On Nov. 9, Assiniboia MLA Steven Fletcher spoke in the Manitoba Assembly against a planned national park on top of an extension of the Thompson nickel belt. Fletcher suggested preserving the Seal River watershed – an area of land near the Nunavut border – as an alternative. The Manitoba Saskatchewan Prospectors and Developers Association (MSPDA) takes the strong view that while it agrees that creating a new national park on Manitoba’s nickel belt is an irresponsible action by the federal government, the Seal River area is not an appropriate alternative.
Establishing a park on the nickel belt discourages further exploration in the province by its placement on an area of high mineral potential. With some minor exceptions, the wilderness of our north does not need protecting, given our strict environmental laws. What needs protection is land for development and for our northern communities.
Large wilderness parks have not only the effect of sterilizing large areas and preventing new mining camps from being developed, but they also surround communities with areas of no hydro, forestry and mining. There is no farming and few secondary industries so this, for many communities, turns them into wilderness ghettos.
Indigenous peoples can see the well-supported infrastructure inside the Perimeter Highway on TV, tablets and cell phones, but many live with an 80 per cent unemployment rate in communities lacking services other Manitobans take for granted. We need more exploration, economic development and revenue sharing to support adjacent indigenous communities on their traditional land.
While we appreciate Mr. Fletcher’s support in regard to disagreeing with a national park on the Thompson nickel belt, his promotion of the Seal River area as an alternative is worse than a park on the nickel belt.
The future of Canada is in its north, and we should not be sterilizing vast areas from development when the area is not threatened in any way. We all love nature but the economy of the province for future generations should not be compromised.
Where do we have quartz pebble conglomerates similar to the Witwatersrand basin – the most prolific gold area in the world – in Manitoba and of similar age with gold? In the Seal River area, which is wide open for staking.
Where do we have huge diamond potential? In the Nejanilini Lake area just to the north, including the Seal River area, which has the second oldest continental crust in Canada. This crust exceeds 3.2 billion years and it’s a great place to look for diamonds.
Unfortunately a good portion of this prospective geology lays beneath a new park the size of some countries.
The Caribou River Provincial Wilderness Park, given its potential, should be opened up for diamond exploration. If diamond pipes are found, other land with less potential can be exchanged for it, especially since the park is not needed in the first place.
All that I speak to are adamant in their voice against Fletcher’s recommendation the Seal River should be considered for a park. He obviously did not consult sufficiently with the northern exploration community.
The MSPDA rejects this proposal and we ask Mr. Fletcher to withdraw his proposal for the Seal River area.
We need the provincial government to scuttle its parks branch and to put policy and incentives in place to attract investment. We have a Conservative government. We expect it to stimulate exploration in the north so we can find mines that support our communities and that pay for significant social necessities here and in the south.
Mining is our main industry in the north. We have given the provincial government concrete and detailed proposals on how to do this and we now await action.
Parks on land of high mineral potential is irresponsible and bad stewardship, deterring sustainability of our northern communities and people.
Stephen Masson is also president and CEO of Copper Reef Mining Corporation, which is based in Flin Flon.
