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John Cutfeet
BY JOSEPH QUESNEL
Reprinted with the permission of the Drum
Indigenous people in Canada should be able to say no to development activities that occur on their traditional territories, said a Northern Ontario First Nation man who has seen leadership in his community thrown in jail for opposing mining exploration on their lands without consultation.
“Our people have a right to be consulted, but not the right to say no,” said John Cutfeet, a spokesperson for Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation. “How is consultation ‘meaningful’ if you don’t have a choice?”
In particular, Cutfeet opposes the limited definition of meaningful consultation with First Nations over development activities, arguing that while it obligates companies to speak to First Nations, it does not provide an ultimate veto to indigenous communities that do not want these activities to proceed in the end. Cutfeet and other First Nations in Ontario argue that laws such as the Mining Act should be reformed to allow for First Nations to have meaningful choices over development.
Cutfeet was a keynote speaker at the Learning Together conference in Winnipeg. The conference has been running for three years. The conference was entitled An Aboriginal Approach to Mining Relationships. First Nation leaders, mining company representatives and government officials were in attendance at the event.
Awhile ago, six individuals from KI First Nation (including the chief and four band councillors) were charged with contempt of court after they refused to allow exploration activities by Platinex, a junior mineral exploration company from Toronto. According to one conference organizer, Platinex was invited to the event, but declined to be involved.
An Ontario judge had earlier ruled that Platinex had a right to access the land for exploration and KI could not interfere. Cutfeet is currently challenging those contempt charges in Ontario. To further complicate matters, KI First Nation has been attempting to finalized issues related to Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) surrounding their territory. In dealing with Platinex, Cutfeet said the community had tried to act within the lawful system established and they believe they have exhausted all of the lawful options open to them.
In previous court judgments, it was ruled that the Crown had to set out a consultation protocol for private companies that wanted to explore or develop on territories traditionally used by First Nations. Cutfeet said that KI First Nation had been working on establishing a consultation process. In particular, they developed a six-stage process that allowed for consultation with band leadership, as well as community members and those most directly affected by the development activities. Once all of that was finished, a referendum would be held in the community to determine support. Then an agreement would be signed once this support was received. In the case of KI, community members raised concerns about potential environmental impacts from the mining proposed, as well as impacts on traditional hunting areas. Cutfeet said that after consultation with traditional elders in the community, they were told that their first duty was to protect the land and to look towards future generations. Cutfeet mentioned that courts have recognized the spiritual connection between First Nations and the land.
Cutfeet also stated that in October 2007 KI First Nation could not afford to continue the courtroom battle with Platinex and had to withdraw from the fight. One First Nation leader commented during the presentation that the lack of funding on the part of KI First Nation affected the final outcome of the legal battle between the two parties. He said that it was unlikely the KI leaders would be in prison if the community had been able to afford to continue the legal fight. In the end, Cutfeet said that community leaders were left with little other recourse after the voice of community members was heard.
“For a long period of time, our people have not been heard. Our voices have been silenced and we feel it is time that stopped. Our people should have the same opportunities as anyone else.”
