Tahltan Nation demands Bell Media cease airing “Jade Fever” and the Province to Suspend all Jade and Placer Mining in Tahltan Territory

DEASE LAKE, BC, May 18, 2021 – The Tahltan Central Government (the “TCG”) has contacted Bell Media, the Discovery Channel, and Omnifilm Entertainment to demand that these companies suspend airing the show “Jade Fever”, which follows a jade operation in Tahltan Territory and fails to demonstrate any consideration of impacts to Tahltan rights and title or depict responsible environmental stewardship. In addition, The TCG has provided the Province of British Columbia with a demand letter requiring that all placer and hard-rock jade mining and placer gold operations within Tahltan Territory be suspended immediately.

Chad Norman Day, President of the TCG said, The jade and placer industry in its current form has no place in Tahltan Territory or British Columbia. The ongoing degradation of our wildlife, fisheries, and wilderness in exchange for minimal benefits flowing back to the Province or the Tahltan Nation is illegal, disrespectful, and shameful on so many levels, to both Tahltans and British Columbians. The Tahltan Nation has been pushing BC to deal with this highly unregulated and unethical industry for years and they have failed to address the concerns in a timely fashion. We as Tahltans will begin shutting down more activities and may stop supporting industrial projects until our title and rights and the environment are properly respected and protected.”

On May 11, 2020, the Province implemented a Placer Jade Permit Deferral Area Order pursuant to section 7 of the Environment and Land Use Act, RSBC 1996, c 117. The Order restricts permitting decision on placer jade mining operations in Northern BC under sections 10 and 11 of the Mines Act, RSBC 1996, c 293 for a period of 24 months. The Province has committed to exploring solutions to environmental issues posed by the placer jade sector.

While the Tahltan Nation welcomes these initial steps, the Order fails to fully protect the Nation from the impacts of the jade industry and placer gold operations. The Order does not apply to the existing placer jade operations, hard-rock jade mining, or placer gold mining. President Day says the Province’s commitments do not go far enough and wants to see a complete shutdown of the industry until negotiations with the TCG surrounding jade and placer mining projects are settled.

The President went on to say, “These jade and placer gold operations have unacceptable impacts on the Tahltan Nation. Our community members and staff have camera footage and several eye-witness accounts of illegal poaching of our wildlife and other serious environmental infractions, such as taking equipment through salmon-bearing waters, by these operators. Abandoned equipment and garbage has been piling up from these operators for decades. Jade is also an important resource to Tahltan culture, and yet the Province allows others to come into our territory without our consent to extract millions of dollars’ worth of jade each year, with zero compensation and a huge environmental mess that hurts us all as British Columbians. This is completely unacceptable, and we are not waiting any longer to have our jade and placer issues fully addressed.”

The industry operates in a manner that is inconsistent with Canadian law regarding Aboriginal rights and title and with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as enacted into British Columbia law by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, SBC 2019, c 44.

Failing immediate action by the Province and these companies, the TCG will be taking steps to assert its jurisdiction and to protect Tahltan Territory.

ABOUT THE TAHLTAN NATION

The Tahltan Central Government (TCG) is the administrative governing body of the Tahltan Nation. The Iskut Band and the Tahltan Band continue to govern Tahltan interests with respect to the Indian Act in the communities of Iskut, Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek. The TCG is the representative government of the Tahltan Nation with respect to the inherent and collective Aboriginal title and rights shared by all Tahltan people.

The Tahltan Nation s Territory spans 95,933 square km of Northwest British Columbia or the equivalent of 11 per cent of the province. Tahltan Territory includes 70 per cent of BC s Golden Triangle – a world-class mining jurisdiction with a thriving mineral exploration sector. For more information, visit: www.tahltan.org.

For further information, please contact:

Communications & External Relations Director
Tahltan Central Government
604-351-0726
communicationsdirector@tahltan.org

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