The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor With the Lalor mine suddenly at the centre of a territorial dispute, neither Hudbay nor the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation show signs of backing down. MCCN issued what it called a 'stop work order' to Hudbay on Monday, saying Lalor requires the approval of the band since it is on aboriginal land. 'We're here today to serve notice to the province of Manitoba and to Hudbay that we're no longer going to accept their assertions that they are not operating on our territory,' Arlen Dumas, chief of the Pukatawagan-based MCCN, said at a road blockade near Lalor that same day. Chief Dumas was among roughly 30 demonstrators at the blockade, set up for several hours Monday afternoon at the road leading to the $700-million-plus Lalor project just outside Snow Lake. He said people who needed to go home to their families would be allowed to pass through, but incoming vehicles related to Lalor were to be blocked. But John Vincic, vice-president of investor relations and corporate communications for Hudbay, said Lalor continued to operate throughout the blockade. The only change, he said, was that the hauling of waste rock to the Chisel North pit temporarily ceased 'to ensure the safety of all individuals on the road.' Chief Dumas, who appears in a YouTube video recorded at the demonstration, said MCCN needs to be part of Lalor 'in a meaningful way.' See 'Band...' on pg. 7 Continued from pg. 1 He said his people 'deserve our share of resources' because under no treaty did they 'relinquish our sovereignty' or 'cede our title to the minerals.' 'We agreed that we would share and we would collaborate and work together with our partners, and so that's what we're going to do today,' Chief Dumas said. Specifically, the MCCN takes issue with an environmental license application Hudbay submitted for Lalor without, according to Chief Dumas, the consent of the band. At one point in the video, Chief Dumas said no one from Hudbay has 'had the respect to come out here and speak with us and address our issues.' But that was apparently before Brad Lantz, vice-president of Hudbay's Manitoba operations, visited the blockade and spoke with the demonstrators. At that point he received an information package from Chief Dumas that included the stop work order. The one-page order ends with a 'warning': 'The failure to stop work, the resumption of work without permission from the...Mathias Colomb Cree Nation is punishable by the laws of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.' The order does not specify what those 'laws' are, but from the standpoint of both Hudbay and the Manitoba government, Lalor is not breaking any rules on the books. Will proceed Vincic said the company will proceed as planned with Lalor, even if further blockades materialize. 'The safety of our workers is paramount and if there are future protests we will work to ensure the safety of all Hudbay and contract workers as well as the protesters,' he said. At Monday's demonstration, Chief Dumas banged an animal-skin drum and chanted as protesters hoisted signs and banners. One sign read 'This Is Our Home & Native Land' while another read 'Idle No More' in recognition of the aboriginal-based protest movement sweeping the nation. 'We had an agreement with RCMP and they were very helpful in our attempts to assert our sovereignty on this day,' Chief Dumas told the Winnipeg Free Press. Snow Lake Mayor Clarence Fisher, speaking to the Free Press, said there has been mining in the town for decades and this was the first time an ownership claim was made by a local First Nation. He said 'everything seemed fine' when David Harper, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents most northern Manitoba First Nations, spoke at a ceremony at Lalor in October 2010. Added Mayor Fisher in an interview with CBC: 'You know, I'm not quite clear how coming to one municipality is solving problems in your own place.' Aboriginal leaders have viewed Lalor as positive opportunity for their people. Grand Chief Harper has said he hoped Lalor could help solve high unemployment rates on northern reserves and among aboriginal people in general. In terms of employing aboriginals, Vincic said Hudbay has a minority and non-discriminatory hiring policy that will continue to be implemented 'proactively.' A Free Press article on Monday's blockade, published Tuesday, had garnered more than 140 online comments as of Wednesday afternoon. A sampling of the comments: 'The good people of Snow Lake _ aboriginal and non-aboriginal _ have worked hard to build a good life for themselves, their children, their community and their province. No one seems to be concerned about their interests.' 'It is time for both parties to stop acting like children... Quit the sandbox fight, put down the sand pails and act like adults and fix the problem. No more he said she said, he took she took, my land not your land.' 'We do Dumas and the protesters no favours in letting them continue their magical thinking that they 'own' the resources on land that does not belong to them. Pretty soon the demands will get louder for mob-style hush money for the protests to go away. The cycle continues.' 'Presently, FN [First Nations] people are unhappy with what their ancestors signed and agreed to over a hundred years ago in treaties (I don't disagree they have valid arguments about implementation but that's another discussion); my concern is this: what will happen in another hundred years when people are dissatisfied with any contracts/negotiations that their ancestors may sign today?'
