A study released by the StornowayDiamond Corporation has estimatedthat over $4 billion worth of diamondsis buried in an area northeast ofMistissini.

The results, released on November16, are part of a long-term investiga-tion undertaken by the corporation inthe area around the Otish Mountains.It is a feasibility study for the corpora-tion’s Renard project, which could leadto the creation of Quebec’s first dia-mond mine. The report, meant todetermine the financial and environ-mental viability of the project, yieldedmany predictions favouring the com-mencement of diamond exploitation.

The final results of the study esti-mate that over 18 million carats of dia-monds are present in the Renard proj-ect area; this is roughly enough materi-al to create an engagement ring forevery single person in Canada.

In partnership with Quebec miningfirm SOQUEM, Vancouver-basedStornoway has also pledged to help thelocal economy through employment.The company projects the creation of200-300 construction jobs, as well as150-200 permanent jobs in diamondmining. Additionally, the company iscontributing $44 million to the PlanNord, the Charest government’s con-troversial economic policy for north-ern Quebec. Several open-house con-sultations have also been held amongvarious Cree communities throughoutthe region.

One of the key strengths enumer-ated by Stornoway in favour of open-ing a mine in Quebec was theprovince’s favourable regulatory cli-mate for natural-resource extraction.In addition to oversight, the govern-ment will also be involved in the exten-sion of Highway 167 into the miningsite. The highway extension alone willcost the taxpayers $332 million.Financing of this highway extension is

part of an agreement between thegovernment and Stornowayannounced in August of this year.

The presence of kimberlite, a formof diamond, was discovered in 2001.Stornoway has spent many years nego-tiating with the various involved par-ties, Eeyou Istchee among them. Themining operation itself is a 50/50 part-nership between Stornoway andSOQUEM, which is a subsidiary of acorporation owned by the governmentof Quebec. The feasibility study alonecost $28.6 million to produce.

The mine will feature both open-pitand underground mining areas. Whenit is fully up and running, the operationwill produce up to 5,000 tonnes of rawmaterial per day, which is almost twomillion tonnes a year.

Though waste material is aninevitable byproduct of any miningoperation, Stornoway contends theenvironmental impact will be less haz-ardous relative to the extraction ofother materials. It promises, amongother things, that waste will not dis-turb fish habitats in the surroundingecosystem. Additionally, the companypromises to convert both its airstripand its open pit to environmentally

friendly purposes. This is part ofStornoway’s “Closure andRehabilitation Plan,” a subsection ofthe Renard project promising to cleanup the environment once operationshave ceased.

Still, this is not enough to satisfyenvironmentalists. The Ottawa-basedwatchdog, Mining Watch Canada, criti-cized the Renard operation. They con-tend that any mining operation woulddegrade the ecosystem of the area.

“Like any other mine, there areenvironmental liabilities,” said RamseyHart, a spokesperson for the group.“The proposed roadway would cutthrough a provincial park, which willcause problems due to increasedaccess to the area. Mining is alsopower-intensive, and even thoughQuebec has an abundance of power,you’ll see power lines cutting acrossthe territory.”

Construction on the mine is set tostart in July 2013, pending completionof the extension to Highway 167. Thefirst diamonds are projected to leavethe mine in the summer of 2015.Company predictions suggest the minecould run for 20 to 25 years.

www.nationnews.ca December 2, 2011 the Nation 7

[]newsA sparkling futureQuebec’s first diamond mine could change the face of the Northby Shaun Malley

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3/13/12 FEATURE: South Sudan – New Nation, Old Wounds « Journalists for Human Rights Concordia

1/4jhrconcordia.com/2012/01/09/south-sudan-new-nation-old-wounds-jhrc-feature/

FEATURE: South Sudan – New

Nation, Old Wounds

This entry was posted on January 9, 2012, in Feature, Shaun Malleyand tagged Civil War, ethnic conflicts, South Sudan. Bookmark thepermalink. 1 Comment

Shaun Malley | Contributor

The Republic of South Sudan has barely

reached its six-month anniversary of

independence but is already bleeding to

death. The peace that came about as a

result of the end of Sudanese rule is

fractious at best. At once complex and grim,

the already difficult humanitarian situation

in the country is poised to go from bad to

worse.

Coming off the heels of one of the longest and most destructive

conflicts in human history, the region has seen over a million killed

and millions more displaced. A once-unimaginable peace came to

fruition as national independence was declared in July of 2011.

This was an end to almost 60 years a bloodshed, the abolition of

slavery, and the promise of oil wealth created a brief shimmer of

optimism in the blighted land. It didn’t last. Almost as a harbinger

of things to come, Benedict Sannoh, the UN’s human rights chief

for the country, was brutally beaten by South Sudanese police a

little over a month after independence.

The country’s meagre resources are already stretched thin; a

massive influx of former expats threatens its utter depletion. The

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs predicts

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that over 2.7 million people will require food aid in 2012. To make

matters worse, interethnic divisions within the country are being

exacerbated by Khartoum-backed militia raids. According to a

recent article in the New York Times by Jeffrey Gettleman more

than a 1000 have been killed in the South in the recent months as a

result of ethnic clashes. The Sudanese parliament recently rattled

its sabre by describing its southern neighbour as their greatest

security threat. However, not everyone in the nascent republic is

sounding the alarm.

Flying in the face of fresh reports of refugees fleeing the fighting

between the Lou Nuer and Murle peoples, some living in the

capital of Juba chose to accentuate the positive. Koss Sato, a tech-

savy city-dweller, plasters his Facebook page with news stories

from around the world. On the subject of his country, however, his

optimism is almost stainless.

“South Sudan is now great,” said Sato via email. “There is a need

to tap resources since it’s a virgin land. NGOs are now working

closely with the government to initiate necessary projects but there

is still much to do.”

A similar message comes from representatives of the government.

Jihan Deng of South Sudan’s embassy to the United States

acknowledges the need for development while saying that self-

determination is its own reward.

“The first and major benefit from [the] independence of South

Sudan is the suppressed and marginalized population attained

self-Identity as first-class citizens of a sovereign nation,” she said.

“The government [...] has developed a national development plan

[...] focusing on the priority of delivering basic services to its

constituents and food security across all the ten states.”

Former Liberal MP Glen Pearson has seen these overtures closer

than even some South Sudanese. As a national representative of

Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan (CASS) he has lobbied hard for

Canadian aid to be more directly targeted to the vulnerable

outlying rural areas where water and food security are at their

direst. Furthermore, he’s seen the devastation firsthand, as CASS

used to fly aid there despite a ban from Khartoum. He has lobbied

presidents, prime ministers and secretaries-general on behalf of

the South for decades.

“When it came to human rights, South Sudan was the flavour of

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the year,” says Pearson. “Most foreign aid and development NGOs

left after peace. Now that peace has come, we need to protect

human rights once we’ve gotten them. It might crumble again.”

Pearson contends that Canada is in a perfect position to help the

country. We do give a good amount of foreign aid — it is the

application of that aid at issue. Donations to UNICEF and the World

Food Program hit the tree but not the target. Bureaucratic

intractability doesn’t help either. Unlike many US politicians, few

Canadian ones have visited the new country. Time and again,

South Sudanese government members have been denied

Canadian visas. Pearson feels the opportunity to teach them the

Canadian model for a federal, multiethnic government would go a

long way to providing much needed stability.

“We need Canada to show the way,” he says. “The west became

midwives to give birth to this new nation, and now it’s pulling back.

Now the biggest concern that many of us have is the conflict within

the South. Will it hold together?”

Despite its independence from the North, the Republic of South

Sudan has still not seen the end of conflict and bloodshed.

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HOWZAT! MONTREAL’SCRICKET EXPERIMENT

Pirates of the St. Lawrence founder Angus Bell prepares for a match against the Colonial Cavaliers of Boston, July2011 - Photo by Karen Roche

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Parc-Extensionʼs Howard Park willbecome the home of Montrealʼs firstpermanent, publicly-accessible crickettraining ground in the spring of 2012.

The facility is a joint venture between theRoyal Bank of Canada and the Pirates ofthe St. Lawrence Cricket Club. As part ofits RBC in the Community initiative, thebank agreed to finance the facility aftermonths of lobbying by the Piratesʼ mainorganizer, Angus Bell. A grant of $25,000was awarded to the borough for theconstruction of batting cages, eachfeaturing nets and automated cricket balllaunchers.

“Cricket is a growing sport in this city,” said Bell. “We coached over 4,000 school children thisyear, so we need [batting cages] to take the kids to the next level. Weʼre clamouring forfacilities.”

Further details were finalized after a recent meeting between Bell and Parc-Extension citycouncillor Mary Deros. Deros, who also serves on Mayor Gérald Tremblayʼs executivecommittee as the Member responsible for youth and cultural communities, informed Bell thatthe Pirates finally had a home on the island at Howard Park.

The cityʼs public works department determined that the equipment will be erected on the siteof a disused baseball diamond on the northwest corner of the park. The location was chosenby city planners in part to reflect the diverse cultural character of the area. A largeconcentration of people of South Asian descent live nearby, originating from places like Indiaand Pakistan where cricket is the national pastime. No further details have been released,though Bell promises more will be forthcoming once ground is broken.

“Working with the cityʼs boroughs and school boards we aim to create a legacy that willenable diverse communities to build on their love of cricket and pass along a cherishedtradition to their children,” said Diane Jacob, RBCʼs regional vice-president for Montreal andLa Mauricie, in a statement made when the project was initially announced in the Spring of2011.

In the past, the South Shore-based Pirates had to make do by improvising with whatever theycould find. Their regular playing field – pitch, in cricket parlance – was hastily set up behind achocolate factory owned by a friend of Bell's. To train their batsmen, the team would have tomake the long trek up to a baseball batting cage in Laval in order to practice. The tripsometimes took up to two hours depending on the traffic. Also, the machines were designedfor baseballs; cricket balls are slightly smaller, stitched differently, and are half an ounceheavier.

As the team has experienced explosive growth in the four years since its inception, Bell hasbeen actively pursuing a more sensible way to train. The team will now benefit from the sameworld-class training facilities normally available in cricket-mad nations such as the UnitedKingdom and Sri Lanka.

The facility is part of a growth strategy by Pirates founder Bell. A Scottish-born cricketingenthusiast with some truly unique experiences – he once struck a ball from Europe into Asia

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during a match in Turkey – he has big plans for the sport in Quebec. Bell says the Pirateshave already introduced the sport to people of all ages. A recent profile on the ESPN Cricinfowebsite declared the Pirates to be the most ethnically diverse team on the planet. Bell isquick to point out that diversity and cricket are both intimately linked with the Canadianexperience.

“The first international sporting competition of any kind was a cricket match between Canadaand the US,” he says. “We have representatives of 56 nationalities in our group. If every clubwas more accessible, cricket would be the number one bat-and-ball sport in this country.”

The Pirates are gearing up for their annual Snow World Cup, to be held at McGillʼs McTavishReservoir on Saturday, Jan. 21.

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www.nationnews.ca January 27, 2012 the Nation 5

[]news

The people of Eeyou Istchee areblessed to be living among some of themost spectacular landscapes on Earth.Sometimes that blessing can be acurse, however. The land of NorthernQuebec is also rich with naturalresources. And wherever there ismoney to be made, problemsinevitably arise.

The Crees’ stewardship of the landis law. The Plan Nord, the Quebecgovernment’s controversial develop-ment plan for the North, has itsdetractors, but this extension of thePaix des Braves was concluded on anegalitarian basis. In a statement on thePlan’s official website, provincial Nativeaffairs minister Geoffrey Kelly statesthat the Plan “will be implemented in aspirit of mutual respect and will incor-porate the Aboriginal perspective as itevolves during the implementationprocess.” The presence of uranium,however, and the Cree opposition toits exploitation, threatens to throw awrench in the works.

Less than a month ago, Montrealnewspaper La Presse revealed that thefederal civil servant who gave thegreen light to uranium mining in theOtish Mountains was a former miningconsultant and negotiator. BenoitTaillon, who led the federal govern-ment committee that approved theStrateco uranium application, workedin the past for such mining giants as RioTinto and Tata Steel, among others.

Though the Harper governmentdenied it was in a conflict of interest,the fact remains that Mr. Taillon hasintimate links to the mining industryfrom his 10 years’ experience workingin it; he is now a federal bureaucrat inthe very ministry charged with mindingCanada’s resources.

The revelation added fuel to thefire of an already unpleasant situation.Recent consultative meetings betweenthe federal committee and the peopleof the territory proved fruitless. The

people are united in their oppositionto the presence of a uranium mine ontheir land; the federal committeenoted this opposition, and promptlyapproved the project.

The people of Eeyou Istchee maybe proved right in their opposition tothe mine in the worst possible ways.Uranium is a metal that is both toxicand radioactive. Exposure causes anumber of conditions – everythingfrom heart disease to hair loss tosevere gastrointestinal problems.Mining uranium produces radioactive

tailings, which contaminates the watertable and poisons the food chain. In aword, it’s deadly. And we need notlook further than to our Sahtu Denecousins in the North West Territoriesto see proof of that.

When uranium was discovered onthe shores of Great Bear Lake earlylast century, ore extracted from thereended up playing a large part in theUnited States’ atomic bomb program –the Manhattan Project. A group ofDene men were hired to mine the oreby the government as part of the wareffort. The bombs thus developedwreaked destruction on Japan, helpingbringing the Second World War to anend. But the people of Hiroshima andNagasaki weren’t the only casualtiessuffered by the radioactive minerals ofthe NWT. According to an investiga-tion by the Calgary Herald, almost halfof the original 30 or so group of menwho mined uranium at Port Radiumlater developed various forms of can-cer. And the suffering didn’t end there.

Deline is the town nearest the ura-nium operation. According to a CBCnews report, the townspeople lobby-ing the federal government for morethan 25 years before it agreed to cleanup the area.

One of the stated goals of the PlanNord is to “implement a processdesigned to assess the impact on thehealth of northern populations ofdevelopment projects.” If this is thecase, when is the Quebec governmentgoing to step up to the plate?

Strateco’s development of a urani-um mine on Eeyou lands would indeedgenerate cash and jobs. But is it worththe risk? Are there more sustainablealternatives? Extracting resources isnothing new on our territory. In fact, alarge part of our future depends on asensible approach to resource extrac-tion. The key word here is sensible.

As oil and coal reserves continue todwindle the world over, more andmore countries are mulling a switch touranium-fuelled nuclear reactors as apower source. This is bound to drivethe price of uranium ever higher. Thepeople of Eeyou will therefore beforced to face tough questions as timewears on. How do we deal with com-panies and governments that are unre-sponsive to the will of the people?How do we negotiate guarantees forthe health and safety of our grandchil-dren with our business partners? Isthere such a thing as “too much” whendealing with resources? There are noeasy answers.

Balancing development with responsibilityBy Shaun Malley

MINING URANIUM PRODUCESRADIOACTIVE TAILINGS, WHICHCONTAMINATES THE WATERTABLE AND POISONS THE FOODCHAIN.

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Million dollar renovations in PierrefondsGrier Park chalet to get facelift

Shaun Malley!

info.chronicle@transcontinental.ca

Grier Park in Pierrefonds is getting a facelift to the tune of over a million dollars as the borough expands and renovates its main chalet.

The project, awarded to Dorbec Construction by the borough, was approved in April. The extension of the existing chalet includes some repair work and is due to commence this month.

The existing structure will more than triple in size, going from 83 square metres to over 270 square metres. The whole project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. All told, the cost of the work is approved to cost more than $1.8 million.

“The cost of over a million dollars is standard for a project of this size,” said Fabienne Labouly, the borough’s chief of urban planning and the environment.

News www.westislandchronicle.com

3906786

4017

262

Dimanche 8 janvier 2012 16h30$

1111, rue Lapierre, Arrondissement LaSalle, Montréal

STATIONNEMENT GRATUIT

PROGRAMMATION 2012FAMILLESHILVIUn nouveau spectacle de Shilvi!Dimanche 26 février 2012 14hRég.: 20$ Enfant: 14$

ZORRODu théâtre de cape et d’épéepour les 5-11ansVendredi 2 mars 2012 14hRég.: 20$ Enfant: 14$

ARTHUR L’AVENTURIERL’oeil de CristalDimanche 1er avril 2012 15hRég.: 20$ Enfant: 14$

Pierrefonds’ Grier Park chalet is receiving a million-dollar makeover. (Chronicle photo François Lemieux)

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“The chalet will soon have a basement with locker rooms, new green space and a parking lot.”

The Pierrefonds Soccer Association (PSA) pushed strongly for this new project. The organ-ization oversees matches and tournaments for area children between the ages of four and 18. In addition to the recently completed artifi cial turf

soccer fi eld in the park, the PSA will have an expanded home in the chalet. The new showers and dressing rooms will be indispensible to the group, which has seen an explosion in interest for soccer in recent years.

Pierrefonds communications offi cer Johanne Paladini asserted that the expansion was neces-sary to refl ect this change.

“We need a chalet that responds to the evo-lution of the park,” she said. “The boom in soc-cer players in the area has been tremendous. We’ve got over 3,000 kids playing now, so we needed a chalet which could accommodate them all. The PSA asked specifi cally for the shower and dressing room facilities to be part of the project.”

The chalet’s renovation won’t just be for the benefi t of the budding young Beckhams and Messis, either. Palladini pointed out the value of the chalet’s expansion to the greater

community. “The expanded area in the chalet will also

have meeting rooms, offi ces, multi-purpose rooms and so on,” she said. “It’s a big park. There’s a pool, tennis courts, as well as play areas for the younger kids. It’s not just soccer.”

This chalet is by no means the only public space to receive the attention of the municipal-ity. The improvements carried out on the Grier Park chalet are part of a wider strategy by the borough for the maintenance of Pierrefonds-Roxboro’s sporting facilities. Over $3 million of public funds have been approved for this purpose.

In addition to the Grier Park chalet project, these costs cover the repair of basketball and tennis courts, the upkeep of the various parks and green spaces, the installation of playing equipment and the rental of the Sportsplexe 4 Glaces indoor ice rink.

4003003

Repair work at Montréal-Trudeau airport Closure of Runway 06R-24L

From August 15 to September 23*

In an effort to maintain its facilities to reliability and safety standards, Aéroports de Montréal is undertaking repair work that will modify the runway assignment as follows:

Runway use is dictated by wind direction, since aircraft must take off and land into the wind.

* could be extended depending on weather conditions

When winds are southwesterly :

Take offs : Runways 28 and 24R (Pointe-Claire, Dorval North)

Landings: Runway 24R (Ahuntsic, St-Laurent North)

No take offs or landings on Runway 24L (Dorval South, St-Laurent South)

When winds are northeasterly:

Take offs : Runway 06L (St-Laurent North)

Landings: Runways 10 and 06L (Dorval North, Pointe-Claire)

No landings or take offs on Runway 06R (Dorval South, St-Laurent South)

For more information: www.admtl.com yulclientele@admtl.com 514.633.3351

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Continued from page 2