Dear Editor
The mini media hype around Constantia Resources Ltd’s agreement with the High Bar First Nation, relating to a mining proposal at the Maggie Mine close to the Bonaparte River between Clinton and Cache Creek is a head shaker.
The Maggie Mine that wasn’t, and hopefully never will be, is on par with the protocol between Cache Creek and the Bonaparte Indian Band relating to the garbage landfill. We know what that’s worth.
Mines need water. Where do you think Maggie is going to get it? The Bonaparte River? That life line of a dozen ranches along its route to the Thompson River, not to mention the impact on the Thompson River which is the life line of the Village of Ashcroft and numerous communities along the corridor leading to the Fraser?
Mining ventures like Constantia need to sell stocks on the VSE. Creating the illusion of potential is one thing. Actually figuring out the impact on the land and its people is another.
And what, pray tell, does High Bar First Nation have to do with the Bonaparte River and the plateau from which it is sourced? Surely, it is the Bonaparte First Nation that should be courted with the lure of jobs and income, or whatever?
Fact is, the Bonaparte people depend on that river as much as the ranchers along its route.
Let’s use the thinking apparatus on top of our collective shoulders. The days when the lure of jobs and job training was sufficient are over.
I’ve lived long enough in this area to recall another office set up in Cache Creek to promote Hydro’s proposed Hat Creek Coal development. I can recall the millions of dollars spent on engineering, water diversion plans for Hat Creek, surveying, coal deposit testing, the works. And we all know what happened to that, if we’ve lived here long enough.
Esther Darlington MacDonald
Ashcroft