Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 25
Friday, June 25, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
Lalor mine worker dies after June 19 fall underground: Hudbay A worker at Hudbay's Lalor mine near Snow Lake has died after an accident underground June 19. Hudbay confirmed the death in a statement to the Flin Flon Reminder June 20, saying the death took place during the night shift and an investigation into what caused the death was underway. The person who died was a 59-year-old man from Brandon who was an employee of a contractor working underground at the mine. The death was a result of the man falling while working at height, said a press release from Hudbay. First aid was ad-
ministered by workers on the scene and mine rescue personnel transported the man out of the mine. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. No one else was injured and the scene of the accident was secured, with all underground mining operations at Lalor suspended while the investigation is completed. Snow Lake RCMP responded to the accident around 11 p.m. Saturday and continue to investigate along with Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health "This is a tragic situation and we are profoundly sad-
dened by this unfortunate incident,” said Hudbay CEO Peter Kukielski. “Our hearts go out to the individual’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time. The safety and health of our workforce remains our utmost priority. We will continue to provide support to all those who were affected, and we remain more committed than ever to our objective of zero harm.” The death is the first reported at Lalor mine since it opened in 2012. - with files from Eric Westhaver, Flin Flon Reminder
Lalor Mine
Manitoba’s regional chief for the last six years wants to be next Assembly of First Nations national chief BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
A member of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation who has served as Manitoba regional chief for the past six years is seeking to become the next national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Kevin T. Hart, who was first elected by Manitoba chiefs to be the AFN Manitoba regional chief in 2015 and is nearing the end of his second term, announced his intention to seek the national chief’s position June 2. He collected the required 15 signatures from nominators in 48 hours, receiving support for his candidacy from all across the country, including a pair of female leaders, one from B.C. and one from the Atlantic region. “If you’re going to be running for national chief representing 634 First Nations, you want to ensure you have the support from those chiefs from those respective regions,” he said. Hart, who lives in Sagkeeng First Nation, his wife’s home community, says that the portfolios he has held during his time as regional chief have given him knowledge and experience in many of the areas that are of common concern to First Nations all across Canada. “They included hous-
ing, water, infrastructure and emergency measures,” Hart said. “I have a wealth of experience at the national level with some of the most critical portfolios that I figure have been facing our people for such a long time. When you look at housing, water, infrastructure, decades of government inaction and investment has resulted in third world conditions.” Because of his past work, Hart says he doesn’t have to sell chiefs on his qualifications. “I think that the chiefs across Canada have been able to see my work in the last six years.” If Hart succeeds in getting elected, he says he wants to focus on aboriginal treaty and inherent rights, inclusion and advancement. “I want to make sure when I do that that I bring our people’s voices to the forefront for the government of the day and that our voice is there and that we let these governments know that if you’re going to talk about First Nations, we have to be at the table,” said Hart. “This notion of delegated authority is no longer going to be acceptable for us as First Nations because our sovereignty as well as our treaty rights are older than the provinces and even Canada.” The AFN election on July 14 comes at a time
when Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the country’s treatment of them are at the top of many people’s minds, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, due to the heavy toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on Indigenous people and the recent discovery of a mass grave with the remains of 215 children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. “I think with the recent find in B.C. that our unity and nationhood is even more important now,” Hart said, noting that he has family members who are residential school survivors. “Those gross injustices have happened to our people, especially our women and children, and that’s something I want to work hard on.” Hart believes Indigenous people in Canada deserve an apology from the Roman Catholic Church, which ran most of the schools on the federal government’s behalf. “I will work with the three former commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in my first 30 days in office as national chief to work with leadership … to demand that apology from the Pope,” said Hart. “We can’t let the silent and forgotten voice be silenced and for-
Assembly of First Nations national chief candidate Kevin T. Hart gotten again.” As to what he hopes to achieve if he becomes national chief, Hart says his goal is the same as every First Nations chief across the country. “Our deepest wish is that our children, families and communities are safe, shel-
tered, happy and healthy,” he said. “We’ve seen with us as First Nations how resilient we’ve been and how fragile we are at the same time.” With his experience as regional chief and in other organizations, including Habitat for Humanity at a
time when that organization was figuring out how to make it possible to build homes on First Nations, Hart says he knows he has what it takes to lead the AFN. “I think that my work speaks for itself at the national level.”