Protecting First Nations land is legal
. It is important for companies to be conscious of how their actions could affect Aboriginal communities and to take precautions to ensure that negative impacts on First Nations peoples are minimized. With native interests in mind, Taseko Mines has made every reasonable effort to protect Aboriginal land near their planned Fish Lake gold and copper mine. However, none of their actions are good enough for the Tsilhqot’in people, who have set up a tribal park over the site of the mine, which is the tenth largest gold and copper reserve in the world. The Tsilhqot’in legally posses 1750 square km, which does not include the mine site. Since they legally have no right to the land the mine will occupy, the tribal park, if accepted by the government, allows them to veto the mine’s actions.
The Tsilhqot’in people should reconsider their position on the mine. It has the potential to create 2000 jobs, which will be beneficial to the First Nations in the area, who have a 20% rate of unemployment. Taseko will preserve hunting and fishing grounds while bringing jobs to Aboriginals in the area and bring $1 billion of revenue to the government – a win-win for all parties involved.
Image: http://storage.winnipegsun.com/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297445706730_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x
Sources:
- http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Unilateral+park+declared+Tsilhqot+includes+Prosperity+mine/10192766/story.html
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/taseko-seeks-new-review-of-new-prosperity-mine-rejection-1.2587442
- http://www.winnipegsun.com/money/2010/07/06/14626256.html
- http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/02/26/feds-reject-bcs-new-prosperity-mine-project
d to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. While having one of the best athletes on the planet will help the team, the most significant impact of his return may not be his play on the basketball court, but the economic benefits that Cleveland will see from increased ticket sales. According to LeRoy Brooks, LeBron will bring $500 million to the city. At first glance, that seems like a lot of money, but, in reality, the only major benefit LeBron will bring to his hometown will be a reason to cheer when the Cavs take to the court. Although businesses will make more money, it will not be the optimistic half-billion Brooks anticipates, because the people who will spend money on Cavs tickets would have spent their money elsewhere. More realistic estimates hover at about $50 million, 10% of Brooks’s estimate. Either way, there will be no major influence on the economy as a whole. The city has a $112 billion dollar economy, so even if LeBron’s return ends up being worth $500 million, it would be worth less than a 0.5% change. Even though LeBron James will impact the Cleveland’s performance on the court, his influence ends there.
own when its population peaked at almost 200,000 people in the 1960s. Since then, the declining steel industry has caused the population to fall to under 80,000. The migration of 60% of its residents has resulted in a large number of abandoned houses and business. Since abandoned buildings ruin communities’ sense of togetherness and increase crime rates, the mayor of Gary, Karen Freeman-Wilson, has adopted a “Dollar Home” program that would allow people to buy abandoned houses for just $1. She hopes that people will be attracted to the low price and repair the buildings, eventually restoring Gary to its original state.