Mi'kmaq Matters

We speak with the new Assembly of First Nation's representative for Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Paul Prosper, who was selected over three other candidates—including Judy White, current chair of the Human Rights Commission of Newfoundland. And later, we touch base with Lisa Dempster, the new minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation for Newfoundland and Labrador.

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A proposed gold mine next to the Valentine Lake mega-mine would create a development corridor spanning half the length of the island of Newfoundland. This week, we speak with Keith Bowes of Matador Mining Ltd. about the plan, the timeline, and the talks with Qalipu.

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This week, news of another gold mine proposal for central Newfoundland, and a conversation with filmmaker Robert Lang about gold's toll on the environment and human rights. Plus: Details on how to access a free screening of Lang's new documentary, The Shadow of Gold. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Lang, Mi'kmaq Matters and other Atlantic Canada correspondents.

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This week, we speak with Michael Peters of Glooscap Radio, the newest member of the Mi'kmaq Matters radio network. And later, we ask MHA Andrew Parsons about how to get blueberries on the table before they're poisoned by herbicide spray.

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Qalipu First Nation has claimed that it had no advance warning of herbicide spraying by Emera on power lines that pass through a popular berry-picking. It has since emerged, however, that the band received multiple notices about the spraying over the past four months and did nothing to stop it. The herbicide has made hundreds of gallons of blueberries and bakeapples unfit to eat. This week, Greg Janes of the Burgeo Band of Indians wants answers, and Norm Strickland Sr.—who has been picking berries in the area for more than 40 years—worries about runoff into nearby brooks and the impact on the area's birds and caribou.

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This week, we sit down with Chief Edward Peter-Paul of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs to talk about the band's legal challenges with the state, Canadian connections, and living under Donald Trump's administration during COVID-19.

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This week, Don Ivany of the Atlantic Salmon Federation talks about the proposed Valentine Lake mine—located very close to lakes that feed the Exploits River—and how an accident could have catastrophic consequences.

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On this week's episode, we speak with legal scholar and former negotiator Jerry Wetzel, who says Qalipu is blowing its bargaining power by trying to reach a deal with Marathon Gold before the project's environmental review process is complete. Not only that, Wetzel says, but any agreement entered into by Qalipu without consultation with its members could set the band up for legal challenges.

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Qalipu Chief and Council have begun discussions with Marathon Gold about hiring band members without waiting for the results of a report on the environmental impacts of the massive Valentine Lake gold mine on caribou.

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Hilding Neilson, an assistant professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto, wanted to incorporate Two-Eyed Seeing—a combination of Western science and traditional knowledge—into his course material. But he found that some academics dismissed Indigenous ways of knowing, comparing it to pseudo science.

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