To the editor:
This is an open letter to federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq from the Fish Lake Alliance.
The Fish Lake Alliance wishes to commend you for your Feb. 26 decision, rejecting the proposed New Prosperity Mine at Teztan Biny near Williams Lake, British Columbia.
The New Prosperity Mine proposal went through an extensive Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) review last summer (2013), and the panel report was scathing for both the environmental integrity of the mining plan, and for the cultural harm the mine would have inflicted upon the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, Yunesit’in and Tsilhqot’in First Nations communities.
The Fish Lake Alliance, an ad hoc group of Cariboo-Chilcotin citizens based in Williams Lake, applauds your decision. We are encouraged you have honoured the environmental science and recommendations of the CEAA panel.
The CEAA assessment of the mine was very thorough and scientific and conducted by an array of world-class scientists at the top of their various fields. Thank you for honouring that.
As proud citizens of the Cariboo-Chilcotin, we feel for the disappointment of some of our friends and neighbours who supported the mine.
We are a strong community, and are confident we can move forward together towards an economically and environmentally sustainable future that honours the well-being of all people and precious places in our region, like Teztan Biny.
Sage Birchwater
Fish Lake Alliance
