First Nations leaders fighting one of B.C.'s most controversial resource development projects will get their case heard in Vancouver today by the United Nations envoy on aboriginal rights.

 

UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya will meet with aboriginal leaders, including members of the Tsilhqot'in National Government, who are opposing Taseko Mines' gold-copper project near Williams Lake.

 

Anaya, who is touring Canada to gather evidence for a report on human rights issues facing aboriginal Canadians, has written extensively on the importance of aboriginal consent before resource projects proceed.

 

The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing a potential landmark landclaims case involving the Tsilhqot'in next month.

 

Tsilhqot'in chairman Joe Alphonse is returning from two days of lobbying in Ottawa, fearful of the Harper government's approach to major projects. Both federal and B.C. scientists have expressed concerns about the risk that Taseko won't be able to keep its promise to protect Fish Lake, which will be 500 metres from a large proposed open-pit mine and 2.5 kilometres from a tailings dump.

 

But Alphonse said he fears the Harper government will ignore those concerns and approve the mine even if a federal review panel concludes the project poses environmental risks.

 

"We're not being listened to by this government," Alphonse said Wednesday. "They put the almighty dollar and politics ahead of the environment, aboriginal rights and science."

 

Alphonse said he is confident a panel established under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will find plenty of flaws in Taseko's bid to construct a $1.5-billion mine 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake. The federal government rejected Taseko's initial application in 2011 after a "scathing" CEAA panel report on the environmental implications of draining Fish Lake and using it as a tailings dump. The company is promising in its new application to save the lake, which the Tsilhqot'in say is cherished by area First Nations for traditional hunting and fishing.

 

Taseko president Russ Hallbauer, in an essay published in The Vancouver Sun last month, said mine opponents waged a "campaign of misinformation" at panel hearings over the summer.

 

The Tsilhqot'in countered with its own argument in The Sun, citing 22 different statements made by federal and B.C. officials expressing environmental concerns during the panel hearings.