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BEARING the BURDEN the Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia

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BEARING the BURDEN the Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia BEARING THE BURDEN The Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia The International Human Rights Clinic • Harvard Law School • October 2010 BEARING THE BURDEN The Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia October 2010 A report by IHRC The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Acronyms......................................................................................................... iii I. Summary .................................................................................................................... 1 Background on Takla Lake First Nation....................................................................... 4 Legal Regime Governing Mining .................................................................................. 5 Takla’s Experience ...................................................................................................... 6 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 10 II. Recommendations to All Stakeholders..................................................................... 13 B.C. Provincial Government and Canadian Federal Government ................................ 13 B.C. Provincial Government ...................................................................................... 15 Mining Companies and Mining Associations .............................................................. 19 First Nations, including Takla Lake First Nation ....................................................... 21 III. Background on Takla Lake First Nation................................................................. 25 The People and the Place .......................................................................................... 25 Federal and Traditional Governance Systems ............................................................ 27 Relationship to the Land........................................................................................... 28 Residential Schools................................................................................................... 30 Non-Mining Land Use and Resource Extraction ......................................................... 32 Mining ...................................................................................................................... 35 IV. International and Domestic Law Protecting Aboriginal Land Rights ...................... 37 International Law on Aboriginal Land and Resources................................................. 37 Canadian Aboriginal Rights Law ................................................................................ 47 V. Provincial Regulation of the Mining Process............................................................. 59 Federal and Provincial Powers................................................................................... 59 Land-Use Planning..................................................................................................... 61 Stages of the Mining Process..................................................................................... 62 Aboriginal Rights Analysis......................................................................................... 83 VI. Inadequate Consultation......................................................................................... 93 Inadequate Consultation by Government................................................................... 94 i Inadequate Consultation by Miners ......................................................................... 103 Need for Guidance on Consultation ......................................................................... 111 Aboriginal Rights Analysis....................................................................................... 114 VII. Harms Caused by Mining...................................................................................... 117 Effects of Deforestation on Takla and Its Land ........................................................ 117 Effects of Chemical Contamination on Takla and Its Water ..................................... 122 Harm to Wildlife and Its Effects on Takla ................................................................ 133 Human Health Concerns ......................................................................................... 139 Disruption of Heritage Sites .................................................................................... 142 Aboriginal Rights Analysis....................................................................................... 144 VIII. Lack of Benefits to the Community ..................................................................... 147 Revenue Sharing ..................................................................................................... 147 Employment Benefits.............................................................................................. 152 Aboriginal Rights Analysis....................................................................................... 157 IX. Balancing the Burden ........................................................................................... 159 Structural Reforms ................................................................................................. 159 Procedural Reforms................................................................................................. 162 Substantive Reforms ............................................................................................... 163 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... 165 ii Bearing The Burden | October 2010 TABLE OF ACRONYMS AME BC Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia B.C. British Columbia BCEAA B.C. Environmental Assessment Act CLRB Crown Land Restoration Branch EA Environmental Assessment EAO Environmental Assessment Office HCA Heritage Conservation Act HSRC Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines IBA Impact-Benefit Agreement ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICERD International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights IHRC Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic LRMP Land and Resource Management Plan MABC Mining Association of British Columbia MEMPR Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources MTA Mineral Tenure Act MTO Mineral Titles Online MXC Mineral Exploration Code NOW Notice of Work OHCHR Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights U.N. United Nations UNDRIP U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNFCCC U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change iii iv Bearing The Burden | October 2010 I. SUMMARY Rich in mineral resources, the traditional lands of First Nations in British Columbia (B.C.) have been targets of Canada’s active mining industry. Mining has provided important revenue for the province, so many people have welcomed it. Mining has also frequently interfered with First Nations’ use of their traditional lands and significantly harmed the environment to which their cultures are inextricably linked. B.C. mining laws have provided some safeguards for First Nations and the environment, but they have favored the industry they are intended to regulate and have not adequately institutionalized the special protections to which First Nations are entitled under international and domestic law. While some First Nations have benefited from mining within their boundaries, in general, First Nations have borne an unfair burden at every point in the mining process,1 from the registration of claims to exploration, production, and abandonment of closed sites. Urgent law reform is needed to shift at least some of that burden to government and industry. There should be a presumption that aboriginal rights require heightened scrutiny of mining activities. Reform should ensure more involvement by First Nations in decision- making, increase environmental and cultural protection, and balance the potential benefits among all key stakeholders. The experiences of Takla Lake First Nation (Takla), which is based in remote northern British Columbia, illuminate that the province’s mining laws have been a problem in practice as well as on paper. While Takla has had good relations with some mining companies, it has generally been ambivalent or even hostile to new projects. This attitude has stemmed largely from the fact that community members have felt excluded from the process that reviews proposals and inundated with mining claims and projects on their traditional territory. In addition, Takla’s territory—home to exploration sites, a major open-pit mine, and multiple abandoned operations—has 1 The Mineral Tenure Act (MTA) defines “mining activity” as “any activity related to (a) the search for a mineral or placer mineral, the search for minerals, (b) the exploration and development of a mineral or placer mineral, or (c) the production of a mineral or placer mineral, and includes the reclamation of a previously mined area and the monitoring and long term protection, control and treatment of a previously mined area.” Mineral Tenure Act, R.S.B.C., ch. 292, pt. 1(1) (1996) (Can.), available at http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96292_01. This report uses the MTA’s definition and specifies when referring to a particular stage of the process. International
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