COAST SALISH TERRITORIES—People came from as far away as Ahousaht  and Tla-oqui-aht First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island to  protest outside the AGM of Imperial Metals in downtown Vancouver today. The company wants to open a copper mine in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 

A small group of indigenous activists managed to get past police and outside the meeting room at the Terminal City Club before being grabbed, roughed up and tossed into the street. The activists were inside long enough to shout their message to Imperial brass and investors before getting turfed.

The members of the Neskonlith Secwepemc Nation and Ancestral Pride Ahousaht Sovereign Territory used bullhorns to get the attention of shareholders. They were joined before the meeting by allies voicing opposition to Imperial's operations across BC and the planned mines on  Vancouver Island.

Vancouver-based Imperial Metals is planning two mining projects in Clayoquot Sound. Catface Mountain copper-molybdenum mine is a mountain-top removal scheme that protesters say must be stopped before it is submitted to the environmental review process. Fandora, a potential gold mine, would be at the head of Tranquil Valley, on Tla-o-qui-aht territory, for which the BC Liberals are currently reviewing an application for exploration.

 Janice Billy of the Secwepemc Nation told supporters, “In our territory as elsewhere, the company has not followed Canadian or international standards and legal obligations to obtain the free prior informed consent of the Indigenous peoples affected by its projects.”

Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Clayoquot Action and the Wilderness Committee and allies joined representatives of the Ahousaht First Nations for the rally.

for more information see Imperial Metals operating Without Consent