First Nations demand updated territorial recognition in KSM project review

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation and the Gitxsan Huwilp Government are demanding that the British Columbia provincial government incorporate updated territorial understandings into its review of Seabridge Gold’s KSM project. The two Nations are seeking specific measures to mitigate project impacts, including a substantive role for the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha in decisions regarding a proposed waste facility in the Treaty Creek Valley.

This demand comes as a 90-day consultation period nears its September 28 conclusion. The review centers on whether the KSM project had advanced sufficiently in 2014 to maintain its environmental certificate. While the province previously ruled the certificate remained valid, the B.C. Supreme Court quashed that decision due to inadequate consultation with the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha.

The Nations argue that current consultations must reflect provincial ethnohistoric work from 2021, which expanded the recognized territorial claims of the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha. They are calling for participation in long-term environmental risk management and access to project benefits where impacts to their rights and territory cannot be avoided.