@chrischuckry Aug 13, 2025:
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation rejected a partnership with sand-mining company Sio Silica, which hopes to drill thousands of wells in southeastern Manitoba. Concerns over drinking water contamination and possible ground collapses have wrapped the project in controversy.
Corporations have a habit of declaring bankruptcy and walking away from environmental disasters caused by their operations. Would Sio Silica be different?
I think not.
@NathanPapineau Aug 8 Replying to @WabKinew:
… “Green” silica is 100% recyclable, but most goes to fracking, not solar. This isn’t green jobs, it’s Big Oil on Treaty land.
As Brokenhead votes on Sio Silica mining partnership, protesters gather in water’s defence by Cierra Bettens, APTN News
Members of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in southern Manitoba are voting in a referendum on a proposed mining partnership with Sio Silica this Friday.
In July, the Alberta-based mining company offered the nation a five per cent profit shareWho came up with that amount? Sounds like a bribe to me in a proposed silica sand mining operation in southeastern Manitoba. The deal would generate an estimated $20 million annual profit once the project operates at full capacity.
The referendum was announced last Thursday. In-person voting is being held at the community’s Private Tom Chief Memorial Hall.
If a majority of members vote ‘yes’, Brokenhead and Sio Silica will finalize an agreement and establish a joint oversight committee.
If a majority of members vote ‘no’, the profit-sharing offer will be rejected.
Some band members are concerned about the potential environmental impact it could have.
“This water, our water, our groundwater, our aquifers are at stake,” organizer and land defender Taylor Galvin said.
After receiving news of the referendum, Galvin organized the protest to call for accountability, a halt to the vote and protection of lands for future generations.
Brokenhead member Hayden Gilmore is concerned about the project’s environmental impact–one he believes could affect generations.
“I have little cousins, I have slightly older cousins that are all around our age, and for the next forty years that we’re all going to be alive hopefully, these projects are going to be impacting us,” the 21-year-old said.
“They’re going to be impacting our waters, they’re going to be impacting our land.”
Sio Silica to submit new licence application
In February 2024, then-Manitoba Environment and Climate Change minister Tracy Schmidt rejected a proposed Sio Silica mining project due to environmental concerns.
“We have a responsibility to ensure we are not endangering Manitobans’ drinking water,” Schmidt said in a February news release. “This proposal failed to adequately consider long-term impacts including potential aquifer collapse. That’s why we made the decision to not issue a license for the Vivian sand extraction project.”
In a Friday email to APTN News, Sio Silica president Carla Devlin said they plan to submit a new environmental licence application within the next week.
“It incorporates additional data, four years of monitoring, and addresses recommendations from the Clean Environment Commission,” Devlin wrote.
The mining company hosted a series of roundtable meetings with Brokenhead leaders and members.
However, Galvin said she and other members left the discussions feeling unheard.
“We never got to ask a lot of questions, we never got to really voice our concerns around it,” she said. “When we did, it was met with side-tracked answers and greenwashing, it felt like, even red-washing, using Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous people to try and get ahead as a box to check off.”
Devlin said the company is taking concerns about community consultations and the potential environmental impact seriously.Pfffft! If that were true, Sio Silica would head back west in the sunset to Calgary, and never return to this project or any like it. This project is the stupidest, most harmful frac project I’ve ever read or heard about or experienced directly.
“Consultation is an ongoing process, not a one-time event, and we are committed to continuing open and respectful dialogue.Ya, by fucking lying, and withholding vital damning science on the project Indigenous-led environmental oversight is built into the project, supported by over four years of independent third-party monitoring that has shown no adverse effects,” she wrote in a statement to APTN.
“This is an environmentally sound project that offers significant economic opportunity and long-term benefits. It is important that decisions are based on facts and science, not fear or misinformation.”
The referendum’s online voting system opened Aug. 1 and closes Aug. 8.
Band member Brenda Greyeyes said her daughter, who lives in B.C., experienced issues with it, alleging the QR code she received led to a broken link.
“The process was so convoluted,” Greyeyes said. “She phoned me and she said, ‘Mom, I had to go through so many steps and then finally, it didn’t even work.’.”
APTN reached out to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation about issues with the online voting system but did not receive a response by publication.
Protestors building solidarity
Brokenhead isn’t the only Manitoba community impacted by proposed silica mining projects.
Members of the Our Line in the Sand campaign from eastern Manitoba and land defenders from Camp Morning Star attended the protest in solidarity.A++++++
The camp near Hollow Water First Nation in Manitoba was established in February 2019 to oppose Sio Silica mining projects.Bravo!
Heavyn-Lee Martens, a youth from Brokenhead, is casting her vote with future generations in mind.
“Everything you do, everything you say…will affect the next seven generations,” Martens said. “So it’s important to really keep that in mind.”
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation did not respond to APTN’s request for comment on Friday.
In a Thursday statement on the referendum, Brokenhead stated “it is seeking a mandate from the community before engaging in future discussions.”
“This is why we are holding a referendum — to allow all eligible community members to have their say and determine the direction collectively. The vote was scheduled at a time when most members are available and gathered in community to ensure maximum participation and transparency,” the statement reads.
Brokenhead voters reject Sio Silica sand-mine proposal by Tyler Searle, Aug, Winnipeg Free Press
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation has rejected a partnership with sand-mining company Sio Silica, turning down a deal projected to generate up to $20 million in annual revenue for the reserve.
In a one-week referendum, 181 band members voted against working with the Alberta-based company, while 129 voted in favour.
“We would like to thank everyone who participated in the recent referendum, and our council respects the decision and will proceed in the direction provided by our members,” Brokenhead’s chief and council said in a Facebook post.
Brokenhead member Taylor Galvin, a vocal critic of the proposed partnership, said she is “on Cloud Nine.”
She organized a demonstration against the mining project on Friday morning, the final day of voting.
“There’s been a lot of work and advocacy going on, building up to this day.”
Sio Silica is seeking provincial approval for mining operations in southeastern Manitoba. Its proposal includes drilling thousands of wells to extract silica sand, a critical mineral used to develop a variety of goods and electronics.It’s not pure enough for much but frac’ing.
The proposed mine does not fall on Brokenhead lands, but Sio Silica sought support from the First Nation in exchange for five per cent of the project’s annual profits and a promise which would most likely be a grand failureof jobs and training opportunities.
In a statement, Sio Silica president Carla Devlin said her company respects the community’s decision but noted “it is difficult to see how widespread misinformation influenced” conversation about the issue.well, tit for tat darling. If your company had been honest and upfront from the start, perhaps the vote would be different (but I doubt it, the harms are too serve and the rewards for too few
“Our project is built on science, rigorous environmental oversight and a commitment to share its benefits with First Nations. This is an opportunity to position Manitoba as leaders in critical minerals, proving that the economy and the environment are not opposing forces,”Pffff!Devlin said.
“The mining industry needs help from all stakeholders to ensure the public debate is based on facts, not fear, and to remind people that mining is essential to daily life.”No, it is not. Human greed feeds the need for mining, not need
Critics of the plan have raised concerns about the project’s potential impact on an underground aquifer, fearing operations could compromise its geological stability and impact water quality.
Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission reviewed the project and produced a report in 2023 that flagged similar concerns.
The NDP government denied Sio Silica’s environmental licences in February 2024, saying the risks outweighed potential benefits.
Devlin told the Free Press last week that Sio Silica intends to reapply for its licence before the end of the month.
She said Friday that the company remains committed to that goal, and to pursuing partnerships in which Indigenous communitiesThat’s too bad, that means many communities will be relentlessly harassed and lied to and bribed. benefit from the project.
About 60 people gathered in protest outside the Private Thomas Chief Memorial Centre in Brokenhead on Friday, where band members were able to vote in-person before the referendum closed.
Voting started online Aug. 1.
Galvinc criticized the short voting window, noting it launched ahead of a long weekend and the community’s annual Treaty Days celebration.
Brokenhead officials pushed back against her assessment in a statement published on the band website this week.
“The vote was scheduled at a time when most members are available and gathered in (the) community to ensure maximum participation and transparency,” it said.
The statement said council members were not taking a position on the referendum and were seeking input from members before continued talks with Sio Silica.
“This is why we are holding a referendum — to allow all eligible community members to have their say and determine the direction collectively,” it said.
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Brokenhead Ojibway Nation votes no to partnership with Sio Silica, Opponents of prospective deal with sand-mining company win referendum, 181 to 129 by Bartley Kives, Aug 8, 2025, CBC News
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation has rejected a partnership with sand-mining company Sio Silica.
After eight days of online voting and one day of in-person voting, band members defeated a prospective deal with the mining company by a tally of 181 to 129, a spokesperson for the First Nation confirmed Friday evening.
Brokenhead has approximately 2,300 members, including youths and children too young to be eligible for the vote.
“I can’t believe it, I’m crying tears of joy,” so am I; it’s a brutally cruel trick by Sio Silica in my viewsaid Brokenhead member Taylor Galvin, who opposes the mining project and organized a Friday morning demonstration that attracted approximately 50 band members and their supporters.
Sio Silica president Carla Devlin said in a statement her company respects the community’s decision, although she and her colleagues believe “misinformation may have influenced the outcome.”
“Sio Silica remains committed to advancing our environmentally responsible project which aligns with Canada’s critical minerals strategy and can deliver long-term economic benefits to Manitoba and beyond,” she said.
Devlin said her company will continue working with the province, approval authorities and the public “to ensure accurate information is available to the public.”
Demonstration held morning of in-person vote
Band members voted in-person on Friday at the Private Thomas Chief Memorial Centre in a referendum about whether Brokenhead to should continue talks about an offer by the Alberta mining company to share five per cent of the profits from its proposal to drill thousands of wells in southeastern Manitoba — outside Brokenhead’s reserve lands — for silica sand.
Sio Silica has previously said the band is being consulted because it is the closest First Nation to the wells the company intends to drill across a broad swath of land in the province.
The company estimates the band eventually could receive up to $20 million a year from the deal, if the province grants Sio Silica an environmental licence.
Manitoba’s NDP government denied an initial licence application in 2024, citing uncertainty about the effect of sand mining on the quality of a drinking-water aquifer as well as concerns about potential collapses underground.
- Sand mining company offers 5% of profits, up to $20M a year, to Manitoba First Nation
- Brokenhead Ojibway Nation holds referendum on Sio Silica partnership
Band members were able to vote online in the referendum since Aug. 1. Friday was the only day where in-person voting took place — in the same hall where band members could obtain treaty payments and attend a health exposition during Treaty Days, the community’s annual gathering.
Galvin had taken issue with the short notice for the referendum and the fact it’s taking place during Treaty Days.
“They sent out ballots on a Friday afternoon on a long weekend. They’re forcing us to vote in something so detrimental during a time of celebration,” Galvin said during a morning address.
Former Brokenhead chief Deborah Smith suggested this could have been a deliberate tactic on the part of the band’s chief and council.
“To be able to spring that on us, a day before the vote is called, this shows a lack of respect but also a lack of proper planning,” Smith said during the demonstration.
Brokenhead Chief Gordon Bluesky declined an interview request. In a statement posted Thursday on the band’s website, the chief and his council said the vote was scheduled at a time when most members were available and gathered in community “to ensure maximum participation and transparency.”
Several band members who departed Private Thomas Chief Memorial Centre told CBC News they did not vote in the referendum because they did not know enough about the proposed partnership.
“There wasn’t really much information about it. It just popped out of the blue. I only heard of it last week,” said Ramsey Desjarlais, a Brokenhead member.
Band council members also said in their statement they were not taking a position on the referendum and were simply seeking a mandate from band members before they engage in further talks with Sio Silica.
“This is why we are holding a referendum — to allow all eligible community members to have their say and determine the direction collectively,” the band’s council said in the online statement.
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation holds referendum on Sio Silica partnership, Sand mining company plans to submit new environmental licence application within week, president says by Bartley Kives, Aug 1, 2025, CBC News
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation is holding a referendum on a prospective partnership with Alberta mining company Sio Silica, which wants to drill thousands of wells in southeastern Manitoba to extract silica sand.Diamonds to frac’ers
Brokenhead announced Thursday it will hold an online referendum on the prospective partnership from Aug. 1 to Aug. 8 as well as an in-person vote at Private Tom Chief Memorial Hall at the community northeast of Winnipeg on Aug. 8.
The partnership calls for Brokenhead to receive five per cent of the profits from Sio Silica’s mining operations with Brokenhead, a share estimated at $20 million in annual revenue for the First Nation once the project reaches full capacity, according to a notice sent to band members from Brokenhead’s chief and council.
The partnership may also result in jobs and training opportunities for Brokenhead members, company president Carla Devlin said Thursday.
A “yes” vote in the referendum would result in Brokenhead and Sio Silica working out a final agreement and setting up a joint oversight committee to consider the environmental impacts of Sio Silica’s operations, according to the notice.
A “no” vote would result in a rejection of the profit-sharing offer, the notice states.
“However, should the Province of Manitoba approve the project, BON [Brokenhead Ojibway Nation] will still be tasked with negotiating an impact benefit agreement, though the terms — particularly the profit sharing — may differ from the final offer,” the notice reads.
Brokenhead Chief Gordon Bluesky said Thursday in a statement that any proposal to extract resources from Brokenhead’s territory has to come before the band’s membership.
The First Nation has 2,307 members living on and off reserve.
“Historically, we have not benefited from any resource project or land use in our area, only impacted. This must end and our community and our members must be part of the decision-making process,” Bluesky said.
While none of the wells Sio Silica proposes to drill are located on Brokenhead reserve land, the Ojibway community is the closest First Nation to the land where Sio Silica owns mineral rights, Devlin has said.And they would be harmed when the aquifers are contaminated and the air polluted with carcinogenic silica sand blowing everywhere in the violent prairie winds and the company’s bad practices already proven and experienced directly by the harmed
New licence application to come
Devlin said her company plans to submit a new environmental licence application to the province within one week.
The application, she said, is ready to be submitted. “We were respectfully waiting for [Brokenhead] leadership to hold their referendum,” she said.
A spokesperson for Manitoba’s NDP government declined to comment Thursday.
In 2024, the NDP government rejected an earlier Sio Silica application to extract up to 33 million tonnes of high-grade silica from below the surface of southeastern Manitoba over 24 years.
The province rejected the initial environmental licence application over concerns about the potential effects on water quality and the geological stability of the aquifer containing crystalline quartz, which can be used to produce solar panelsthe sand is proven not pure enough for panels, I believe it’s intended use is frac’ing, batteries and semiconductors.
The company proposed to drill up to 7,200 wells to the east and southeast of Winnipeg to extract the sought-after substance from about 50 metres below the surface.Pure insanity and out of control greed and stupidity
The Clean Environment Commission, an arm’s-length provincial body, raised concerns about the proposal in a 2023 report. The Commission advised the government only to approve it after applying conditions to the proposal and to insist it proceed in stages, with only a few mines drilled at first.it better not do it at all. enough harms and damages have already occurred, notably trying to bribe the Brokenhead
“As a general principle, full-scale production should only proceed if and when the body of scientific and engineering evidence confirms that the risks are adequately understood and manageable,” the commission advised in its report.
Sio Silica CEO Feisal Somji told Brokenhead members in Winnipeg in early July his company has revised its proposal to drill more gradually, with 25 wells planned for its first year of operation followed by 75 wells the next year.No! Do not allow this brutal insane project! Water is worth too much and already too much Canadian groundwater has been dangerously contaminated by frac, oil, gas, and bitumen and coal industries in Canada.
Somji also suggested the company erred in its earlier public relations efforts by describing its sand extraction process as utilizing new technology.I do not believe a fucking thing Somji says, he’s pulled too much shit out of his mouth to ever trust what he says.
“One of the mistakes that we made in the past is we talked about it being a patent pending process and that was really just an element of advantage that we could have on our competitors,” he said at the July meeting.
Sio Silica’s president Devlin also serves as the mayor of East St. Paul, where Brokenhead owns 194 hectares of land, including a three-hectare reserve established two decades ago and another 25-hectare parcel that will become a new Brokenhead reserve.Major fucking conflict of interest in my view. Corrupto Corrupto Corrupto!
The mining company is listed as a platinum sponsor of Brokenhead’s Treaty Days, an annual community celebration which runs this year from Aug. 5 to 10.
Bluesky did not respond to a request to comment about Sio Silica’s sponsorship coinciding with the Sio Silica partnership referendum.
Devlin said Sio Silica sponsored Treaty Days in 2024 and intends to do so again in 2026. She said the company will not make any effort to sway opinion in the community in the coming 10 days.
“We will not be lobbying in the time from when the vote opens [Friday] to the vote closes,” Devlin said.
Sio Silica has also purchased airtime on Winnipeg radio stations, social media ads and advertisements at Richardson International Airport, all aimed at a general audience of Manitobans.The company sounds fucking desperate (and very stupid)
“This is the largest-known deposit of high purity quartz in the world and the demand for it is growing,” Devlin said. “This demand is real. The buyers are lined up and we’re ready to go and we want to put Manitobans to work.”I do not believe a word Devlin says either. It’s not pure enough to be worth anything but for frac’ing, which Canada and the USA has had far too much of already.
Mining opponent decries short notice
Taylor Galvin, a Brokenhead member who lives on reserve and opposes the Sio Silica partnership, said Friday that the short notice for the referendum does not allow people in her community to inform themselves about the vote.
“Yesterday we got notified about the referendum, and the vote started today, so we got less than 24 hours,” she said in an interview Friday from Sayisi Dene First Nation in northern Manitoba.
Galvin also called the vote biased because a Sio Silica promotional pamphlet was included in a package of referendum information sent to Brokenhead members.
She is also upset the referendum is taking place during Treaty Days.
“It’s the one time of the year where our community is supposed to be coming together to celebrate,” Galvin said. “I feel that it’s a tactic, knowing that our community is not going to be focused on a vote, but rather on the festivities that are planned for the entire week.”
Galvin said she has written to Brokenhead’s chief and council, requesting a meeting and an extension to the referendum. She also started a petition to demand that extension.
Refer also to
Manitoba says “NO!” to Calgary’s Sio Silica Corp (but company appears to be deaf)