THUNDER BAY — An official with the Ontario Prospectors Association hopes the quashing of a mining company's permit to explore for gold near Eabametoong First Nation causes the newly-elected PC government to "revamp the system."
The Divisional Court revoked Landore Resources' permit on the grounds the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines and the company had inadequately consulted the Indigenous people who fish, hunt and trap in the area.
OPA Executive-Director Garry Clark said the previous Liberal government "did take some ownership on the consultation process...but I guess they didn't go far enough. I guess somewhere within the ministry's legal advice, there's a problem. They need to get themselves up to speed with what the lawmakers want."
In an interview with Tbnewswatch, Clark said the court case "would be a good starting point for the new government...to revamp the consultation process and maybe even the permitting process."
He called the current process "really complicated."
Clark explained that "Right now, First Nations in the area get a notification that we've acquired the ground. The discussion should be more upfront, at the beginning, before we even start work, because if you acquire the ground, you know you're going to do work. The next processes that we apply for are a plan or a permit, and then there's another point of discussion with the community. Somewhere in there we have to have more notification earlier, so that we don't get too deep into the process."
Clark said OPA members are already discussing the court ruling, and the organization plans to raise it with Greg Rickford, the minister responsible for Energy, Northern Development & Mines, and Indigenous Affairs.
The OPA already had meetings scheduled with Rickford and his staff prior to the court ruling, and Clark said "obviously this will be one of the discussion points."
"The permitting system and access to the land is the biggest thing for explorers. We don't affect a lot of land with a mine development, but we cover a lot of land with exploration to find something that may be a mine. That's something that we're going to stress."
Clark feels that for smaller exploration companies, the biggest challenge is the cost of engaging with communities.
"To go to Eabametoong (400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay) to have a consultation meeting or a community meeting is expensive. That's kind of out of the reach of prospectors, and out of the reach of some of the junior companies."
Clark said this will likely result in them exploring closer to highways "and not do the remote work, which is too bad because, obviously, some of the better rocks are out in the more remote areas."
Former mines minister Michael Gravelle: "We tried very hard" to consult
Michael Gravelle, the minister of Northern Development in the Wynne government, told Tbnewswatch that it's not appropriate for him to comment on the outcome of the case now that the Liberals are out of power.
However, he stated that "We, as a ministry, tried very hard to always meet our duty to consult, and obviously, in this case, there was a very strong disagreement about that...it wasn't resolved without going to court, which was unfortunate."
Chief Elizabeth Atlookan of Eabametoong said it was unfortunate that the community was forced to go to court to fight for its "rights and way of life."
Describing that way of life as "priceless" to her people, Atlookan told Tbnewswatch the community will expect more transparency during consultation, and "no decisions behind closed doors."
She said both the government and companies in the future will have to conduct themselves "at a higher and more honourable standard."
Chief Atlookan added that the community, which she said is the largest among those with rights and interests in the Ring of Fire, looks forward to dialogue with the Ford government on "meaningful" joint decision-making.
In a brief statement Wednesday, the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development & Mines said "Ontario respects the decision of the Divisional Court," and that the ministry will review the decision to determine its implications.
"The ministry continues to review and evaluate Ontario's approach to mineral exploration and development, including duty to consult, through collaboration with Indigenous communities, industry partners and other stakeholders," the statement concluded.
