The aboriginal grass-roots movement Idle No More cut off access to the gold-copper-zinc mine of HudBay Minerals Inc, a Toronto-based mid-tier miner, in Lalor for several hours in early March.
The group seeks to renegotiate old mining agreements and seize more control over mining developments, whether they are on lands designated as native reserves or not.
"We've existed in this territory for millennia. We don't have a land claim - it's beyond that, actually. Our rights exist throughout all of our territories," said Arlen Dumas, chief of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.
HudBay, which has mined in northern Manitoba for nearly 85 years, made it clear it prefers not to negotiate directly with the community.
See http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/17/us-mining-canada-aboriginals-idUSBRE92G0EK20130317
