First Nations groups want the BC Government to intervene after a court decision last week cleared the way for investigative mining work in Tsilhqot’in territory.
The BC First Nations Leadership Council says it strongly supports the Tsilhqot’in nation’s call for the province to put an end to Taseko Mine Limited’s drilling plans in culturally and spiritually sensitive areas.
The BC Supreme Court decision clears the way for road construction, 122 drill sites, 367 trench and pit test, and 20 kilometres of seismic lines in the Teztan Biny or Fish Lake area, site of Taseko’s proposed New Prosperity Mine.
Taseko says it’s confident the information gathered from the investigative work will give it the scientific evidence it needs to satisfy concerns that led to the federal government’s 2014 rejection of the project, the second time the mine was panned.
BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee says allowing the work to proceed goes against the provincial government’s own draft principles that guide its relationship with Indigenous peoples and will have irreversible damaging impacts on the community and within the Tsilhqot’in territory.
