A new Goldrush? Taseko Mines thinks so... Notes from BC's Cariboo-Chilcotin

Don’t you just love coincidences? World Water Day 2010 is set for March 22nd. That is also the day public hearings are set to begin in Williams Lake, BC on the proposed Taseko Mine southwest of the city and the resulting destruction of the Chilcotin’s Fish Lake.

Somebody, somewhere, must be laughing. Talk about a cosmic joke!

World Water Day grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and its overall goal is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level. In other words – Federal Review Panel - : water quality is as important as water quantity.

The Government of Canada’s Federal Review Panel is convening in Williams Lake on that day to listen to presentations from the public on the proposed “Prosperity” mine, whose proposed open pit sits on top of Fish Lake. Taseko Mines wants to drain the lake. I just received a copy of a letter to the Panel from the Chilcotin stating absolute opposition to the destruction of the lake and the contamination of the Chilcotin’s waters by this mine.

From a political point of view I realize that it may be more comfortable to sit on the fence on this one, after all it is an issue that will polarize the population of Williams Lake. Some believe the mine brings economic salvation and jobs. Others believe the mine will bring death and destruction to their land and their water. However, the Green Party of Canada’s position on this matter is clear – until such time as the aboriginal concerns have been dealt with (to their satisfaction) we are in absolute opposition to this project.

On a personal note I implore that cosmic joker to not let me find a lump of raw copper or worse yet, a gold nugget, on land that I love. I can’t bear to think of that land ending up under a tailings pond.

Heidi Redl

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