First Nations say KSM review must reflect updated territorial understanding

First Nations say KSM review must reflect updated territorial understanding

Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation and the Gitxsan Huwilp Government are calling for specific measures to address the impacts of Seabridge Gold’s KSM project as the province reconsiders its substantial-start determination.

In a joint release, the two Nations said consultation should give Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha a substantive role in decisions involving the proposed waste facility in the Treaty Creek Valley, participation in long-term environmental and risk management, and access to project benefits where impacts to its rights and territory cannot be avoided.

“Our responsibility is to protect our territory and uphold the rights and interests of our members today and for generations to come,” Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Chief Darlene Simpson said. “Consultation must be based on the Province’s current understanding of our territory and must lead to meaningful measures that address the risks this project creates.”

The Nations’ call comes as a 90-day consultation period with Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha approaches its Sept. 28 conclusion.

At issue is whether KSM had advanced far enough for its 2014 environmental certificate to remain valid for the life of the project. The province said in 2024 that it had, but the B.C. Supreme Court quashed that decision over inadequate consultation with Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha, forcing the province to decide the question again after renewed consultation.

Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha says it is not asking the province to repeat KSM’s original environmental assessment. Instead, it says the current consultation on whether the project was substantially started must take into account the province’s updated understanding of the Nation’s territorial interests.

According to the joint release, provincial ethnohistoric work completed in 2021 expanded the province’s understanding of Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha’s territorial claim, including the Treaty Creek Valley where Seabridge proposes to build the waste facility. The Nation says that newer understanding should now be reflected in both consultation and measures addressing the project’s potential effects.

Seabridge said Monday that the provincial Environmental Assessment Office has outlined what will happen after the consultation period ends. The company will be given an opportunity to respond to submissions from Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha before the office drafts a report on the substantial-start reconsideration.

That draft will then be provided to Seabridge, Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha and other Indigenous groups for review before the Environmental Assessment Office makes a recommendation to the decision-maker, who will reconsider the substantial-start determination.

Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha says the proposed waste facility creates long-term risks to its territory and that consultation should address those potential effects directly. It is seeking a role in decisions involving the facility, participation in long-term environmental and risk management, and access to project benefits where impacts cannot be avoided.

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government withdrew its longstanding support for KSM in August and has since joined Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha in pressing for stronger consultation. In the joint release, the Gitxsan also said Laxyip outside the KSM project area could be substantially affected.

Its hereditary chiefs had supported the project during the environmental assessment process dating back to 2013.

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government and Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha now say they are prepared to participate in the reconsideration process but expect it to produce practical and enforceable measures addressing their rights and territorial concerns.

Seabridge, meanwhile, welcomed the Environmental Assessment Office’s description of the reconsideration process and said it expects the matter to move toward a resolution.

Seabridge has said more than $1.4 billion has been invested in KSM to date, while about $515 million in contracts have been awarded to Indigenous-affiliated businesses over the past four years.

“We appreciate the measured and thoughtful response of the EAO, and we look forward to a full resolution of this matter,” Seabridge chair Rudi Fronk said.