Indigenous leaders from U.S., Canada still demanding B.C. mining runoff probe

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday, April 28, 2023. Indigenous groups want a bilateral investigation into cross-border mining pollution from B.C., but Trudeau says efforts that are currently underway have a better chance of success. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Washington -

Indigenous and tribal leaders from Canada and the U.S. are keeping up the pressure on both countries to investigate toxic mining runoff from British Columbia.

They want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier David Eby to agree to a bilateral investigation under a long-standing transborder water treaty.

That's despite last month's vow by Trudeau and President Joe Biden to seek a deal they say would “reduce and mitigate” pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed.

Indigenous groups from sides of the border were in Washington, D.C., on Friday to press their case to the International Joint Commission, which oversees transborder water issues.

They say they want a bilateral investigation under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty into Elk Valley mining operations they say have been poisoning their watershed for more than a decade.

But Trudeau says he believes the negotiations that are already underway are more likely to yield results.

“We believe that there are processes that are being followed right now that have a better chance of getting to a resolution,” Trudeau said Friday during a news conference in New York.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2023.