Trina Roache
APTN National News
Maliseet grandmothers have set up camp on the site of a proposed open pit mine.
The Sisson project has received environmental approvals.
The Maliseet Chiefs signed a deal with the province to receive royalties and other accommodations.
But the grandmothers are determined to stop the project.
It’s amazing this country can’t even afford to have it’s own people own the mining companies yet.. to mine its resources, its like it’s still being pillaged by corporate outsiders as we are all living/born here. Even the communist Chinese government has a piece of the Alberta oil under the company name Nexen.
Why our own government can not do the same, and give the money back to the people is beyond me, perhaps we need new leaders who care more about us then outsiders.
Has anyone seen the signed Sisson Mine Agreement?
FN ppl’s have utilized the lands and it wealth for hundreds of years.. The FN ppl who signed this agreement must to some degree understand this… and surely took steps to ensure that the land will not be ravaged… and done in a manner that heeds respects to all quarters… enough said.
I guess that I do not understand. The band being represented by their chiefs have agreed to the mine. Obviously they are satisfied with the environmental assessment and have reviewed all cultural aspects of this location and feel that the band is being properly compensated plus jobs created.
Yet a handful of Grandmothers has decided to circumvent the wishes of the band and chiefs by blocking any construction. How does this work? Do these Grandmothers have special knowledge that their own chiefs and other elders do not?
Hmmm, I see that they have a GoFundMe page set up to collect money. Is this the real motivation?
No, they weren’t satisfied with the assessments, or any other aspect of the mine. What happened was the provincial government strong armed them by threatening to rescind every tax/revenue agreement that the province had with the band.
It was a tactic worthy of a mafia thug.
The potential destruction of entire watersheds by a tailings pond disaster is unacceptable for any number of jobs. And not to mention that 90% of the profits will be leaving the country is another solid, economic reason to deny this environmental disaster in the making.
Fully support our Grandmothers is protecting their traditional territory. They are exercising their constitutional rights, collectively.
Standing up for future generations takes courage, strength and vision. I hold my hands up to the grandmothers and land/ water protectors.