Continued failure to consult on uranium exploration a harmful mistake: Mi'kmaw chiefs

Lyndsay Armstrong · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 11:55 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Nova Scotia's continued nonaccomplishment to consult with First Nations connected uranium exploration is simply a mistake that volition further erode the province's narration with Mi'kmaw communities, says the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs and a lawyer from Sipekne'katik First Nation.

Pictou Landing First Nation Chief Tamara Young said the Mi'kmaw people were neither consulted nor notified erstwhile Nova Scotia introduced past passed a measure that opens the state up to imaginable uranium mining and fracking.

"The deficiency of consultation is unacceptable and goes against the UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)," Young said successful a connection to The Canadian Press connected Wednesday.

The assembly has said they volition proceed to reason some uranium exploration and hydraulic fracturing until their biology concerns person been addressed.

The provincial authorities added uranium to its database of precedence captious minerals May 14, and it issued a petition for exploration proposals for 3 sites with known deposits of the dense metal. Interested companies had until Wednesday to taxable their proposals.

'We'll bash things safely,' premier says

On Thursday, Premier Tim Houston confirmed that nary companies had travel guardant with a bid. "I don't work a batch into it," Houston said aft a furniture meeting. "It was a quick, archetypal petition for feedback."

The premier went connected to suggest his authorities indispensable bash a amended occupation explaining that uranium mining tin beryllium done information — and make wealth to assistance wage for nationalist services.

"There volition beryllium voices that don't privation facts; they prey connected fear," helium said. "We'll bash things safely. We'll bash them sustainably. We attraction astir the wellness of people. We attraction astir people's dogs — idiosyncratic said, 'Are you going to termination my dog?"'

In her statement, Young said the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia recognize that Nova Scotia's system is facing planetary pressures.

"But immoderate assets improvement successful Mi'kma'ki indispensable see our consent and information arsenic we are the rightful owners of these lands, waters and resources," Young said, speaking arsenic co-lead of the environment, vigor and mines portfolio connected behalf of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs.

Rosalie Francis, a Mi'kmaw lawyer whose steadfast is based retired of Sipekne'katik First Nation, said the state risks further damaging their narration with Mi'kmaw communities and sabotaging the imaginable uranium manufacture by failing to consult adequately and early.

"By choosing not to consult, it scares distant investors, destroys the narration and gets america backmost to starting astatine zero," Francis said successful an interrogation Tuesday.

"It each comes down to trust, and this wholly diminishes immoderate benignant of trust."

Meanwhile, 4 municipalities person precocious called connected the authorities to dilatory down its propulsion for uranium exploration.

3 plots of onshore opened for uranium proposal 

Pictou County was the archetypal to bash so, followed by the West Hants Regional Municipality, the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg and the Municipality of the County of Annapolis. Each assembly is asking the state for an indefinite hold to let for consultations and accusation sessions.

Nova Scotia has opened up 3 plots of onshore for uranium task proposals: an 80-hectare tract successful Louisville successful Pictou County; a 64-hectare tract successful East Dalhousie successful Annapolis County; and a 2,300-hectare tract successful Millet Brook successful Hants County. Much of this is connected backstage land.

The authorities has antecedently said companies selected by the state would person to question support from landowners to explore. However, Section 26 of the province's Mineral Resources Act allows the earthy resources curate to intervene if determination is simply a stalemate.

A spokesperson with the Department of Natural Resources said if a institution decides it wants to make a excavation connected 1 of these sites, past determination is work to consult with Mi'kmaw communities.

Francis said that presumption is backwards, and is not successful enactment with lawsuit instrumentality connected the matter.

"It's been wide that work to consult begins when, successful the minds of government, they're anticipating enactment that volition impact rights," Francis said, adding that should hap earlier a institution has made a determination connected the site.

Alton Gas Lessons

The lawyer said it would look the state has not learned from the fallout of the Alton Gas cavern project, which was officially scrapped successful autumn 2021. The Alberta vigor institution abandoned its program to make immense brackish caverns northbound of Halifax to store earthy state much than 13 years aft starting construction.

The institution said astatine the clip the task experienced challenges and delays, referring to absorption the task faced from Indigenous protesters and allies who opposed the company's program to region large, underground brackish deposits by flushing them retired with h2o from the adjacent Shubenacadie River. The program besides called for dumping the leftover brine into the tidal river, wherever it would travel into the Bay of Fundy.

In March 2020, a determination by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ordered the state to resume consultations with Sipekne'katik First Nation connected the substance and determined the erstwhile situation curate was incorrect erstwhile she concluded the state had adequately consulted with the First Nation astir the project.

"The state should person walked distant from that determination and said, 'OK, acquisition learned.' The task ne'er went forward. All the state investors looked astatine it and said, 'This is conscionable a messiness now. Let's conscionable locomotion away,"' Francis said.

The lawyer said it volition beryllium telling successful the coming weeks if the state chooses to prosecute with Mi'kmaw communities oregon "if the state volition march on successful the aforesaid mode it did before."

"Either we'll person a occurrence communicative oregon we'll person different Alton Gas play out," she said.

Canada-wide trend

Shiri Pasternak, a criminology prof astatine Toronto Metropolitan University and co-investigator of a probe task called Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism, said the concern successful Nova Scotia mirrors the expedited extraction question that's happening crossed the country.

"What's happening to the Mi'kmaq successful Nova Scotia is truly proliferating arsenic an onslaught connected Indigenous and biology rights crossed the state close now," she said successful an interrogation Tuesday.

Pasternak said Nova Scotia is 1 of respective provinces moving to velocity up extraction and improvement projects — moves that are supported by the national government.

"We person this expanse of fast-tracked authorities and argumentation changes to the Environment Assessment Act, some provincially successful Nova Scotia and successful different places, but besides federally successful presumption of the Impact Assessment Act successful bid to expedite improvement and extraction — astir of which volition beryllium against the desires and the consent of Indigenous radical crossed the country."