Thread by @nikkiskuce

Minister @BruceRalston gave @MA_BC a million dollars to produce a road map that has a copy edit at the top of page 4 - OUR DESINTATION. Given NGOs and community groups were left out of the “engagement” on this, how about we suggest a few other edits. 1/
mining.bc.ca/sites/default/…

Start of report: “More than 150 years ago, our industry helped build our province’s cities and towns.” Given how good you claim to be on Indigenous relations, did you ask some nations what they think about this statement? @tsilhqotin @Stkemlups_SSN @Sneena01 @CarrierSekani? 2/

Painting our colonialist history with nostalgia & industriousness erases the reality of the past. Up to 90% of Indigenous communities were wiped out from smallpox brought with the second wave of the Gold Rush. BC has no treaties in part b/c Trutch placed his bets on 100%... 3/

BC still grants the same “free miner’s certificate” of the 1850s that gives priority rights to miners in more than 80% of the province. This archaic Mineral Tenure Act needs to change to respect #UNDRIP and today’s values. #Yukon is doing it now #bcpoli 4/ northernminer.com/regulatory-iss…

Back to the report, BC mentions that there are certification schemes, like FSC for forestry, but refuses to specifically mention the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), and assures us that BC already meets ESG criteria so don’t worry about outside audits. 5/

This is part of what @SoniaFurstenau said in the Legislature last June - “there is a fundamental forgetting in B.C. of past #mining legacies”. Mount Polley, #Tulsequah Chief, Banks Gold, Copper Mtn, Teck, Babine Lake – the list goes on. #bcpoli 6/
medium.com/@nikki_1416/b-…

And what about the on-going or potential contamination (and unknown contamination b/c as AG said in 2016 BC is terrible at monitoring) of over 150 mine sites throughout the province? Hardly seems to meet the "E" responsibility under ESG. @SkeenaWild 7/
abbynews.com/news/new-map-d…

@Tsilhqotin are challenging Gibraltar permit dumping wastewater into Fraser River & concerned citizens are challenging #MtPolley permit dumping wastewater into Quesnel Lk. Can BC have responsible mining when we use our #salmon waters as dumping grounds? 8/ thetyee.ca/News/2021/03/1…

@MiningWatch hosted a conference on climate change action & #mining that highlighted our global need to invest (and innovate) in reducing minerals & metals in low-carbon energy transition, recycling batteries, etc One mention of recycling @MA_BC report 9/
miningwatch.ca/publications/2…

The irony of the industry promoting BC as low-carbon while fighting to reduce the carbon tax and few (only Mt Milligan?) taking advantage of the fund to reduce its climate emissions is a bit uncanny (and residents subsidized NW Transmission line, etc). #bcpoli 10/

On Innovation, part of Roadmap def'n is “will minimize the environmental impacts”. We need the industry to invest in ways to get rid of selenium pollution, reduce & recycle water usage, etc. All good! But it’s often used to automate and get rid of jobs /11 mining.com/rio-tinto-auto…

The mining sector is used to storytelling to gain investors, & Roadmap appears to be part fairy tale. Touting BC as a responsible #mining jurisdiction is premature. We need to @reformbcmining, incr monitoring & enforcement, cleanup legacies,respect #UNDRIP reformbcmining.ca