Take Action NowJUNE 2013 Global Response Campaign Alert Canada Gathered at Teztan Biny: Xeni Gwet’in Elder and Healer Gilbert Solomon, Xeni Gwet’in Councillor Marilyn Baptiste, Xeni Gwet’in Youth Tamara William, Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation Chief Bob Chamberlin, and Peyel Laceese, a youth from Tl’esqox (Toosey Indian Band). Photo by Garth Lenz, www.garthlenz.com Canada Save Teztan Biny (Fish Lake)—Again! he lands of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, whose name means “People of the River,” are rich in history, natural beauty, and abundance. Situated on the Chilcotin Plateau of south central British Columbia, Canada, the Tsilhqot’in Nation encom- Tpasses a wide range of forests, rivers, grasslands, and pristine glacial lakes, including Teztan Biny, commonly called 'JTI-BLF CFDBVTFPGJUTVOJRVFBCVOEBODFPGåTIJUJTIPNFUPBCPVU 3BJOCPX5SPVU*UJTBMTPBQMBDFPGFOPSNPVT cultural and spiritual signi!cance for the Tsilhqot’in Nation, where generations have traditionally come to !sh, trap, skin, and gather as a community. “If they put an open pit mine here it would be just like cutting somebody’s heart out,” says Edmund Lulua of the Xeni Gwet’in community. That’s exactly what Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Limited plans to do: a massive open pit gold and copper mine with a tailings pond just two kilometers upstream from Teztan Biny, the proposed “New Prosperity” mine would turn Teztan Biny into a lake on life support. The Tsilhqot’in have already saved their lake once. After more than two decades !ghting for their land rights, people from all walks of life have stood alongside the Tsilhqot’in. Jim Prentice, then Canada’s minister of the environment, rejected an earlier iteration of the project, which had planned to drain the trout-!lled lake and use it as a waste dump. The government’s environmental impact review condemned the project with “scathing comments.” But Taseko’s plans die hard. Having modi!ed its original mine proposal into the “New Prosperity Mine,” the company has been given a second chance via a federal environmental review, and plans for the project will be accepted or rejected as early as Fall of 2013. The !ght is on to save Teztan Biny—again. The Tsilhqot’in Nation and their environmental partners at work across Canada are demanding that the New Prosperity Mine be cancelled and abandoned. But they need help from the international community to make their voices heard. Chief Joe Alphonse, chair of the Tsilhqot’in national government, explained: “In the case of the re-bid Prosperity Mine proposal, we feel that we’ve nearly exhausted every possible avenue to resolve this at the local level.” We need your help to stand with the Tsilhqo’tin. They did it once before, and we can help them do it again. tIwww.cs.orgt’s time to TAKE ACTION and join the growing movement for First Nations’ rights. JUNE 2013 High Magnitude, Long Term, Irreversible he so-called “New Prosperity” mine project is just as destructive as the rejected Prosperity mine project—and possibly even worse. Taseko claims to Thave redesigned the project to be less harmful, but the initial federal review panel has concluded that “no other viable alternatives...could be explored to avoid the signi!cant adverse environmental effects identi!ed.” The report determined that the mine would result in “high magnitude, long term, and irreversible” effects on the Tsilhqot’in people and their environment, including their substantial !sh and Grizzly bear populations. Of major concern is the poisoning of groundwater with toxic mine waste. In the New Prosperity plan, tailings, a form of mine waste made up of toxic heavy metals, would be stored underwater in a pond constructed just two kilometers up- stream from Teztan Biny. A huge deposit of waste rock, tailings, and impounded Take Action! water would cover much of Teztan Biny’s upstream catchment area, including Little Fish Lake and surrounding feeder streams and wetlands. Contaminants, WRITE NOW and ask Canada’s including heavy metals, can leach out into surface and groundwater causing Environment Minister to put an serious pollution and health problems for many generations. The !rst and best line of defense against this toxic drainage is to prevent end to the New Prosperity Mine the potentially acid-generating material from mixing with open air. However, proposal, once and for all. As with existing technology, acid mine drainage is virtually impossible to stop once Tsilhoq’tin Chief Roger William the reactions begin. Affected communities are then faced with the long-term, high says, “It’s time for them to fold cost of treating mine drainage water, ef"uent discharge, and the disposal of treat- ment sludge—all of it deadly to !sh. The most reliable strategy for preventing acid up their tent and move on.” mine drainage is to submerge the waste rock or tailings under water to prevent exposure to oxygen. While this can be an effective strategy, its success depends Please send letters, emails, and faxes to: on keeping the water cover and dam structures intact forever. Forever is a long The Honourable Peter Kent, time to keep a nightmare bottled up. Minister of the Environment 401 Confederation Building, A Precedent Among First Nations House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6 Canada People of the Tsilhoq’tin Nation, made up of the Tl’etinqox, Tsi Del Del, Yunesit’in, 1IPOF ?Esdilagh, Xeni Gwet’in, and Tl’esqox peoples, have been united in consistently [email protected] opposing Taseko’s mining project. For decades, these communities have been involved in a legal case seeking rights and title to their lands, as well as !shing The Honourable Christy Clark and trapping lines, which include the area proposed for the mine. Defense of their Premier of British Columbia #PY territory is nothing new for the Tsilhqo’tin. Going back to 1864, they successfully Station PROV GOVT stopped colonizing Europeans from accessing their lands in search of gold. This 7JDUPSJB #$78&$BOBEB legacy of upholding their rights have made the Tsilhqo’tin leaders among First 1IPOF Nations; what happens in their territory could have resounding effects across Canada. 'BY [email protected] Taseko has gained a reputation for disrespecting First Nations. In a letter from November 2011, Taseko’s president and CEO Russell Hallbauer asked to deny any Mr. Adrian Dix requests to include Aboriginal people in the federal review panel. He denounced Constituency Of!ce the Tsilhqo’tins’ opening prayer ceremonies at hearings as inappropriate and argued +PZDF4USFFU that Aboriginal places should not be considered sacred. All of these statements 7BODPVWFS #$ 73($BOBEB Phone: (604) 660-0314 show a "agrant disrespect for First Nations and are in clear violation of the [email protected] United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The government of Canada has a responsibility to ensure that no projects Federal Review Panel (Dr. Bill Ross, affecting Indigenous Peoples (First Nations) move forward without their full Free, Dr. George Kupfer, Dr. Ron Smyth) New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine Project Prior, and Informed Consent, yet Tsilhoq’tin Councilor Marilyn Baptiste has stated 160 Elgin Street, 22nd Floor that effective consultation has not taken place. The Tsilhoq’tin have clearly rejected Place Bell Ottawa ON, K1A 0H3 Canada all versions of this mine proposed for their ancestral territory. As the federal review 1IPOF PS panel concluded, even the best-case scenario “would not eliminate or accommodate 'BY the signi!cant loss First Nations would experience as a result of the Project.” It is [email protected] time for Canada to reject Taseko’s plans for mining in Tsilhqo’tin territory for good. For more information: www.teztanbiny.ca wildernesscommittee.org www.raventrust.com Teztan Biny, or Fish Lake. Photo courtesy of the Wilderness Committee. Global Response It’s time to TAKE ACTION and join the growing movement for First Nations’ rights. Campaign Alert twww.cs.org Cultural Survival www.cs.org Cultural Survival Quarterly June 2013Canadat.