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