Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of this committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
First of all, I want to make it clear that my presentation this morning is on my own behalf for my first nation and on behalf of Chief Harry St. Denis of Wolf Lake First Nation, who has consented and contributed to my presentation here today. Our two Algonquin first nations have been affected by the proposed Matamec rare earth mining project, and we will see considerably greater impact should the project proceed. We are therefore jointly addressing this proposed rare earth mine.
In my presentation, I want to give you a quick profile of our communities and the activities we have done so far in assessing potential impacts from the proposed Matamec rare earth project. To conclude, I will outline the concerns we still have about the Matamec rare earth project proceedings.
As I've said, this submission is being presented on behalf of the Algonquin first nations of Eagle Village and Wolf Lake. The Algonquin nation is made up of ten distinct communities in all. Nine are located in Quebec and one is in Ontario. The Algonquin nation, which includes our two Algonquin first nations, has never given up aboriginal title to our traditional territory. This includes all the lands and waters within the Ottawa River watershed on both sides of the Ontario-Quebec border. Aboriginal title is held at the community level within the Algonquin nation. Our two first nations, along with Timiskaming First Nation, assert unextinguished aboriginal rights including title over our traditional territories, which straddle the Ottawa River basin on both sides of the Quebec-Ontario boundary.
A map showing the territory over which our communities assert our aboriginal right is appended to my presentation in annex A.
On January 23, 2013, our two first nations, along with Timiskaming First Nation, jointly released a statement of asserted rights or SAR, which summarized the aboriginal and treaty rights that our three first nations assert and provided detailed evidence to substantiate it. Copies of the SAR maps and background documentation were transmitted to the governments of Canada, Quebec, and Ontario in January 2013.
The population of Eagle Village is 300, with approximately another 650 members living off reserve. Wolf Lake members total 205. Wolf Lake does not have a reserve but has a recognized Indian settlement at Hunter's Point on Lake Kipawa. Most of the Wolf Lake members are dispersed among Kipawa, Témiscamingue, or North Bay, but they remain connected to the territory because members of our two first nations continue our traditional activities of hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering throughout our traditional lands.
Because Quebec's Mining Act does not require consultation with first nations at the exploration phase, contrary to the direction of the courts, our two first nations had engaged Matamec Explorations directly to consult with our first nations about the rare earth mining exploration activities on our traditional lands. Engaging was only achieved by our asserting our rights and issuing press releases. The company was not proactive in engaging our two first nations.
On July 6, 2012, our two first nations signed a memorandum of understanding with Matamec Explorations. The main purpose of this MOU is to address our environmental, social, and economic concerns about the proposed Matamec rare earth project. The funding from this MOU with Matamec has partially covered the costs of an Algonquin cultural assessment and an Algonquin social economic assessment, and it provides for an environmental review team our two first nations have assembled to review the baseline environmental studies from Matamec, which have yet to be fully provided to our first nations.
The MOU also explicitly provides “that the parties acknowledge that the crown owes Eagle Village and Wolf Lake the duty to consult and accommodate and that nothing in this MOU shall serve to relieve the crown of its duties”. Canada and Quebec still have a duty to consult and to accommodate our two first nations regarding any project approvals for this proposed rare earth open-pit mine, waste rock tailings, road construction, processing plant, and tailings ponds.
On April 29, 2013, we wrote to the federal environment minister Peter Kent expressing our concerns that a standard environmental assessment of the proposed Matamec project is not sufficient to address the unknown toxicity of mining, processing, and waste storage of rare earths near wetlands in a temperate zone. We asked Minister Kent for a joint review panel based on section 38 of CEAA, which provides for a joint review process with other decision-makers, including indigenous governments.
We believe a joint process is a more appropriate process to address our concerns about the—
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