Saturday, 21 September, 2002
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De Beers, Attawapiskat officials resume talks
Talks have resumed between Attawapiskat First Nation and De Beers in an attempt to get exploration work by the diamond giant going again.
Exploration work was put on hold in the Victor Project, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat - the site of a potential open pit diamond mine - by the First Nation council for fears the project was moving too fast.
Officials from the two sides met in the isolated James Bay community on Friday.
While expectations and agendas are different for each side, both negotiation teams want to reach a settlement.
"Both sides want to reach an agreement, but how we reach it depends on co-operation of both sides," said Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Hall after Friday's meeting. "But I don't think they really want to negotiate at all.
"They tell us their board of directors must have our consent by next week (Oct. 1) and we think a month is more appropriate."
Hall added the diamonds have been in the ground for a million years and the ground doesn't freeze until after the beginning of December, so why the rush?
"De Beers told us they do not think negotiations are necessary under the Mining Act, while also saying they acknowledge our aboriginal and treaty rights," she said. "If they don't accept this offer, we will have pretty good evidence that they were never interested in negotiations at the advanced exploration stage.
"They are spending $10-20 million in our traditional territories this winter and so far they are not willing to negotiate how that work will minimize impacts to our environment, how it will benefit us and how it will respect our rights."
Negotiators for De beers were surprised however by the list of issues put on the table, when they had only come to iron out an agreement to deal with their winter project, said Linda Dorrington, communication manager for De Beers Canada.
"We have been telling them all along, that the end of September is crucial to our plans, to get licences and approval to continue our winter studies," Dorrington said. "We have been talking with their leaders since March about the Impact benefit agreement, which is unprecedented.
"We want this to be a win-win situation for both sides, we want them to prosper too and we don't want to leave them out in the cold.
"We have no intention of taking them for a ride or to take the resources and run," she told The Daily Press. |
