To the editor:
This is an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from the Fish Lake Alliance
The Fish Lake Alliance is encouraged by your government’s stand regarding Leona Aglukkaq’s Feb. 26 decision rejecting the proposed New Prosperity Mine at Teztan Biny near Williams Lake.
As you noted in your address to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto, the New Prosperity Mine proposal went through a rigorous 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, Yunesit’in and Tsilhqot’in First Nations communities.
The Fish Lake Alliance, a grassroots group of Cariboo-Chilcotin citizens based in Williams Lake, applauds your government’s 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 residents of the Cariboo-Chilcotin, we feel for the disappointment of some of our friends and neighbours who were pinning their hopes on the mine. At the same time, we share the elation of members of the First Nations community who feel that their concerns really do matter in the Canadian mosaic.
We are a strong community, and are confident that we can move forward together towards an economically viable and environmentally sustainable future that honours the well-being of all people and protects the precious places in our region like Teztan Biny.
Once again, Mr. Harper, thank you for your government’s sensible decision. Two independent panels have now reviewed and rejected this proponent’s proposals at this location, and we trust this will now conclude the consideration of any future mine proposals at Fish Lake.
Sage Birchwater
For the Fish Lake Alliance
