NNSL (Aug 24/96) - Dene leaders are considering blockading routes out of Yellowknife to mining developments, if their demands for land title and economic stability are not met.

“People are considering stopping the Lupin road from opening,” said Bill Erasmus, chief of the Dene Nation. “They’re tired of seeing everyone benefit from it but them.

“If it means preventing planes flying out of Yellowknife to BHP, we’ll do that too. It’s another way to tell industry they’re violating our rights.”

The comments caught BHP officials somewhat off guard.

“We’re hopeful we can sit down and negotiate an impact benefits agreement,” said BHP’s Jim Excell. “We’re attempting to do that.”

Erasmus said the blockades likely won’t resemble other violent blockades in southern Canada.

“We don’t see it as confrontational,” he said. “I’m not talking guns, just blocking the road.”

But impact benefits agreements are only part of the solution.

“It’s a question of ownership,” he said.

Currently, industry believes it owns the land, but that’s not the case, Erasmus said.

He would like to see an agreement where aboriginal people are recognized as the land owners and economic, benefit and royalty agreements can be arranged from there.

“It recognizes local people are the landlords and that they should benefit from the road,” Erasmus said.

“People are saying they want to get into that so they have some security and have some say into development.”

The federal government has given BHP 60 days to make progress on impact benefits agreements with aboriginal groups affected by the multi-billion dollar diamond mine development.

Dene leaders also want this deadline extended.

“If both sides are serious, an agreement can be put together in that time, but because of the slow progress in talks to date, some people feel they will need longer than 60 days,” Erasmus said.

And if things cannot be worked out, the leaders have until Christmas to plan for the blockades.