Long Lake #58 reached an Agreement-in-Principle with Greenstone Gold
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—Long Lake #58 is looking forward to a better future for its youth after reaching an Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) with Greenstone Gold for development of the Hardrock Project on Hwy. 11 near Geraldton.
“We want to give our youth and our children a future to look forward to,” says Long Lake #58 Chief Veronica Waboose during the announcement of the AIP on May 8 at the Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay. “Before the project, we have a lot of work to do with our people — we have the healing that has to take place, the hope that we have to give our people to look in the future. Right now it’s not there, so that is what we have to do even before the project.”
Waboose says the community is already taking youth out on the land for traditional activities on the weekends.
“We’re trying to bring back what we had before, our drums, our pipes,” Waboose says. “Most important of all is our language — that is what they do when they go out in the bush. The language is being taught to them.”
Waboose says the community’s Elders and other citizens participated in many presentations with representatives from Greenstone Gold and Premier Gold, including a tour of the proposed open pit mine site on Hwy. 11 near Geraldton. Construction will require the relocation of a portion of Hwy. 11, a Hydro One Substation and an Ontario Provincial Police station.
“Some were against it,” Waboose says. “It was not until they started understanding in a way that we could have a say in how it would go to make sure we still have our hunting and our fishing and everything that we live for in our region.”
Waboose says the AIP was reached after 18 months of intense negotiation with Greenstone Gold. Some of the important parts of the AIP include enhanced environmental participation, business opportunities, employment and training, financial benefits and any future projects that the company may develop in the community’s traditional territory.
“The Agreement-in-Principle is an important step for our First Nation and it will be presented to our membership for ratification,” Waboose says, noting the ratification vote will be held in Thunder Bay on June 12 and in the community on June 13. “The agreement, if ratified, will give our membership a generational project and we look forward to the opportunity to share in the benefits to be created.”
Long Lake #58 Councillor John O’Nabigon says the AIP is a “huge step” for the community.
“This means a lot to our people because this will be a life changer,” O’Nabigon says. “Both parties, Greenstone Gold and us, have a strong joint commitment to create success in the training and employment side.”
O’Nabigon says there will also be business opportunities for entrepreneurs in the community.
The construction phase of the open pit mine will employ up to 1,000 people and the mine operation will employ about 450 people.
“We would like to develop this mine with all of the people [in the area] to retain employment,” says Eric Lamontagne, general manager of Greenstone Gold. “Principally in an open pit, there are a lot of operator jobs and with some training for a few months, they will be able to start to work and learn and able to obtain the job.”
Lamontagne says the company still has to complete the Environmental Assessment process, negotiate Impact Benefit Agreements with other First Nations and the Métis Nation of Ontario and obtain financial support for the mine. The mine is expected to operate for 15 years.