The Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands issued a scathing statement on March 4 in response to claims made by OneBC’s sole MLA that the provincial government had effectively bribed them over the Copper Mountain Mine expansion.
The First Nations, who have issued multiple past statements opposing the province’s rapid approval of the New Ingerbelle expansion over a lack of adequate consultation, condemned the claims shared by the OneBC MLA for misrepesenting the USIB and LSIB’s positions and for deliberately misleading the public.
OneBC’s sole member, Dallas Brodie, posted comments around the Princeton-area mine to her social media on Feb. 26, where she claimed the province had offered both bands 35 per cent of the mineral tax revenue from the mine’s operations to get it approved.
The bands’ joint statement reiterated their concerns, and that the approval of the New Ingerbelle Pit expansion at the Copper Mountain Mine had not received their consent before the province issued the permit.
READ MORE: Similkameen First Nations blast province for ‘unilateral’ approval of mine expansion
Brodie has been criticized repeatedly by First Nations groups, politicians, and others for her rhetoric and actions. The Chiefs Executive Council of the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the First Nations Leadership Council have called for her resignation over past anti-Indigenous rhetoric, such as denying the impacts of the residential school system, introducing a quickly shot down bill to get rid of land acknowledgements, and claims that there is a “reconciliation industry”.
READ MORE: Okanagan chiefs call for MLA Brodie to resign over ‘anti-Indigenous’ rhetoric
READ MORE: Critics bombard One B.C. MLA Brodie for bill forbidding land acknowledgements
The Vancouver-Quilchena MLA’s latest statements made a claim that the bands would each receive a $7 million annual payout, and that after receiving that payout offer, dropped their opposition to Copper Mountain’s expansion.
The statement from the USIB and LSIB directly challenges that claim, with their reiteration of a lack of consent on the project, and noting that there is no way to know how much they will receive in tax revenue.
“The province of B.C. has not released any estimates of how much tax revenue it expects from this project,” the USIB and LSIB said.”This directly means any public claims of specific dollar amounts being paid to the province or to First Nations are unverified and unsupported.”
Minister of Mines and Critical Resources Jagrup Brar echoed the bands’ statement when asked for comment on March 5.
“Dallas Brodie can say anything, and it doesn’t mean anything,” Brar said. “It is about 35 per cent [of the provincial mineral tax revenue] and the amount will depend on the commodity prices at that time and the production at that time, there are various factors on which it will depend, and I don’t think anyone at this stage can say how much that will be.”
The MLA also claimed that the province’s supposed financial offers had been used to override any environmental concerns, which has been a repeated public point of contention with the USIB and LSIB, with the bands cutting off negotiations with the mine’s parent company, Hudbay Minerals, at one point over their concerns.
READ MORE: No need for full environmental review of Copper Mt. Mine expansion: EAO
READ MORE: Indigenous bands raise red flags over Princeton’s Copper Mountain merge
Brodie’s Feb. 26 statement claimed that not just the USIB and LSIB but all First Nations were only interested in financial cuts to approve anything, and that there is no need to have their approval. She also said that all of the resources in the province and the wealth generated from those resources don’t belong to First Nations.
The Minister of Mines said that it is only through working with First Nations that the government has been able to get approval for as many projects as it has in the last year.
“We strongly believe in reconciliation with First Nations, and we believe in working with First Nations, and that we can move forward faster by working with First Nations,” said Brar. “There are people, like Dallas Brodie, who believe in not working with them, and that will put all these projects at risk and take year after years in the court system.”
On top of the claims made by Brodie, the Similkameen First Nations challenged her record, starting with her own OneBC biography that she is “one of Canada’s leading voices on Indigenous issues today.”
“Ms. Brodie does not and cannot speak for any Indigenous nations, nor should she be regarded as a trustworthy source on Indigenous matters of any kind, nor on resource development matters,” the USIB and LSIB statement reads. “To be clear, given Ms. Brodie’s public record and her documented behaviour toward Indigenous survivors and communities, or even people she just disagrees with in her own political circles, she cannot be considered a reliable or informed commentator on any matters involving Indigenous peoples, nor on resource development or any figures associated with it.”
The bands added that Brodie’s own track record saw her removed from the B.C. Conservative caucus for mocking survivors of abuse and spreading conspiracy theories about residential schools, which she still maintains, saw her removed from the party she helped establish over accusations of paranoia and abusive conduct, and her return after the party’s entire board resigned.
“These issues raise significant concerns regarding her credibility, judgment, and reliability as a human being, and especially as a person who is supposed to be representing her constituents professionally, properly, and respectfully in the provincial legislature,” the USIB and LSIB stated.
The bands stated that they remained committed to protecting the Similkameen River and their communities and to holding the government and industry accountable.
“We encourage everyone to rely on verified information—not political commentary rooted in misinformation, exaggeration, racial profiling, and ignorance—and we will defend ourselves, our supporters, our neighbours, and our actions against any politician’s social media being used as a tool to spew lies, exaggerations, or denialism, about our joint Nations’ decisions or integrity.”