Stop the drilling in Wahgoshig First Nation sacred area

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Wahgoshig First Nation to Appear in Court this Week
to Seek Potentially Precedent-Setting Injunction

MATHESON, ONTARIO, Nov 29, 2011

Wahgoshig First Nation is going to court this Thursday, December 1, to seek an urgent injunction to immediately stop drilling operations in a sacred area of Wahgoshig's traditional territory. The area is immediately adjacent to the Wahgoshig reserve and is known to contain burial grounds as well as other archaeological and heritage sites. It is also an area frequented by Wahgoshig community members for hunting, trapping, fishing, medicine gathering, and ceremonial activities.

The motion will be heard in the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto at 10:00 am. Members of the Wahgoshig community will be in attendance and will hold a a ceremony and demonstration at 8:30 am at Queen's Park. The community members will then march to the courthouse at 361 University Avenue.

Solid Gold Resources Corp. is a mining exploration company based near Toronto, Ontario. Wahgoshig community members discovered Solid Gold operating in its territory in the spring of this year. Since that time Wahgoshig has continuously voiced its concerns to Solid Gold about the potential impacts to its traditional territory and rights. Wahgoshig has repeatedly requested that Solid Gold stop drilling and meet to discuss how to ensure the protection of these lands and its culture. These requests have been largely ignored.

Only after urging by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) did Solid Gold meet with Wahgoshig - once - in early November. At that meeting, Solid Gold president Darryl Stretch refused to cease drilling even temporarily and refused to undertake any archaeological or land-use studies to identify and protect sacred sites.

MNDM then demanded that Solid Gold immediately cease its operations, stating that consultation with Wahgoshig has been inadequate. In spite of this, Solid Gold brazenly continues to drill and bulldoze land that is rich with archaeological and cultural heritage sites and values.

Wahgoshig's injunction motion seeks to put a stop to drilling until the First Nation has been consulted and its concerns over the integrity of sites and values in its traditional territories have been accommodated. The motion has the potential to set a precedent in the province and will have significant ramifications for the relationship between resource development companies, First Nations, and the Crown.



Contacts:
Chief David Babin:
Cell - 705-262-2770
705-273-2055 (ext. 29)

Kate Kempton (Legal Counsel):
Cell - 416-571-6775
416-981-9374

SOURCE: Wahgoshig First Nation

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Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

December 20, 2011 - Imagine that in today's political environment, with the common knowledge of best practices for mining companies, there is an exploration firm that would "do it's own thing", without partnering with First Nations in whose territory they would have the nerve, to pursue their wealth-garnering corporate activities.

Witness the Wahgoshig First Nations’s reaction to this scenario - a motion for an injunction to prevent Solid Gold from further exploration in their traditional territory.

Wahgoshig First Nation was in the Ontario Superior Court today, seeking an injunction against Solid Gold Resources Corp., a junior mining company that is drilling in its traditional territory.

Since spring 2011, Wahgoshig has been trying to meet with Solid Gold to discuss the impacts of Solid Gold's activities on Wahgoshig's lands and rights.

Solid Gold has consistently refused to engage with Wahgoshig, despite being directed to do so by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

Also of interest:
search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keywords=wahgoshig

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Decision Pending
in Wahgoshig First Nation's Injunction Motion
against Solid Gold Resources Corp.

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Dec 22, 2011

After weeks of delay and two adjournments, Wahgoshig First Nation finally had its day in court on December 20, 2011. The hearing of Wahgoshig's injunction motion lasted the full day and went in to the early evening. A decision is expected in mid-late January. If Wahgoshig is successful, Solid Gold Resources Corp. will be unable to drill for some period of time.

"I am cautiously optimistic about all of this. I just hope that the court will make sure our rights are respected," said Wahgoshig Chief David Babin. "This company has been extremely disrespectful and has failed to take any appropriate steps to consult with and accommodate our community. Even the Crown has been telling Solid Gold to stop drilling, but the company refuses. Now we can only hope that the court will stop them because it appears they won't listen to anyone else."

Solid Gold has been on Wahgoshig's traditional territory since at least the spring of 2011, when Wahgoshig community members first discovered the company by accident on the land. The area in which Solid Gold is drilling is replete with cultural heritage values and sites, including burial grounds.

Contacts:
Chief David Babin
Cell - 705-262-2770
Office - 705-273-2055 (ext. 29)

Kate Kempton (Legal Counsel)
Cell - 416-571-6775
Office - 416-981-9374

[admin]

Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

January 4, 2011

"We feel that justice has been done. Exploration and other companies across Canada will hopefully recognize that aboriginal and treaty rights really mean something and that courts will not let our rights be trampled on by unilateral actions and failures of industry and government."

That's Wahgoshig Chief David Babin's reaction to an Ontario court decision that has brought a halt to mineral exploration on sacred land. Wahgoshig First Nation has won an injunction against Solid Gold, a company that came onto the land and started drilling without any consultation or accommodation. That's unacceptable to the First Nation, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling agrees.

Madam Justice Brown has ordered that Solid Gold Resources Corp. cannot carry on any further exploration activity for 120 days. During this time the company and the Ontario government must engage with Wahgoshig in a process of meaningful consultation and accommodation about any such further exploration.

If this process is not productive, Wahgoshig can go back to court to seek an extension of the injunction.

Solid Gold's mining claims block is in the heart of Wahgoshig's traditional territory, on land that is of significant importance to Wahgoshig.

"This is an important precedent for First Nations," says Wahgoshig's lawyer Kate Kempton of Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP (OKT).

"Justice Brown held that it is in the public interest to ensure that First Nations' constitutionally-protected aboriginal and treaty rights, including the right to meaningful consultation and adequate accommodation, are honoured and respected."

The full decision is available on the OKT web site:
http://www.oktlaw.com/category/blog/

BACKGROUND:
Solid Gold Resources Corp. is a mining exploration company based near Toronto, Ontario. Wahgoshig community members discovered Solid Gold operating in its territory in the spring of 2011. Wahgoshig continuously voiced its concerns to Solid Gold about the potential impacts to its traditional territory and rights. Wahgoshig repeatedly requested that Solid Gold stop drilling and meet to discuss how to ensure the protection of these lands and its culture. These requests were largely ignored.

Only after urging by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) did Solid Gold meet with Wahgoshig - once - in early November. At that meeting, Solid Gold president Darryl Stretch refused to cease drilling even temporarily and refused to undertake any archaeological or land-use studies to identify and protect sacred sites.

MNDM then demanded that Solid Gold immediately cease its operations, stating that consultation with Wahgoshig has been inadequate. In spite of this, Solid Gold brazenly continued to drill and bulldoze land that is rich with archaeological and cultural heritage sites and values.