The Electric Pencil

Intercontinental Cry reports on a new study from the The International Boreal Conservation Campaign (IBCC) that lays out how Canada’s “free mining” laws, a holdover from those quaint days of colonialism, is still resulting in First Nations communities being essentially stripped of their rights to natural resources.

From the release accompanying the report:

Over a half-million sq km of mineral claims are currently staked across Canada’s Boreal Forest under a “free entry” tenure system implemented 150 years ago during the Klondike gold rush era. Under the free entry system, mineral rights are acquired automatically without consideration of other land-use priorities or the prior and informed consent of affected Aboriginal people.

Also posted at IC, taken from the report, is the following map. I think it’s a must see for anyone who still wonders why First Nations communities continue the legitimate fight for management of their land and the resources found within them (click map to enlarge).