air, driving away bad spirits as he wished delegates well. Nevertheless, the mining industry has its work cut out if it hopes to leave behind its wretched image.
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