Some Tahltan First Nation members in northern B.C. are raising concerns about the timing of an “upfront payment” from a mining company ahead of a crucial vote on the Eskay Creek mine. The project involves the reopening of a former underground mine located approximately 80 kilometres northwest of the town of Stewart, B.C., not far from the Alaska border.The vote will determine whether members approve a proposed Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) between Skeena Resources and the Tahltan Central Government. The IBA sets out a royalties scheme and provides compensation for the resources at the site and the impacts of extracting them. The referendum vote will take place this Saturday and Sunday. It’s asking Tahltan members whether they support the IBA. The Tahltan have a unique agreement with the province to consent-based decision making on the project – one of the first of its kind in Canada – which means it cannot proceed without their approval. Just weeks ago, the Tahltan Central Government (TCG) announced it had negotiated an upfront $40-million payment from Skeena that would see individual Tahltan citizens receive $10,000 at some point next year – if the IBA is ratified.Several Tahltan members have told CBC News there is an emotional divide in the community, with some feeling hopeful about the proposed benefits and others who say the process has felt rushed and see the payment proposal as an attempt to influence the vote. What’s in the IBA? In order to see the proposed agreement, Tahltan members had to review hard copies in law offices at a number of locations in B.C. and the Yukon. While the full contents are confidential, TCG has said publicly that under the IBA, the company would pay an estimated $210 million in royalties to the Tahltan over the life of the mine, as well as $81 million in shares, $17 million toward community supports, and $10 million toward an environmental fund. In a news release earlier this year, Skeena chief executive officer Randy Reichert said the project is expected to contribute $14 billion to the GDP of B.C. and Canada over the next two decades, and pay $3.6 billion in taxes.Skeena Resources did not respond to a request for an interview from CBC News. The Eskay Creek mine site in northern B.C. (Skeena Resources)TCG says 98 community consultations about the IBA have taken place across the Yukon, B.C. and Alberta, and that the proposed $10,000 payments are an effort to address concerns raised in those meetings. “During our engagement sessions, we heard feedback that not all Tahltan members would directly benefit from this project,” a TCG spokesperson wrote in an email to CBC News. “In response, we have negotiated direct funding for members.”Several staff members of the TCG, including vice-president Kimberley Marion, founder of Kica Contracting Ltd. and owner of Sal’s Ironworks, own companies that have already had contracts working at the site. Marion did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. Skeena has promised to hire between 150 and 200 First Nations employees, and has said its objective is for 20 per cent of its employees to be Tahltan. In a video posted to the TCG social media, Chief Richard Jackson said the agreement has been in the works for years, and he lauded the negotiation team. “I compliment them for what they have done,” he said. The video was part of a series focused on the work that’s been done on the agreement and projects the TCG says could come with the mine, like an ambulance and an elders’ facility. A house in Iskut, B.C., a Tahltan community in the province’s northwest. (Delphine Jung/Radio-Canada)However, some Tahltan members are sceptical about the proposed benefits, and have concerns about the potential environmental impacts. They also question TCG’s apparent support for the project. “I don’t buy it,” said Alanna Quock, a Tahltan and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council member who has acted as a consultant for the TCG on land planning. “I don’t want to be sold. I don’t want my Nation to be selling me something. I want them to be giving me very neutral information and have the direction come from the people.” Cynthia Callison, a Tahltan member and lawyer, said alarm bells started going off for her when she learned that plans for the mine involve water monitoring and water treatment in perpetuity. While reports from the company and TCG say tributaries near the Eskay site are at elevations not accessible to fish and nearby watersheds are “non-fish bearing”, Callison remains worried about the possibility of water quality impacts further downstream. “I think the biggest concern about water contamination is the effect it could have on salmon runs,” said Callison. “I think the Yukon has a better understanding of the risks of what can go wrong with mining than some of us do in B.C.”She’s also concerned by the $10,000 payment proposal, and whether that will unreasonably sway the upcoming referendum vote.“It’s not an inducement for me to vote, but I think to people who are struggling, it could be.” What are the potential environmental impacts? The Eskay Creek project covers approximately 58 square kilometers and would be operated as an open-pit mine. The facility was acquired from Barrick Gold in 2017 by Skeena Resources and has been inactive since 2008.Skeena is hoping to reopen the site and see initial production begin by 2027.The project is now undergoing an environmental assessment in B.C. that’s expected to be complete next month.A lake along the road near Stewart and Iskut, B.C., in Tahltan territory, in B.C.’s far northwest. (Delphine Jung/Radio-Canada) In the meantime, David Chambers, a retired geophysicist, says Tahltan citizens “probably should have more information before they take a vote” on the project.Chambers works for the Center for Science in Public Participation, which provides technical expertise on mining issues. He reviewed the Eskay Creek project design in order to provide a comment as part of the environmental assessment.“I’ve got two concerns from a mining standpoint,” he said. “One has to do with the tailings, and the waste rock that’s going to be disposed with it, are acid-producing, but they’re not going to line the bottom of the impoundment.” Chambers says that raises concerns about possible water contamination. His other concern centres on the waste rock dump. “The way it’s been designed as presented in the environmental assessment, it could quite easily fail in an earthquake,” he said. “It just doesn’t meet high design standards, quite frankly.”Both TCG and Skeena have said the project design factored in the potential for earthquakes in accordance with B.C. code. Feddie Louie, deputy chief of the Iskut Band, said Tahltan members will have “full access and full review” of the project once it’s started. “They will determine if and when different actions need to be taken, if they feel the environment isn’t being protected,” said Louie, in a statement on social media addressing environmental concerns. The Marmot Bay Trading Company in Stewart, B.C., in B.C.’s far northwest. (Delphine Jung/Radio-Canada)Alanna Quock says Tahltan territory may have significant mineral potential, but it also contains the headwaters of three significant rivers: the Skeena, the Nass, and the Stikine. She’s urging other members to recognize their power and consider what’s at stake ahead of the vote. “These are large intact watersheds and they have global significance in terms of the ecosystem function they provide,” she said.
First Nations in northern B.C. offered $10K payouts ahead of vote on contentious mine project
