Film and Presentation: Amazay: A film about water
Date: Tuesday, Oct 20
Location: Vancouver
Venue: SFU Harbour Centre, 515 Hastings St, Room 7000
Description:
$5 By Donation (no one turned away)
AMAZAY: A film about water
(Vancouver Premiere)
In 1968, the creation of the WAC Bennett Dam amassed the world’s largest artificial lake, the Williston Reservoir. The rising waters flooded the Sekani from their homelands and resulted in the destruction of the lower half of their watershed.
In 2003 Northgate Minerals proposed to dump 750 million tones of acid tailings into a pristine lake. The Tse Keh Nay said no. The battle for Amazay Lake began…
The Tse Keh Nay - the Takla Lake, Tsay Keh Dene and Kwadacha First Nations – fought through a flawed environmental assessment process for 5 years. This is their story.
LORETTA WILLIAMS
Film will be followed a presentation by Loretta Williams, from the Tsilhqot’in Nation, about their own campaign to protect Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) from the proposed Prosperity Mine. Similar to the Northgate Minerals proposal for Amazay Lake, Taseko Mines Ltd. is also proposing the use of Teztan Biny as a tailings lake, a practice that since 2002 has been supported by controversial changes to the Fisheries Act under Schedule 2. In 2006, two lakes in Newfoundland were approved for destruction and many other lakes in BC, and across the country, are threatened by this loop hole provided by the federal government for the mining industry.
The Tsilhqot’in Nation have filed a writ in B.C. Supreme Court claiming their Aboriginal right to fish. The claim, if successful, will prevent Taseko Mines Ltd. from developing its proposed Prosperity Project, 125 km southwest of Williams Lake. The Governments of BC and Canada will most likely appeal a title case decision right to the Supreme Court of Canada and the Tsilhqot’in will need your support!
Contact:
This event organized and sponsored by the Council of Canadians and the Wilderness Committee. For more information please email or call 604 340 2455.