Curve Lake First Nation ("CLFN") submits this reply to the opinion piece: "Trent Lands a key part of Peterborough's future." In the Peterborough Examiner Sept. 28.

The statement that "The city designed the site to minimize environmental impact," could not be further from the truth. In fact, the city gave scant consideration of the Provincially Significant Wetland ("PSW") that is adjacent to the development site.

The statement that "ORCA has approved the site plan which includes enhancing the existing wetland border with new plantings, and creating a functioning compensation wetland for a small area of damaged wetland (less than 1/3 acre) needed to accommodate the building layout" conveniently does not mention that a compensation wetland is required because the development will be in-filling that 1/3 acre of existing wetland.

The City of Peterborough completed an evaluation of the wetlands adjacent to the development site that indicated the presence of a PSW. They are unwilling to share those findings with First Nations or the general public. Under current policy, PSW's cannot be filled in, which would effectively permanently damage their function.

Gwyneth James speaks about the necessary upgrade to Pioneer Road and states: "Problems with the existing culverts have been fixed with upsized culverts that enhance wildlife connectivity following a plan approved by ORCA." This statement is misleading. While the bigger culverts may have been installed to enhance connectivity, what Ms. James neglected to mention was that during construction, the connectivity between the wetlands on either side of the road was effectively cut-off and millions of litres of water were diverted into the Otonabee River. This diversion was not authorized and likely negatively impacted wetlands. The plan she refers to that was approved by ORCA was the design of two NEW culverts to fix this issue. Had it not been for the diligence of the group Trent Students for Responsible Development who brought this situation to light, it may have not been fixed.

The upgrade to Pioneer Road also saw the destruction and devastation of rows upon rows of cedar trees. The dying trees originally alerted Trent University's student body who immediately started protesting and highlighted questions surrounding consultation with local First Nations.

Consultations with First Nations did not occur regarding the wetland destruction or the expansion of Pioneer Road. As a result, no archaeological assessment was undertaken to mitigate risks to culturally significant archaeological resources in a high potential area. The City admitted to this oversight and apologized to CLFN.

Regarding the larger aspect of required consultations with First Nations whose Aboriginal and Treaty rights will be impacted by this development, the process only began AFTER most or all approvals were already in place, effectively rendering the consultations meaningless. The city also apologized for the tardiness of the process.

CLFN has opposed this development since we received notification. We have serious concerns about the impact to the Wildlife Sanctuary, its wetlands, its flora and fauna, thus impacting the rights of our citizens. The local First Nations harvest various medicines and foods from that area and in fact the City of Peterborough has been provided with a written statement from a local First Nations' member listing what he harvests as well as a record of his sightings of Species at Risk, including Blanding's Turtles.

A Curve Lake elder noted that this year he has not heard the Chorus Frogs or the Spring Peepers that would echo loudly off the entrance to Trent from Pioneer Road. Furthermore, at the Head of the Trent rowing event, there featured several protests occurring all over campus, from signs, to banners, to elders leading a peaceful drumming march across the bridge.

The twin-pad arena development is opposed by thousands of people who are deeply concerned about the negative impact this will have upon the sensitive ecological landscape of the Trent Wildlife Sanctuary.

The City of Peterborough would do well to listen to what its citizens are saying. They would do well to uphold the constitutionally protected rights of the First Nations, who so far have been ignored.

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