Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation Files for Judicial Review of B.C.'s Substantial Start Determination for Seabridge Gold's KSM Mine
HAZELTON, BC, Nov. 25, 2024 /CNW/ - On November 22, 2024, the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation applied to the BC Supreme Court for judicial review of the Province's July 25th decision to issue a Substantial Start Determination (SSD) for Seabridge Gold's (TSX:SEA) (NYSE:SA) KSM Mine Project in Northwestern B.C. Despite Seabridge's plan to locate the mine's immense toxic waste facilities on the Nation's exclusive traditional territory, the Province has not engaged in the meaningful consultation required by the Canadian Constitution.
"The Province has repeatedly acknowledged the planned location of KSM's tailings waste is in Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha territory, yet for years they have ignored, and allowed Seabridge to ignore, the Nation's attempts to have its concerns addressed," says Ryan Beaton, legal counsel for the Nation. "They have obligations under the Constitution and UNDRIP to meaningfully engage with the Nation about those concerns and have failed to do so."
The region is also the subject of an active land claim by Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha. By granting the SSD, the Province has effectively greenlit the mine to move forward without first addressing the Nation's concerns.
KSM will be the world's largest gold, copper and silver mine. Using similar technology as mines whose toxic waste facilities have breeched and caused massive environmental devastation, KSM's toxic byproducts will be collected in an enormous manmade pond next to the pristine natural waterways the Nation relies on for food and traditional practices.
Seabridge has entered into significant agreements with the larger Tahltan and Nisga'a Nations. While Seabridge claims to have engaged with Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha, the Nation's concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
"There is no basis in law for the Province and Seabridge to consult and accommodate only larger First Nations," says Beaton. "The Nation whose territory is going to be filled with toxic waste must have a voice. The Province granted SSD without even sitting down to discuss the Nation's concerns about it."
"When Seabridge is done with the mine, they get to go home. The Tahltan and Nisga'a get to go home. We're the ones who have to live with the impacts of KSM's poisonous dump for generations to come," says Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Chief Darlene Simpson.
The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, a consortium of 15 Alaskan Tribes, express similar experiences with the governments' and Seabridge's lack of response to their concerns about potentially devastating impacts to their rivers from the KSM project.
The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation are descendants of the Laxwiiyip Tsetsaut, an independent self-governing people who occupied Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Territory at the time the British Crown asserted sovereignty in the region.
SOURCE Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation
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