Befriending The Boreal - An Honest Look At The Potential Ecological/Cultural Impacts Of The Large Scale Open Pit Lithium Mines Planned For Northern Canada
Illuminating the choice point we currently face choosing between justifying our civilization's lust for lithium or instead choosing love for our mother Earth
UPDATE 2025:
I just became aware of this sobering update on the situation in the Boreal Forest.
This news evokes the following quote to my mind:
"When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money."
Chief Sonny Gagnon of the Aroland First Nation to sign 20 Million bribe deal allowing government and corporations to carve into the bones of Mother Earth in the "ring of fire" region in Northern Ontario:
Seeing people like this Chief Sonny Gagnon sell out and turn their back on our Mother Earth in the name of money and the temptations of modernity is very sad indeed.
I will be gathering pertinent evidence of the inevitable severe impacts on water quality in the region that will result from hard rock mining and send it to the Aroland First Nation community members in the hopes they can make a different choice.
Promises of "this time will be different, we are 'sustainable' and 'low impact' mining now" have been made to many First Nation communities in past decades in Canada but the result, invariably every single time, is the destruction of endangered forest habitat, displacement of at risk animal species and the poisoning of the water ways.
In one community (in the Neskantaga First Nation’s territory) they have had an unsafe to drink water advisory for the longest-running amount of time in the country – standing at more than 10,000 days or 27 years (thanks to corporate mining pillaging their land in the 90-s, poisoning the water).
Chief Sonny Gagnon is censoring those opposed to the deal. I tried to reach out to him and then he blocked my message to his community. We must make every effort to inform the good people of Boreal Forests that do care about the land what will result if they bow to the colonial government and lithium cartels.
I managed to get ahold of Chief Sonny Gagnon on facebook and I informed him and the community members about the inevitable devastation to the forests and poisoning of the sacred waters that will result from letting the Ontario government and corporations build roads through their territory for lithium mining. He responded to try and minimize and dismiss his role by saying “it is just roads through our reservation, the mines will be elsehwere” and when I tried to warn him that the dangers to water quality and animals are still serious even if the mining is at a distance, while offering seeds to him and his community for starting a food forest, he deleted my post and blocked me.
(screenshots shown below from before he blocked and deleted my post)
Community members were wanting to learn more and I am still in contact with some of them that want to resist, but they have confirmed what I feared would be the case. The most vocal opponents of the mining operations from their community have started disappearing. They have told me of 7 missing persons in the surrounding area that expressed vocal opposition and are missing now. I am concerned this is the Osage Murders all over again, except this time is it blood for lithium instead of blood for oil.
Please help me get the word out in your networks.
This post offers an introduction to a series I will be publishing with the intent of inviting people to get to know the Boreal Forest and it's many inhabitants to hopefully come to see these beings with love, respect and a feeling of kinship.
I wish that the impetus for this series was simply my want to introduce people to a truly magical, healing and spiritually enriching ecosystem landscape (as to hopefully motivate them to explore the forests as I have and experience moments that offer lasting enrichment for the heart, mind, body and spirit) but sadly my motivation for creating this series is more dire.
As I stated in my essay titled The Rise Of Anthropocentrism, The Continuity of Colonialism, Bright Green Lies and The Promise Of The Animate Worldview and my exposé titled Death By A Thousand Clearcuts here in Ontario our corrupt government intends to allow mining corporations (and foreign owned pulp/paper corporations) to clear cut hundreds of thousands of hectares of Boreal Forest to allow for the creation of open pit lithium mines (many of which will be on unceded First Nation land.
At the present time, large scale 'Green Colonialism' and ecological devastation is planned for the Boreal Forest northern Ontario and Quebec.
Our corrupt corporation captured government is helping to initiate large projects to pillage the lands of indigenous peoples (Cree of Eeyou Istchee, the Shakopaatikoong peoples of the Slate Falls first nation and the Waabitigweyaang peoples of Sandy Lake, among others ) and the body of Mother Earth in new Cobalt, Tantalum and Lithium mines in northern Ontario and Quebec.
As I stated in my substack articles linked above, hard rock lithium mining involves deforestation, draining lakes and rivers, blowing the land into pieces with explosives, carving deep gashes into the Earth with giant machines, using truckloads of industrial solvents like sulfuric acid (resulting in water contamination with toxic sludge) dragging that processed rubble to processing facilities with fleets of heavy machinery then processing the ore with extremely high energy furnaces using another slew of toxic chemicals (which further contaminate the water table, lakes, rivers and ocean elsewhere).
In the first wave of colonialism, the statists used (biological warfare) small pox blankets, muskets and chemical warfare (alcohol). This next wave of "green" colonialism instead weaponizes viruses of the mind (gaslighting, propaganda, bribes) armies of lawyers and only resorts to using the oppressive jackboots and kinetic weapons of war (currently expressed in the militarized RCMP unit called the "C-IRG") when all else fails (as they do not want the bad press).
Statist regimes profess how dedicated they are to "truth and reconciliation" while simultaneously pushing to displace northern indigenous communities and poison their sacred waters in the name of profit.
In truth, the Colonialism never stopped, it just put on a smiling face and a mask and now instead of soldiers massacring villages and exterminating Buffalo to starve indigenous peoples so their land (and the "natural resources" on and under them) could be pillaged, the courts and the RCMP are being weaponized and militarized to act as Corporate Mercenaries.
For more info:
Indigenous Voices Rally Against Lithium Mining in Northwestern Ontario:
THE IMPACTS OF MINING ACTIVITIES ON WATER: https://miningwatch.ca/sites/default/files/2023-11_CitizensGuide_ImpactsOnWater_0.pdf
Galaxy Lithium's James Bay Project Would Cause Important Arsenic Contamination:
“The North is key to Canada’s critical mineral rush. Will its environment be protected this time?” :
https://thenarwhal.ca/canadian-north-critical-mineral-strategy/
Quebec government drags First Nation back to Court over landmark mining decision (dec 2024):
https://cqde.org/en/news/quebec-drags-first-nation-back-to-court-over-landmark-mining-decision/?
Quebec's 2024 Budget: An Arbitrary Half-Billion for Mining and Almost Nothing for the Environment:
Cree Elder Thomas Jolly :'If the water becomes contaminated by the mine, I don't see how we can limit the damage': https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/quebec-lithium-division-1.6739010
As Lithium extraction causes surface water contamination, it also destroys other water sources. So, it’s also responsible for the creation of toxic rain. The water cycle largely depends on the limited forests. The trees extract underground water and release it into the atmosphere for this process to continue. Therefore, lithium mining hinders the water cycle from providing adequate rainfall in the affected areas. The impacts are severe. The long term result will be increased regional droughts, soil erosion and the risk of desertification.
In order to illustrate the potential for catastrophic harm to ecosystems and human health that these mines pose I present a cautionary tale: The Liqi River was once full of fish: Almost none are left. Chemical spills from the Ganzizhou Rongda lithium mine have killed many. “The whole river stank, and it was full of dead yaks and dead fish,” said one villager.: “Masses” of dead fish covered the river. The people got the mine shut down three times, only to have the government reopen it. ( for more info : https://tibetnature.net/en/lichu-river-poisoned-case-minyak-lhagang-lithium-mine-protest/?fbclid=IwAR2ulyVpJ3DR3tYOwX6wW4MkZy1elR6bjNpS03B4f4jF32LcAjdNvekjU0c )
One of the elders in Tibet said, “Old people, we see the mines and we cry. What are the future generations going to do? How are they going to survive? ”. A local activist surveyed people in the area. Even if mining companies split the profits and promised to repair the land after the mines are exhausted, the Tibetans wanted no part of it. “God is in the mountains and the rivers, these are the places that spirits live,” he explained.” “sustainable development” technology (Lithium battery tech) offers everything: every luxury, every whim, available at the touch of a ‘carbon-free’ button. But the world that these technologies provide will be a rotting, desecrated, and, finally, dead world if we let them continue on their crusade to turn the living world into dead things, for profit and to perpetuate our obscene technologically addicted western “civilized society”.
In the concentrations extracted via industrial mining operations, lithium is harmful to living beings. It interferes with sperm viability, causes birth defects, memory problems, kidney failure, movement disorders, and so on. Other materials in an electric-car battery can be even more harmful than lithium, with nickel and cobalt electrodes being the most destructive component.
The entire lithium extraction process contributes to a massive increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Lithium miners cut down trees and remove all other life forms from their targeted mining areas to eliminate obstructions.
The Boreal Forest and the body of our Mother Earth is being assaulted in northern Ontario and Quebec. Over 217,000 Hectares of forest, lakes and rivers have been purchased by lithium mining corporations that intend to clear cut the forests and set up open pit mines in northern Ontario and Quebec (I provide a breakdown of which companies have purchased what land in both of my previous posts which are hyperlinked above with underlined text).
The boreal forest is teeming with life (containing about two thirds of Canada's 140 000 species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms.) To describe it, let's begin with the trees that make up the forest canopy. There are about 20 species of them (including but not limited to Spruce, fir, pine, and tamarack, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, birch and more). The boreal plays a critical role in how the planet breathes through the process of photosynthesis. By extension, it also shapes the composition of the atmosphere, which today includes maintaining 21 percent of the life supporting concentrations of oxygen in our atmosphere. The impact of the forest is so significant that global levels of carbon dioxide, actually drop significantly in spring and summer when it is growing most.
For those concerned about carbon levels in the atmosphere, preserving the integrity of the Boreal Forest should be a top priority. The boreal forest soaks up more carbon than it emits. The boreal is also cold. Thus, when trees die, they decompose slowly, keeping carbon in their bodies relatively longer than dead trees in tropical forests, which rot swiftly and release large amounts of carbon. The cold also keeps the boreal’s permafrost frozen, trapping carbon-rich methane, underneath the surface of the soil. As well, much of the boreal is dotted with marshy peatland, another efficient storage facility for carbon.
The boreal forest shelters more than 85 species of mammals, including some of the largest and most majestic—wood bison, elk, moose, woodland caribou, grizzly and black bears, and wolves—and smaller species, such as beavers, snowshoe hares, Canada lynx, red squirrels, lemmings, and voles.
Nearly half of the birds in North America rely on the boreal forest at some time during the year. It is estimated that at least 3 billion landbirds, water birds, and shorebirds breed in the boreal forest each year, representing more than 300 species. Another 300 million birds, including several species of shorebirds, swans, and geese, breed farther north and travel through the boreal forest during migration. It is estimated that 32 000 insect species inhabit Canada's boreal forest, although about one third of these species have yet to be described. Canada's boreal forest is home to about 130 species of fish (including minnows, stickleback and Larger species such as including walleye, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, yellow perch, brook trout, whitefish and burbot).
This series of posts is a call to recognize that our kin in the Boreal Forest need our help and our protection, their lives are worth more than fun Tesla Cars and ipads.
Here are some of the books I will be referencing in this series.
Though I tend to agree with Charles Eisenstein (with regards to what he said in his book “Sacred Economics” and what James Corbett said in his podcast titled “Steal This Podcast (Please!) about the concept of of so called “intellectual property” and “copyrights” I do also firmly believe in honoring the gifts people and other beings share with us and reciprocating in some way, which in the very least involves Citing One’s Sources, but hopefully goes beyond that to expressing one’s gratitude for those gifts in other ways. Thus, if you feel the wisdom and information I share from these books is helpful to you, and you do not already own a copy of their book, please consider supporting their continued work by purchasing one of their books (I hyperlinked where you can buy a copy under each of the images of the book covers above).
With regards to the corporate pillaging of the Boreal Forest described above, what I am sensing is these corporations are moving in fast and quiet, buying up huge amounts of land, bribing locals to be compliant and getting them to sign binding indemnification agreements. Thus, there is not currently much resistance to these projects moving forward.
There are some people voicing concerns but these voices are not getting traction in the corporation controlled mainstream media
While there are brave biocentric ecosystem protectors striving to prevent the devastation and ecocide planned for places like Thacker’s Pass (such as Max Wilbert, co-author of Bright Green Lies, founder of Protect Thacker Pass) in the United States I do not know of anyone currently taking a definitive stand to protect the Boreal Forest from being decimated by lithium mining interests. Thus, I feel compelled to do my own small part to speak for our fellow non-human beings that stand in the intended path of the profiteering corporate pillagers that would clear-cut and annihilate huge swaths of the the Boreal Forest in the name of “Sustainable Development” (for the currently fashionable E-car profiteering).
Before we take a journey to get to know the first member of the Boreal community I will be introducing you to in this series better (in the hopes we can all take steps to begin to see her as one of our cherished kin, worth honoring and protecting) I would like to first share the introduction from Arboretum Borealis: A Lifeline of the Planet by Diana Beresford-Kroeger as I feel she offers the most vivid insight into how vitally important protecting the ancient circumpolar community of life that is the Boreal is for both our present and future. I do not necessarily share any “climate change” / “global warming” views that are alluded towards centering around a carbon-centric anthropogenic cause but I do share her concerns regarding the oxygen levels in the atmosphere and I value the other wisdom, scientific insight and heartfelt expression Diana (and others who’s work will be included in this series) offer related to the imperative of preserving the integrity of ancient ecosystems (such as the Boreal) thus I feel compelled to share their important works below.
(sorry in advance about the glare, I could have taken the pics better but wanted to expedite getting this info out due to the desperate situation we are dealing with involving the impending proliferation of lithium mines in the Boreal Forest)
So, as you can see, the Boreal Forest is literally a Life Line for our planet and the large scale lithium and cobalt mining operations set to carve into that ancient ecosystem in, Ontario, Québec (and elsewhere in the Boreal zone) will represent a direct attack on all our shared futures and the future well being of countless generations yet unborn.
Some May Ask “But Gavin, what about “Free Energy” tech instead of lithium / cobalt batteries and central power/energy grids?”
Some people (such as Steven Greer) believe that if the suppressed zero point energy field extraction tech (so called “free energy” generators) were to become widely available it would reduce the cost of most things to nearly zero, shift the macro-economic order, destabilize existing hyper-consolidated monopolistic oligarchies and help us to drastically reduce pollution. While in theory I do not disagree, I also do not think that hoping for such an outcome is realistic at this current time (I will share more on that topic and Greer’s recent film release in the future post)
With regards to the “free energy” tech proposed by Greer and others; whether or not these technologies can be created with little to no ecological devastation (via recycling re-purposing existing tech/byproducts) and whether or not they run for years without recharging is irrelevant in our current situation. Why ?
I could list a few dozen technologies that could replace, oil, lithium batteries, nuclear, solar, wind and hydroelectric energy corporations. Have you ever heard of Dimitri Petronov? He had developed a plasma battery the size of a shoebox that powered his entire two bedroom house and all the appliances in it for over a year without a single recharge, but after some visits from "investors" and then military/intelligence types, he disappeared and his body was later found in the Volga river.
Sadly, his story is not unique, Dr. Eugene Mallove (MIT) and Dr. Aries M. DeGeus were also doing some promising work on plasma energy generation and storage tech, and both of them also ended up dead.
For more info: http://www.rexresearch.com/articles2/thorium.htm
Then there are other technologies that are even cleaner such as Stanley Meyer's water fuel cell, or the countless toroidal geometry based energy extraction devices that tap into the quantum vacuum and produce usable electricity without requiring any fuel or mining.
Considering the massive global industries and oligarchs that are opposed to energy generation/storage tech coming out that would threaten their monopolies (and considering all the people they have murdered and bribed to keep it that way over the decades), I do not think it is realistic for us to hope for any large scale energy device manufacturing revolution to be able to supply us with the energy we need to keep living with all our gadgets and high tech addictions (while still claiming to value protecting nature and respecting Mother Earth). Those that wish to walk a path guided by any kind of honest moral compass (including but not limited to the permaculture ethical imperative of People Care-Earth Care-Future Care) are going to have to make some hard choices if we want our actions to continue to align with the principles we espouse and claim to live by.
Considering anyone who builds the types of “free energy” (and/or highly efficient energy devices that operate within the realm of conventional physics/engineering) which are described above (and In Greer’s film which is linked above) and attempts to bring them out to the public ends up dead or bribed to sell their patents to be black boxed, (IMO) it is unrealistic and irresponsible to keep living the way we have been in the hopes they will be developed in our current society.
The current macro-economic order is built around a tiny minority of the human race controlling monopolies of our access to finite resources. They do not care about the living planet that sustains us (in stark contrast to their highly effective “sustainable” corporate propaganda that states otherwise). Given the plutocrats are hell bent on perpetuating their monopoly control mechanisms (at the cost of the biosphere, human dignity and the death of millions - billions of beings, human and otherwise) our choices are to either to involve our selves in what some may understandably describe as “evil” (funding the wholesale destruction of the last few remaining intact wilderness places with thriving ecosystems so we can play around on ipads, e-scooters and tesla cars) or choosing the path towards integrity, love and reverence for the living world.
I share Charles Eisenstein’s concerns with regards to his statement from How the Environmental Movement Can Find Its Way Again that stated :
“𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀. I am afraid that we can continue to lay waste to the living earth, indefinitely, ending up on a concrete world, so chronically ill physically and mentally that we must incorporate technological assistance into our very brains and bodies. I am afraid we will compensate for the lost connection to a living world with a burgeoning array of virtual substitutes, digital realities, and online adventures, tragically seeking something that we come to forget we ever had. Do you remember how loud the frogs were? Do you remember flocks of birds extending from horizon to horizon? Do you remember the clouds of fireflies that lit up the nights of my father’s youth? I am afraid we will forget we ever lived in such wealth and make do instead with Mario Cart. We are already far down this path to a concrete world, and far down the path of learning to cope with it.
The ecological crisis and the spiritual crisis that we call “mental health” share a common source: denial of earth as a living being, worthy of love, worthy of service."
As Charles pointed out in a recent video presentation “If we are gonna change, it is not going to be because we are forced to change, that would have already happened, it is already bad. It has to be a choice. A choice of What? A choice that we are going to live on a living planet… that we are going to devote our society to beauty instead of growth.. to cooperation instead of domination. Its a choice… and that choice lands on us personally everyday. And through the personal choices we make everyday we issue a declaration to God.. a prayer… that says “here is what I want", here is what I am praying for, and I am proving it by my choice”…” We are being invited to choose to move past the adolescent stage of only taking from our mother, to move into loving and giving back our Mother. We are not going to be forced into Love. We are not goin to be scared into Love. We are not going to be bribed into Love. We are not going to be threatened into Love.”
Thus, this post and the future installations of this series are not intended to guilt or scare you into changing who you are nor how you interact with our Mother Earth. I only intend to serve as a messenger to offer you her open hand and inviting you to remember who your Great Mother is. I want to remind you of all the love she showers you (and all of us) with through her many gifts, and inviting you to reciprocate that love through taking action to protect her.
For me, this looks like boycotting the lithium and cobalt industries, speaking the truth (even when it is unpopular) and shining a light on the depravity and profiteering that is going on as part of the new industrial blitzkrieg labelled as “sustainable development”. I cannot tell you what your expression of love for your Mother should look like for you, but I invite you to use your imagination and the gifts you were given for your time on this Earth to give back and protect our Mother in her time of need.
If you know of any organizations or individuals working to resist on the ground and prevent the ecological devastation that will result from the Lithium Mines set to be carved into the Boreal Forest please share links and info in the comment section.
I recently became reacquainted with one of the prominent members of the Boreal Forest on a hike in the alpine of BC and so to begin this series of posts (which invites you to see the members of the Boreal community as Kin and beings worth protecting) I will officially begin this series tomorrow by highlighting a being that has brought much joy, inspiration and healing into my life... her name is Balsam Fir.
Here are links to the first five installments of the series which I have published thus far:
Befriending The Boreal: An Invitation To Get To Know Our Beloved Elder, Sister Balsam Fir
Balsam Fir She is an ancient being that has provided (and continues to provide) medicine, food, building/weaving materials, spiritual healing and habitat for countless beings (including humans). She offers her powerful aerosolized medicinal compounds to alter the composition of the entire atmosphere of the Earth (cleansing pathogenic organisms and pollu…
Befriending The Boreal: Introducing our cherished elder, known to some as Mashkiigwaatig or 'The Medicine Woman', known others as, the Larch
Tamarack (or Larch) is known as “The Medicine Woman” tree to some, she is the protector and purifier of our sacred waters, the medicine provider, the golden glowing one and the soft and delicate one.
Befriending The Boreal: Getting To Know Our Elder Brother Spruce
Spruce trees provide a bounty of medicine, food, habitat and essential materials for countless species and cultures globally. This post invites you to get to know a tree that our Chipewyan neighbors refer to as “Big Brother”. Known to as “Zesegaandag” to the First Nation Ojibwe people of the great lakes are…
Birch - The Graceful One
This post serves as the first crossover post which is both part of the above mentioned (Stacking Functions in the Garden, Food Forest and Medicine Cabinet : The Regenerative Way From Seed To Apothecary series) as well as constituting the 4th installment of the
Serviceberry
This post serves as the second crossover post which is both part of the above mentioned (Stacking Functions in the Garden, Food Forest and Medicine Cabinet : The Regenerative Way From Seed To Apothecary series) as well as constituting the 5th installment of the
Agastache foeniculum (aka Anise Hyssop)
This post serves as the third crossover post which is both part of the above mentioned (Stacking Functions in the Garden, Food Forest and Medicine Cabinet : The Regenerative Way From Seed To Apothecary series) as well as constituting the 6th installment of the
I now call all my fellow forest defenders, protectors of the sacred waters, guardians of the ancient oceans.. all you brave and compassionate ones who cherish and respect our four legged, winged, finned, scaled and rooted kin enough to be willing to go against the grain in a society of humans that has lost it’s way and stumbled off a path with a heart… I ask you to join me in a Prayer to align our shared love and intent in this sacred task of Befriending the Boreal Forest and protecting this sacred space of our Mother Earth.
Seeing those pictures of the beautiful forest while learning of their plans to destroy it, was heart wrenching. Yes, yes I will join you in prayer for the earth, her forests and all the life within. Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do. We need all those who truly care and see to step up in any way they can right now. We are at a turning point. Let's infuse the turn with love and understanding of our purpose as guardians. Blessings to you Gavin, you are a gifted and beautiful soul.
You know I will, Gavin. This breaks the heart of every Nature-loving person. Aren't we ALL Nature-loving? It would seem not. I would have hoped by now that something would have been done to stop these corporations from raping the planet. But, their pockets are too deep. I will do what I can in my own little corner of the world. Much love to you, Earth brother. Thanks for repeatedly sounding the alarm. 💚