Read this story from CTV.ca on a new round of federal environmental hearings into the proposed Prosperity Mine at Fish Lake. (Jan. 29, 2012)

With all eyes on hearings for the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline that would link Alberta's oil sands to tankers on the B.C. coast, a federal environmental review of another contentious B.C. project is quietly getting underway.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has released guidelines and terms of reference that will form the framework for an environmental review of Taseko Mines Ltd.'s (TSX:TKO) proposed Prosperity gold and copper mine in the B.C. Interior.

The agency is seeking comments on the documents until Feb. 22.

But the approach of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government toward the federal hearings on the Northern Gateway doesn't give First Nations opponents much faith in the environmental review of the mine.

"We feel the writing's on the wall," Chief Joe Alphonse, leader of the Tsilqhot'in National Government, said in an interview.

"Mr. Harper is making statements around the Enbridge project that anyone opposing the project is an enemy of Canada. That's the same situation."

Read more: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120129/bc_prosperity_mine_project_120128/20120129/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

A little-known proposed gravel mine at McNab Creek in Howe Sound could soon be digging tens of millions of tonnes of gravel out of sensitive salmon and wildlife habitat, which has regional politicians and citizens of the Sunshine Coast sounding alarms. Several regional directors and councilors have recently stepped forward with concerns about the lack of local government involvement in the environmental assessment process currently being carried out under the federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. A local citizens' group concerned about environmental and community impacts is calling on the public to comment on the project by the end of the week, when the first comment phase closes.

We’ve been going for about a year and a half and let me start by saying that both Damien Gillis and I are pretty proud of our progress...but 2012 will be the year that decides where we go in BC. Will we have more rivers destroyed for private profit? Will we see our province, my homeland and yours, turned over to the 100% certain destruction by oil pipelines and tankers? Will we continue to allow fish farmers to annihilate our sacred Pacific Salmon? Will we watch idly as Fish Lake is destroyed to set the precedent of more of the same? The wisdom of the ages, in the soul of our First Nations, is the wisdom we must listen to and apply if we want to save our province.

"Agnotology" is a new and useful word coined in 1992 by Dr. Robert Proctor of Stanford University to designate the study of ignorance. We give a huge amount of attention to knowing, to "gnosis", he contended, but little attention to its opposite, "agnosis". At first glance, agnotology seems like an oxymoron. Surely, if we know something about not-knowing then we must have shed some ignorance? Precisely. And this is the interesting twist about agnotology. It is the deliberate and skilful cultivation and dissemination of not-knowing - doubt - for the specific purpose of manufacturing confusion. And one of its most famous practitioners has been the tobacco industry.

It’s fairly obvious that a coal mine project that calls for a mine to be located only 5 kilometers from Baynes Sound, home to a thriving and economically important shellfish industry, is an insane idea. Couple that with an environmental assessment that doesn’t include any mechanism for public consent, and it’s no wonder that the residents of the Comox Valley, Port Alberni, and Vancouver Island are fed up and disgusted...Many of us see peaceful direct action and civil disobedience, as another tool to use in the fight against this massive coal mine proposal near Fanny Bay.

It was a day of polarities to be sure. Whether it was planned or coincidence, December 2nd began with Taseko Mines Ltd. president and CEO Russell Hallbauer beaming with approval at the pro-mining speech given by Minister of Energy and Mines, Rich Coleman, at a mining forum luncheon. Humble pie was to be served later at the Supreme Court of B.C. as a ruling came down for an injunction against Taseko Mines, preventing them from pursuing work in the Tsilhqot'in territory...As the Province of B.C. has been aggressively bullying its way to expand mining proposals and promoting B.C. as a “place to invest”, the response by First Nations has increasingly been to stand their ground in opposition.

Read this breaking story from CTV News on BC Supreme Court Justice Christopher Grauer's decision earlier today to grant the Tsilhqot'in First Nations an injunction to prevent Taseko Mines from carrying out any more preliminary construction work on its controversial proposed Prosperity Mine.

"An aboriginal band has been granted an injunction preventing Taseko Mines from conducting exploration work around its proposed gold and copper mine in B.C.'s central Interior. In the same court hearing, Taseko failed in its bid for an injunction forcing the Tsilhqot'in First Nation to stop blocking the company's access to the site outside Williams Lake, B.C.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Grauer ruled Friday the band wasn't properly consulted on two permits granted to Taseko by the provincial government. Grauer said the First Nation will suffer greater harm than Taseko if the exploration and trail building work for the proposed New Prosperity mine continues." (Dec 2, 2011)

Read article: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111202/bc_first_nation_injunction_taseko_mine_111202/20111202/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Damien Gillis discusses a range of topics with Mehdi Najari - host of The Hidden News on Victoria's CFUV 101.9 FM - including the escalating stand-off over the proposed Prosperity Mine in the Tsilhqot'in Territory, southwest of Williams Lake, BC. Since the taping of this interview, the Tsilhqot'in peoples won an injunction to halt early construction work on the highly controversial mine. Gillis and Najari also discuss the history of indigenous resistance to mining projects in BC, including the historic Tsilhqot'in War over an eerily similar stand-off in the same territory 150 years ago. From November 29, 2011.

The Tsilhqot'in First Nations and their supporters fought for and won an injunction at the BC Supreme Court to keep Taseko Mines from commencing work on the controversial proposed Prosperity Mine.

Read this story from The Globe and Mail on the debate between First Nations and Taseko Mines, now playing out in the BC courts.

"The battle between the Tsilhqot’in Nation and Taseko Mines Ltd. has heated up after allegations that three members of the first nations community obstructed workers attempting to access the Prosperity mine site in northern B.C.

'As a result of this interference, we, today, have initiated legal proceedings against these individuals and we’ll be seeking an order restraining them from unlawfully interfering with the company’s lawfully approved work,' said Brian Battison, the company’s corporate affairs vice president. Taseko has received government approval to conduct exploratory work." (Nov. 14, 2011)

Read article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/legal-clash-builds-between-taseko-first-nations-over-prosperity-mine/article2236184/?from=sec431