Canada’s minister of Environment and Climate Change says the conditions put on two projects approved by the federal government will help alleviate environmental impacts related to fish, birds and the territory.

Julie Dabrusin told media gathered in Halifax on Wednesday for an announcement about money to help municipalities deal with climate change that there were several consultations during the impact assessment phase, including with Indigenous Peoples.

“There are also conditions attached every time that there is a decision through the impact assessment agency and those conditions are specifically to mitigate those impacts, and they are monitored,” she said in response to a question by APTN News about how far the government will go in approving projects that have adverse effects on the environment. “That’s an important part of the equation that also needs to be included. So, with those projects, as with any others, there are conditions that are taken into account when making that balanced assessment.”

The Crawford Nickel Project is likely to destroy or alter approximately 116 hectares of fish habitat, including the watersheds indicated in this map. Graphic: APTN News.

Crawford Nickel Mine

In the past two months, Dabrusin has approved two projects in northern Ontario.

The first was the Crawford Nickel Mine located 42 kilometres north of Timmins. According to the government, it will be the largest mine in Canada when it starts production. The government said it will “produce high-quality, low-carbon nickel essential for batteries and green steel. It will serve as an anchor of Canada’s global leadership in clean industrial materials.”

The mine, the government said, will “attract $5 billion in investment” and create 5,000 jobs for construction of the project and 1,300 for operations.”

In terms of the climate, “the project’s emissions are nearly 90% lower than the global industry average,” the government said.

Canada has signed business contracts with Mattagami, Matachewan, and Flying Post First Nations and Taykwa Tagamou Nation has “partnered with Canada Nickel Company to invest $20 million in the Crawford Nickel Project,” giving the community an 8.4 per cent stake in the project.

On the environmental side, according to the

impact assessment

, the project will have an “adverse” effect on fish, migratory birds and the lands of the First Nations who are signing onto the project.

According to the 38-page impact assessment released by the government, there are a number of conditions attached to the approval of the mine that the company must abide by, including protecting fish from the mine site.

The impact report said approximately 111 species of migratory birds are either confirmed or assumed to be present in the area, according to the assessment.

“Eleven of these are species at risk (including bank swallow, barn swallow, Canada warbler, chimney swift, eastern whip-poor-will, common nighthawk, evening grosbeak, bobolink, olive-sided flycatcher, yellow rail, and eastern meadowlark),” the report states. “Several species of migratory birds, including waterfowl such as geese, have been identified as species of importance to Indigenous communities.”

There are five conditions binding on the company to protect birds that the proponent needs to carrying out the project “in a manner that protects migratory birds and avoids capturing, killing, taking, injuring or harassing migratory birds or destroying, taking or disturbing their eggs, or damaging, destroying, removing or disturbing nests protected.”

In terms of the damage that will be caused to important sites within the project area, the Mattagami First Nation wrote, “Many sites of cultural significance and value will be irreversibly lost from the project, and related knowledge will not be passed down through generations, hindering cultural continuity.”

The government listed six conditions on the company, Canada Nickel, to “develop, prior to construction and in consultation with Indigenous groups, and relevant authorities… an Archeological and Cultural Resources Management Plan,” the approval letter said. “That includes a chance-find protocol for any previously unidentified structures, sites or things of historical, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance discovered within the Designated Project area.”

All construction is to be stopped if something is discovered.

The Attawapiskat River in Ring of Fire region of northern …