First Nation Leaders Protest Imperial Metals and Company’s Ties with Government

by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud / Vancouver Observer

“Hey, ho! Imperial Metals has got to go!” demonstrators chanted angrily as they marched downtown toward the company’s main office.

At around 2 p.m. on Monday August 11, the Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society led a protest against Imperial Metals’ mining activities in the Cariboo region. The recent tailing ponds breach in the company’s Mount Polley mine led to 10.5 million cubic metres of mine wastewater and 4.5 million cubic metres of toxic sediment being poured into the waterways near Williams Lake.

Chief Mike Retasket, from the Shuswap Nation, blamed the government and the company’s stakeholders for the disaster. He also denounced the connections between Imperial Metals’ main shareholder, N. Murray Edwards, and BC’s political leaders.

“The government is bought and owned by the mining industry. So we are not surprised when these disasters happen,” he said. Imperial Metals contributed over $140,000 to the Liberals since 2005.

Retasket, whose home is located 40 kilometres from the disaster area, said the damage from Mount Polley mine goes beyond the recent breach, despite the company’s claim that the mine had no problems prior to this incident.

“A tailings pond cannot hold in the toxic chemicals that are being put out by this mine from entering the ecosystem. Constantly, everyday, this tailings ponds are destroying the land, just like they are in Alberta in the tar sands,” he said.

On the other hand, Janice Billy, the rally’s organizer from the Secwepemc Nation, said the protest also aimed to reject other projects led by Imperial Metals. “The same company, Imperial Metals, they are at the exploration stage of a mine in the headwaters of the Adams River, which is home to the world’s largest sockeye run. So this would have devastating effects; this spill already does, but this potential mine also has that potential of devastating sockeye salmon. Not only that, but our whole way of life,” she said.

Billy said that the protest was held in Vancouver because it’s where Imperial Metals’ headquarters are located. However, she emphasized that the main activism is taking place B.C.’s interior.

“We are working with our local people at home and we are having ongoing meetings about what we are going to do in particular about the mine within our territory, close to our home, which is the Ruddock Creek mine. We’ve made seven excursions out there, we are collecting a lot of [water] samples, evidence about what they are doing right now, and informing our people to decide what to do about them.”

For half an hour, different speakers took a microphone connected to a noisy power plant and expressed their feelings of solidarity with the Secwepemc Nation.

Cecilia Point, member of the Musqueam Indian Band, said the poignant welcoming words. “Greed! This keeps happening because of greed!” she said emphatically. Point also directed her criticisms at the Harper administration.

“First Nations’ people have an economy already: fish, wild rice, plants for our medicines, water. The government just keeps screwing us at every turn. Williams Lake band even thought they had a revenue share in agreement with this mine, thought they were going to get $400,000 in revenues. Yesterday I read they only got $4,000. Shame!” she yelled, and was responded by the same “shame” chant.

Just before the walk began, one of the protesters read a letter that they sent to Canada’s Governor General, David Johnston. In the missive, they asked both Johnston and Queen Elizabeth to “do the right thing” and honour the laws that refer to aboriginal people’s rights over natural resources.

The biggest concentration took place at Robson Square, where another group of protesters was there drumming, painting messages on the floor, and waiting for the march to pass by. After a short stop there, where words against Imperial Metals were repeated, the march continued to the company’s headquarters.