a message for you, PAOV — from RAVEN
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
PAOV,
Putting on your orange shirt today in support of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation? Our friends at RAVEN are offering something else you can do. Read on to learn more…
Today, the venerable Murray Sinclair is urging us to review the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He invites us to consider, even as we reckon with the horrors of the past, that “Reconciliation is about our responsibility to the... future.”
Everywhere you look, there’s that fiery orange: let it serve as the spark to renew your commitment to take tangible action to repair relationships: Every. Single. Day.
And to go a step above, we invite you to step up to support Gitxaala Nations’ groundbreaking mining justice challenge.
Donate to Gitxaala’s legal challenge fund through RAVEN.
You may remember Gitxaala led an alliance that overturned the approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline at the Federal Court of Appeal. Now, faced with more reckless development in their territory, Gitxaala are back in court with another game-changing case.
Times have changed, but the Mineral Tenure Act has not.
Despite shiny goals expressed through its newly-minted Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act framework, the B.C. government continues to fight First Nations in court, resisting calls to reform a system that has indulged mining interests for more than a century.
Today, anyone with $50 and a wifi connection can stake a mining claim without even bothering to notify Indigenous peoples. Communities are forced to play a whack-a-mole game of fighting projects one-by-one.
Witness: the Mount Polley disaster, in which Imperial Metals dumped a mind-bending 25 billion litres of toxic waste into the salmon-rich Fraser watershed. Consequences for salmon? Unfathomable. Consequences for Imperial Metals? None.
Then there’s the notorious Taseko Mines, whose relentless attempt to steamroll Indigenous opposition was resisted through roadblocks, a Title challenge, and — finally — a Supreme Court victory that quashed a gold and copper mine in sacred Teztan Biny.
Ditto Yellow Giant, whose operations on Banks Island in Gitxaala territory caused two significant spills in as many years — one of which was intentional. Thanks to Gitxaala leadership, the company has been one of the only mining companies operating in B.C. to face prosecution.
Now, the Nation is working to cut out the injustice at the heart of B.C.’s mining policy. But, if not for the support of people like you stepping up to donate, organize and fundraise online, Gitxaala will have to draw from extremely limited education, health and social services budgets in order to fund litigation that ultimately serves everyone.
Stand with Gitxaala with a donation today on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
In addition to giving precious salmon habitat on Banks Island a chance to recover from the Yellow Giant spills, Gitxaala’s case calls out government on its double standard. In public, ministers wax poetic about consent and cooperation — while in private, they’re issuing mineral exploration permits to pretty much anyone with a shovel.
Any politician worth their seat is going to be sporting an orange t-shirt today. That sea of colour may be cold comfort for communities who’ve seen wetlands, river systems and sacred mountains devastated by mineral companies.
It’s time to back the reconciliation rhetoric with solid legislative change.
Nations like Gitxaala have deeply articulated, ecologically sound plans for their territories, based on thousands of years of stewardship practices. They’re living with the fallout from short-term boom and bust resource extraction, yet they are crafting a new vision for their territory — one that is grounded in the laws of the land.
A win for Gitxaala is a win for all of us. Donate now.
Today, you’ll hear a lot about how important it is to follow Indigenous leadership. But it can be tricky to figure out how to actually do that, practically speaking. Here’s a simple place to dig in and help out. Please give generously if you can, and pass this message along to folks in your network who may be looking for ways to stand in solidarity today.
With gratitude,
Andrea Palframan, Communications Director for RAVEN
P.S. Put reconciliation into action by making a donation to Gitxaala’s legal challenge through our friends at RAVEN.
Thanks for all you do,
The No Tankers team
PO Box 8701, r5
