To: robert landy who wrote (900 ) 12/23/1998 10:45:00 PM From: robert landy Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2006
Editorial from News/North: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 Slowing down the process Congratulations are in order to the groups that pushed back the deadline for public comment on the environmental review for the Diavik project. Aboriginal groups felt that the process was being rushed along. DIAND is also to be commended for living up to their promise. All along DIAND has been reassuring concerned members of the public that the comprehensive process was flexible and would accommodate public interests as they came up. And up they came. A recent meeting in Kugluktuk between residents and representatives of both Diavik and DIAND left some residents nervous about the impact the proposed mining project would have on the quality of their water supply. Creating deadlines to complete a review of the potential impact of the proposed mine is a necessary evil; there has to be some kind of structure surrounding the process. The review, however, is meaningless if there isn't sufficient time to explore all the concerns the people affected might have. While Diavik's investors might find this extension time-consuming, they should keep in mind that even more time-consuming is revitalizing the damaged ecology that a mining project can leave behind. The people of the North live off the land. It provides fish, meat and water. Despite its formidable size and dramatic climate, the Northern landscape is fragile. The network of natural relationships that allow game and fish to flourish is delicate and sensitive. No one knows that better than the people who have lived off the land's bounty for generations. It is they who must be satisfied that Diavik, or any other project, won't disrupt the balance of nature. The indigenous people of the North have been misled before. They have every right to be skeptical. After all, the mine is their backyard. It is impossible not to wonder what the reaction would be if the shoe were on the other foot.