Mr. Speaker, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans seems to be poised to grant approval to reopen the Tulsequah Chief mine in northwestern British Columbia.
Previously, the DFO was on record with concerns about how this project would affect the salmon bearing streams and caribou herds of the Taku region. After a closed door meeting with lobbyists for the mining company and the province of British Columbia, the DFO inexplicably changed its position and is now pushing the project forward.
This project is tearing the local community apart. The elected leaders of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation are very concerned about the potential impact on the resource role planned for this project. The Supreme Court ruled last year that we need a land use management plan prior to the project's existence.
It is time for leadership from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on this file. It is time for him to step up to the plate and to halt the approval of this project until the environmental sustainability issues surrounding the project are adequately addressed.