SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - If a review board holds a meeting to address community concerns about a prospective mining development and nobody shows up, does it make a sound?

That's the question Avalon Rare Metals is asking itself after the dismal attendance it saw last week during a two-day scoping session focused on the company's Nechalacho rare earth deposit, located 100 km southeast of Yellowknife.

The scoping session - part of the project's environmental assessment under the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) - took place at the Chief Drygeese Conference Centre in Dettah on Aug. 16 and 17 and was meant to give members of Dettah, Ndilo and Yellowknife a chance to comment on Avalon's project.

But as David Swisher, vice-president of operations for Avalon, tells it, outside of attendees from Avalon, the review board, government departments and several non-government organizations, only four members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation - all elders - showed up during the first day, and nobody showed up on the second.

"We really didn't have much discussion at all - just one question from one of the NGOs and that was it," said Swisher.

Though stating that Avalon remains committed to the assessment process, Swisher questioned the review board's decision to keep its two-day schedule.

"Nobody showed up yesterday yet they insisted on having to have the session continue today and nobody showed up and we sat around from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.," he said on Aug. 17.

"The issue is the allocation of resources, time and money that the governments are paying when it's unnecessary ... It's an expense to everybody. Not just the company; it's an expense to the taxpayers. And it's not a good use of everybody's time."

While Sunny Monroe, a spokesperson for MVEIRB, would not comment on Swisher's particular criticisms, she said the review board sent a notice through its distribution list (which includes various government ministries, departments and First Nations organizations) about the scoping session. The board also commissioned several print and radio ads, she said.

"Usually that's enough. In this case, there were the Treaty 8 and Treaty 11 treaty meetings over in Fort Simpson," said Monroe, adding that planning for the scoping sessions began a month ago. "We didn't know about that. That would have drawn some of our audience."

Dettah is one of four NWT communities where Nechalacho scoping sessions are taking place. Next up, this week, is Fort Resolution, then Lutsel K'e and Hay River.

YKDFN members have not lost the opportunity to state their concerns about Nechalacho, added Monroe.

In addition to attending the technical scoping sessions taking place in Yellowknife Sept. 8-9, "They can always write letters to the board.

"They can post comments to the website. There's a lot of other ways that they can participate."

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