MCC Canadian Gold Ventures said it has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the British Columbia Government after the province stripped MCGV of its mining rights through Orders in Council to settle a separate legal dispute with the Gitxaala Nation.
The claim arises from several 2024 Orders in Council the BC government issued under section 7 of the Environment and Land Use Act to sterilize the company’s mineral claims and prohibit any further exploration on Banks Island in northwest British Columbia.
MCGV said the province had previously lobbied the company to rescue a bankrupt, environmentally compromised gold mine on Banks Island.
MCGV said the province had “specifically asked us to step in and rescue this mine.”
“We invested millions, began the necessary work of cleaning up someone else’s environmental mess, and created real economic value for British Columbia,” MCGV director Danish Mir said in a news release.
Background
The Gitxaala Nation filed a legal challenge in 2021 in Supreme Court seeking to overturn the province’s granting of multiple mineral claims from 2018 to 2020 on Banks Island, in their territory. The issue centered around whether the Mineral Tenure Act is consistent with UNDRIP.
In September 2023, a judicial review ruled that the government of British Columbia owes a duty to consult Indigenous peoples with asserted rights and title when granting mineral claims.
The BC Supreme Court decision ruled the province’s automatic online mineral claim system breached its constitutional duty to consult with First Nations.
In 2024, the BC government announced new interim measures will place restrictions on mineral claim registrations and mining activities in Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation territories, while the province works to modernize BC’s Mineral Tenure Act.
MCGV said that to date, no compensation has been paid to the company.
“British Columbia’s mining sector drives jobs, tax revenue, and economic growth in communities across this province,” Mir said. “We intend to pursue this case vigorously and forcefully.”
This case, the company said, draws parallels to the landmark decision in Carrier Lumber v. British Columbia, in which the province was ultimately compelled to pay a substantial damages award to a forestry company whose contractual rights had been unilaterally extinguished by the government of then-Premier Mike Harcourt in the course of resolving a dispute with a First Nation.
The province has not issued a statement in response to MCGV.
