Platinex

By James Wilkes. This study was done as a Masters thesis at Trent University and is posted here at the request of the author. Canadian environmental management involving Indigenous communities is at a crossroads. First Nation communities in regions holding mineral and other natural resources are coping with legal, economic and political pressures to comply with government and industry demands for resource extraction and exploitation.

MiningWatch Canada is very pleased with yesterday’s announcement from the Government of Ontario regarding a resolution to the three-year stand off between the community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug ("KI") and Toronto-based exploration company Platinex.

(Thunder Bay, ON) Spreading disputes between First Nations and mining companies may lead to jail time for Aboriginal leaders in northern Ontario pending the outcome of an Ontario Superior Court of Justice appearance today. Chief Donnie Morris and other members of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), an Aboriginal community in the Boreal Forest of Ontario, may be jailed for refusing to comply with an October,2007 court ruling that allows Platinex Inc., a Toronto-based mineral exploration company, to begin drilling on KI traditional lands without protest or obstruction.

[The following is a speech made by John Cutfeet on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007, as part of a Roundtable on “the Duty to consult aboriginal peoples and Ontario's Mining Act” at the Canadian Law and Society Association meetings at the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.]

Greetings to all of you from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug!