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By Nicole Reis

Land Claims

MN-S files court claim against NexGen Energy over breach of contract in establishment of uranium mine

Sep 9, 2020 | 1:49 PM

The Métis Nation – Saskatchewan (MN-S) has filed a claim against NexGen Energy Ltd. stating NexGen is in breach of its legal obligations under a study agreement that was signed between MN-S and NexGen. NexGen plans to eventually establish a uranium mine in the southwest of the Athabasca Basin.

MN-S and northern region leadership are concerned the project will have significant and long-lasting impacts on Métis communities, Métis lands, and Métis rights and culture, particularly in northwest Saskatchewan.

In a release, Leonard Montgrand, regional director of MN-S Northern Region two said the project will impact communities, culture, lands and rights for generations for years to come. It will also strip away a key resource from the northwest claim and leave a hazardous legacy.

“We are disappointed by NexGen’s behaviour and how things have worked out. I was particularly upset when they refused to meet with us if we had counsel or advisors present,” Montgrand said in the release. “That type of attitude is offensive, paternalistic and has no place in 2020.”

MN-S is seeking a declaration from the courts stating NexGen is in breach of its obligations to negotiate an Impact Benefit Agreement (“IBA”) with MN-S in good faith; an interlocutory injunction restraining NexGen from filing its draft environmental impact statement in relation to the Rook one Project, damages and costs.

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The project is located within the heart of MN-S Northern Region two and the Métis Northwest Land Claim. Métis people represent a majority or near-majority of the potentially impacted population. In 2018, Canada agreed to a process to address the Northwest Land Claim.

MN-S and MN-S Northern Region II leadership are concerned the project will have significant and long-lasting impacts on Métis communities, Métis lands, and Métis rights and culture, particularly in MN-S Northern Region II.

NexGen was contacted for comment but did not respond by article deadline.

MN-S President Glen McCallum said the study agreement provides a pathway to protect and advance the rights and interests of Métis in Northern Region II and to find opportunities to collaborate through a potentially long and challenging regulatory process.

“NexGen’s behaviour to-date raises serious concerns as to whether those objectives and opportunities can still be achieved,” McCallum said. “The rights and concerns of Saskatchewan Métis have been marginalized for too long.”

McCallum claims the provincial government has encouraged this approach through its 2010 First Nation and Métis Consultation Policy Framework, which discourages or outrightly rejects consideration of Métis rights-based concerns, he said.

According to the document, the issuance of mineral dispositions under the Crown Minerals Act is not subject to this policy.

“These dispositions do not provide the disposition holder with a right of access to lands for purposes of mineral exploration and development,” the policy states. “This policy will, however, apply where the Government is contemplating surface land use decisions related to mineral exploration and development that may have an impact on Treaty and Aboriginal rights and traditional uses.”

The project will be subject to an environmental assessment conducted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722