[IPSM] Fwd: Kanesatake and a Canadian mine

[Dru Oja Jay]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stefan Christoff <christoff at resist.ca>
Date: Thu, May 12, 2011 at 11:14 AM
Subject: Kanesatake and a Canadian mine
To: Stefan Christoff <christoff at resist.ca>



* Kanesatake and a Canadian mine
by Stefan Christoff, May 2011

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3972

MONTREAL.Only minutes up the road from the focal point of the 1990 Oka
Crisis, Niocan Inc. plans to set up an underground mine for the extraction
of niobium, a rare element used in high-grade steel production.

Despite the past history of tensions and widespread opposition to the
current proposal within the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, the proposed
mining project has remained under the radar: even as the company continues
to lobby government officials and push forward with the project, little
media or mainstream political focus has been paid to the issue. Residents of
Kanesatake, though, are not letting their guard down in the face of the
mining project.

"A very short-sighted vision drives this mining project that will impact the
land and environment for future generations, but the government and Niocan
only see dollar signs," says Ellen Gabriel, a celebrated activist from
Kanesatake. "Our community has been resisting for over 300 years and our
rights are not recognized, particularly our rights to the land, but we have
every right to defend this land."

As the site of the Oka Crisis, Kanesatake has already served to ignite a
generation of protest and action within Indigenous communities. If the
Quebec government grants permission to open the mine against the will of
Kanesatake, the potential political implications are serious.

* read full article on-line at:
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3972

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Stefan Christoff / christoff at resist.ca
http://www.twitter.com/spirodon

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