Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Nahanni Butte (Sep 19/05) - Justin Trudeau doesn't mince words when it comes to the zinc mine proposed in the watershed of the national park his father helped create in 1972.

Justin Trudeau, son of the late former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, recently spoke out in defense of Nahanni National Park, which his father helped create. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

"All levels of government are failing the Canadian people," he said, referring to the possible opening of the Prairie Creek mine by Canadian Zinc upstream from Nahanni National Park.

"The various levels are not balancing environmental concerns with the economy."

Trudeau has advocated for protection of the Nahanni since his father, Pierre Trudeau, first told him stories of the river as a child. He paddled it himself as an adult. He was in Yellowknife Sept. 10 for Katimavik - a youth explorers club - meetings and was invited to speak by the NWT chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Old mines with contaminates seeping into the land are found across the Territories, he said.

"We need to start taking a different approach and look at the wealth of land in the long-term," he said. "Canadian Zinc makes money for a number of stockholders over a short period of time."

The Nahanni is far away from political centres and large human populations, but some people in the south are learning of the national campaign to protect and expand the park, he said.

The first obstacle to overcome is cynicism among Canadians, he said.

"Some people say, 'The government is screwing something up in my own backyard, why should I care about something so far away?'," he said.

His response - because "now is the time."

In 2002, the federal government committed to expanding Nahanni National Park. Parks Canada is assessing the best boundaries for the expansion.

"We have to remember it is the Dene's land and they want to protect it," Trudeau said.

After a submission to the federal government by the Tulita Dene Band in 2004, 67 per cent of the South Nahanni watershed is under temporary or permanent protection, still leaving one-third open to development.

The proposed Canadian Zinc mine falls within the unprotected lands. If the mine goes ahead, it will make it very hard to expand the park, he said.

"It is frustrating because there is so much potential for something to go wrong and who will pay?" he said. "Not the company or the stockholders."

Is that all?

"Legend has it my father looked at the map of the proposed park and asked, 'is that all?'" he said. "Because really, only a portion of the watershed is protected with the park designation."

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is calling on the federal and territorial government to support the draft Dehcho land use plan, released in June. The plan would see the entire South Nahanni watershed labelled a conservation zone.

There is uncertainty whether the ore from the mine could even be smelted in Canada due to its high levels of mercury, said Daryl Sexsmith, the society's executive director for the NWT.

"We are concerned the growing demand for raw materials will pressure the government to all allow high risk development in sensitive areas."