FieldNotes

The Vancouver Sun covers the Galore Creek mine in detail today. It lists, for example, the developments that must occur to make the mine feasible, now that NovaGold and Teck Cominco have become partners. The article also provides information about the relationship between the Galore Creek developments and the Tahltan Central Council’s participation in the project. From Tahltan Central Council chair Curtis Rattray:

The agreement is hailed by Curtis Rattray, chair of the Tahltan Central Council, as the standard all resource projects in B.C. will have to “copy and surpass, to continue to push the bar upward.”

Rattray added in an e-mail message: “I envision the difference in the lives of the Tahltans from the Galore Creek project will be a drastic change in our social situation, increased literacy, increased cultural awareness and a stronger sense of Tahltan identity, healthier youth and community in physical, spiritual, emotional and mental aspects.”

Rattray notes, however, a stance promoted by the Klabona Keepers in their opposition to large-scale development in northwestern BC:

… there is a limit to how many developments can proceed at the same time in Tahltan territory.

[Says Rattray:] “We want to see resource development done smarter with longer term thinking and planning; those projects that provide too much risk can be put into the ‘bank’ for future generations to use. They will need work and the benefits too, and they will more than likely have improved technology and techniques to be much safer than we can do it now.”