VICTORIA—B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s plans to expand the province’s mining sector are not going down well with some aboriginals who fear Aboriginal Title and Rights will suffer in the process.
In September, Clark pledged to speed up approvals for the creation of eight new mines by 2015 and expand nine existing mining projects, which she said would create 1,800 new jobs and generate $1.6-billion per year of additional revenue.
The plan, part of Clark’s B.C. Jobs Program, also includes a commitment to 10 new non-treaty agreements with First Nations by 2015.
“What we recognize as a government is there are lots of opportunities outside the treaty process to give economic opportunity to First Nations,” Clark said at a news conference.
But Arthur Manuel, spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade and former chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band, claims the plan aims to create a false climate of economic certainty for investment and development on land that is still unceded.
He fears that any benefits regarding Aboriginal Title and Rights will be restricted to the particular First Nations who sign the 10 non-treaty agreements.
“It’s just that [Clark] is trying to put the cart before the horse by trying to make some quick deals without getting down to dealing with the more important issue about aboriginal title throughout this whole province,” Manuel says.
“The big problem is that the whole question of Aboriginal Title and Rights, what we call the B.C. land question, has not been resolved yet and that has to be resolved before we can get into the details of any kind of extractive type or resource type of activity in our traditional territory.”
