[IPSM] Kanasetake Mowhaks struggle against mine developments

[shelly]

Kanasetake Mowhaks struggle against mine developments
By Elizabeth Shurcliff
The McGill Daily

If someone wanted to open a mine with radioactive emissions in your backyard, you'd be angry, too. 

The Mohawk community of Kanasetake, whose land claims have been legally protected since 1982, is up in arms over plans to begin mining niobum on its reserve, maintaining that the Montreal-based firm Niocan has not demonstrated concern for the project's environmental impact. 

Community member Sonya Gagnier explained that the soil below Kanasetake land has a high level of radon that could be spewed into the air by the mining process, devastating the animals and crops on which Mohawk livelihood depends. 

But Niocan, which is in the final stages of its plan to mine the metal, claims that there will not only be no harm done to the environment, but that the company has done as much preliminary research as possible. 

"The environment is very important to us. It will not be harmed," said René Dufour, Chairman of Niocan. 

However, Steven Bonspille, a candidate for Grand Chief in the upcoming Mohawk election, is not satisfied with the research, noting that no independent research was done. 

"Everything was premised on information provided by Niocan," he said, referring to the two inquiries conducted in 2002 and 2005 by the provincial government's Bureau de l'audience publique sur l'environment (BAPE) in 2002 and 2005, on the potential for radioactivity and the effects on nearby Lac Deux-Montagnes, respectively. 

"Niocan is there to rape the land as fast as it can and get out as fast as it can," Bonspille added. 

Miroslav Nastev, a hydro-geologist at Natural Resources Canada who closely studied the information provided by Niocan, also found it profoundly insufficient. 

"The project is money-driven. The only information we got was very superficial," he said, expressing a concern about the quality of water that will be pumped into the lake from underground. 

"They made a big investment, but they didn't seem to have spent anything to assess the environmental impact," said Nastev. 

According to Niocan president Richard Faucher, the company invested $9-million into the project and expects a 15 per cent, or $1.35-million, return. The government will get $13-million per year from royalties, and Kanasetake and surrounding areas, located 50 kilometres west of Montreal, will get $35-million per year from the jobs created directly and indirectly by Niocan. 

But Bonspille is skeptical of the economic benefits of the mine. 

"The money is going one way, and that is out of Kanasetake," he said. 

Gagnier said that although the community is determined to stop the project, they have exhausted most means of doing so, including attending both BAPE hearings, networking with the Comité des Citoyens Deux-Montagnes, writing letters to the Federal Lands Negotiator, and soliciting support from various environmental groups as well as nearby farmers. 

The BAPE will deliver the results of its analysis to the Quebec Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair by March 31. He will then have 60 days to decide whether to give Niocan a certificate of authority, the last step needed before Niocan can begin. Should the certificate be granted, the Mohawk have vowed to continue to fight for their land. 

"We'll be a presence. If we have to take this to Parliament Hill, so be it," said Gagnier. 

Dufour does not see any problem; he believes that the Mohawks have no right to the land. Niocan bought the mining rights from its predecessors, Kennecott Copper, back in 1994. 

"We worked with everyone we feel we need to work with. But the Mohawks have nothing to do with this," he said.
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