Latest news with #Diavik
CBC
12-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Weight of traditional knowledge discussed at public hearing for Diavik's water licence
A handful of Indigenous governments want to see more criteria enshrined in the conditions of Diavik diamond mine's new water licence, to determine that water will be safe for cultural uses. The Wek'èezhìi Land and Water Board (WLWB) is holding a public hearing about the company's application for a 10-year water licence renewal, at the cultural centre in Behchokǫ, N.W.T.,̀ this week. The Tłı̨chǫ government, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation and the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation are all participating in the hearing, along with representatives of the federal and territorial governments and an environmental monitoring board. Violet Camsell-Blondin, who presented Wednesday morning on behalf of the Tłı̨chǫ government, told the hearing that both Western science and Indigenous traditional knowledge should be used to assess the water of Lac de Gras, the tundra lake in which Diavik operates, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. "Cultural use criteria should not have a lower status or less clout in measuring successful closure and influencing the return of security deposits," she said. The WLWB has already required Diavik to incorporate traditional knowledge and cultural use criteria in its plans – but the Tłı̨chǫ, the Łutsel K'e Dene and the Yellowknives Dene want it to have the same weight as scientific monitoring and for it to be tied to the return of security deposits. What are cultural use criteria? An amendment to Diavik's current water licence required that cultural use criteria be developed for dumping processed kimberlite back into the open pits which will eventually, as part of closure, be filled with water and reconnected to Lac de Gras. A letter from the Tłı̨chǫ government to the board during that amendment process a few years ago describes cultural use criteria as the clarity, temperature, colour, smell and taste of the water, as well as whatever unnatural material might be in it. Diavik held workshops with Indigenous partners to establish that criteria and summarized in a report afterwards that healthy water would look clear, feel cold, smell clean, taste fresh and sound alive. "A lot of times science will say the water is good, you could drink it, but they won't drink it," said Patrick Simon, a Deninu Kųę́ First Nation councillor participating in the hearing, adding that scientists also use numbers that are hard to understand to communicate that water is safe. "If I told you, as an Indigenous person, the water is good, you can drink it, I will not only drink it but I'll show you the freshness of the water and the vibrancy, the clarity and even the feeling …. When we're around bad water it don't feel good. When we're around good healthy water, we feel alive, we feel connected. It's part of us." Simon said cultural use criteria will help Indigenous people decide whether they want to drink the water and harvest the animals in and around Lac de Gras once Diavik has closed. 'Flexibility should be maintained,' Diavik says A decision for the WLWB to make, once the hearing is over, is whether traditional knowledge and more cultural use criteria should be enshrined in the conditions of the licence – or whether those will be discussed further as part of the mine's closure plan. Diavik has expressed preference for the latter, stating in its presentation this week that it "strongly recommends that flexibility should be maintained" by discussing cultural use criteria through the final closure and reclamation plan and not establishing "fixed" licence conditions. Diavik is already in the process of creating a traditional knowledge monitoring program with its Indigenous partners that'll be submitted to the land and water board for approval. "Adding licence conditions might restrict the program that's in development. [The program] that really, at the end of the day, communities are developing for us," said Sean Sinclair, Diavik's manager of closure. "Potentially putting that in a box through licence conditions … we don't think it would necessarily be helpful and that it could be more flexibly managed through the closure plan." In a letter to the board ahead of the hearing, Diavik also said that there's uncertainty about how cultural use criteria would be evaluated for regulatory compliance. Diavik is trying to set itself apart from a history of abandoned mines in the N.W.T by closing responsibly. Its existing water licence expires at the end of the year, and it needs another one to wrap up production in March 2026, carry out closure, and start initial post-closure monitoring up until 2035. The hearing wraps up in Behchokǫ̀ on Wednesday.
CBC
27-05-2025
- General
- CBC
First Nations voice concerns over Diavik water license
Although the Diavik diamond mine is getting ready to close, the mine cannot clean up or shut down until it gets a new water licence. Some First Nations are now voicing their concerns. Nadeer Hashmi has more.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
N.W.T. MP Rebecca Alty on her cabinet appointment, and how she'll work to advance land claims in riding
As the new federal cabinet minister responsible for Crown-Indigenous Relations, the N.W.T.'s MP Rebecca Alty will be navigating key issues within her riding. That includes both land claim and self-government negotiations, which Alty said she plans to advance with all available resources. This is the first time in nearly 20 years that the N.W.T. has a representative sitting in cabinet. The last was former MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, who served as a minister until 2006. Alty spoke to CBC News on Thursday for the first time since she was appointed minister, about her role and how she will balance her position in cabinet with representing her constituents. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I'm curious, did you push for this ministerial role? No. I was, you know, elected as an MP and that was a big honour — and a big thanks to residents across the Northwest Territories. And then the prime minister's office reached out and asked if I'd consider cabinet. The prime minister called to offer me Crown-Indigenous Relations, which I'm really happy. It's a huge file, but so relevant in our home territory, and so I'm looking forward to the work ahead. How do you think that your background and past experience on Yellowknife city council and as mayor equips you for this role? Yeah, I think those are the relevant skills, and as well as my time at Diavik and being the manager of community and Indigenous relations. As mayor, it was working with eight colleagues to advance issues. So now it's at that bigger scale in Parliament. And then it is continuing to work with Indigenous partners, and now it's not just in the Yellowknife region or the Northwest Territories, but now across Canada. So I do think my background on council as well as at Diavik will be helpful in this portfolio. As minister now responsible for overseeing the land claims negotiations, how are you going to work to progress them here in the territory? I had great discussions with the [Dehcho First Nations] Grand Chief [Herb] Norwegian during the campaign, as well as with his team after the campaign but before I was minister. So I do look forward to, now that I am minister, being able to engage with the leadership. And you know, it sounds super promising with the Grand Chief [Norwegian] looking to finalize an agreement by the end of the year. Now it is working with my department to find the resources to see how possible that is. Because again, there's so many different negotiations happening across the territory, across the country, and so how do we balance that? But it is definitely one of the things that I'm looking most forward to in this role, is land claims and self-government agreements. I'm curious to hear a little more about what your strategy will be. How will you work to push them forward? So at the department level, it is about, you know, finding out our resources available and strategies on how to maximize those resources. It is working with the department as well as partners to see how we can expedite these processes. How will you balance being a minister and serving your constituents? I think it's one and the same. So having that seat at the cabinet table, I am able to to bring that northern perspective and being able to to champion the issues, week in, week out. And as the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, a lot of the important work in the Northwest Territories is resolving the land claims and self-government agreements, continuing to honour and implement treaty, expanding capacity for modern treaty holders. So I think it is one and the same. It will be a challenge to make it into the Northwest Territories as much as when I was mayor. I was living there every week, and so I was able to go to more and more community events. So I think that will be the one challenge.
