Ontario Indigenous advocate says Anglo American turned ‘blind eye’ to De Beers issues

A sign welcomes visitors at the Attawapiskat airport in the remote northern Ontario community. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel)

An Indigenous advocate in northern Ontario says his community’s past experience with Anglo American PLC’s diamond-mining subsidiary De Beers does not inspire confidence that a proposed merger between the U.K. company and Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. would benefit First Nations.

Charles Hookimaw, former director of lands and resources for the Attawapiskat First Nation, detailed his concerns in a letter earlier this month to federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, whose department is reviewing whether the $70-billion transaction would be a net positive for Canada.

“I observed first-hand that Anglo American consistently failed to ensure that its subsidiary lived up to its social responsibility and to respect the treaty rights of the Kattawapiskak (Attawapiskat) First Nation,” wrote Hookimaw, who now works as a freelance adviser on Indigenous issues.

“Despite repeated efforts to engage in a respectful dialogue, Anglo American turned a blind eye, allowing its subsidiary to operate in an irresponsible manner on our traditional territory.”

De Beers is 85 per cent owned by Anglo American, with the rest being held by the Botswanan government. Anglo American has been in control of De Beers since 2011.

Anglo American aims to spin off or sell its De Beers stake, and a spokesman says the Teck deal does not change those plans.

De Beers has a fraught history in Attawapiskat, a remote Cree community near the shores of James Bay. Its open-pit Victor mine operated from 2008 until 2019.

Residents complained of not seeing meaningful economic benefits from the mine as they continued to live in abject poverty and lack access to clean drinking water and suitable housing. In 2013, some community members blockaded a winter supply road in protest.

There was a protracted legal fight with environmental groups that culminated in the company pleading guilty in 2021 to one count of failing to provide monitoring data of mercury levels in water.

The decommissioning of the mine site has also been contentious. The First Nation fought De Beers’ plans for a landfill containing demolition waste on-site instead of trucking it away on winter roads for recycling.

In an interview, Hookimaw described the relationship between his community, where he still lives, and De Beers as a “marriage that’s gone bad.”

The parent company should have been more involved, he added.

“I do believe that Anglo American could have played a role in terms of ensuring that the agreement we had with the company would benefit the whole community and have a long-term positive impact, but that did not happen.”

If the deal goes through, the combined company is to be called Anglo Teck and have its headquarters in Vancouver. Teck and Anglo American have said the merged entity would commit to maintaining and enhancing commitments to Indigenous communities.

In an email, Anglo American vice-president of communications Marcelo Esquivel said Anglo Teck will have an organizational culture that promotes “a recognition of the importance of respecting Indigenous and community rights.”

The U.K. company already has a document setting out guidelines on “identifying and engaging with Indigenous Peoples throughout the life of an asset.”

“It supports sites in managing impacts on Indigenous Peoples with a view to achieving mutually beneficial, sustainable, and equitable outcomes,” Esquivel said.

“We recognize the special rights, status, and potential vulnerabilities of Indigenous Peoples. In addition to the human rights enjoyed by all individuals, Indigenous Peoples also enjoy collective Indigenous rights, which are defined in international standards, principles and legal instruments and, in many cases, also in national legislation.”

Last month, Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the southern British Columbia Interior raised concerns about the merger, saying it could have significant effects on First Nations and can’t be completed without Indigenous inclusion.

On the landfill, Hookimaw said Attawapiskat had to appeal to Anglo American to tell its subsidiary to scrap the idea, which it ultimately did. There wasn’t much interaction beyond that, he said, other than the parent company being copied on communications with De Beers so it was in the loop.

“They’ve left us to fight with this company on almost a daily basis on every issue,” Hookimaw said.

“I see nothing good coming out of this merger. I think we’re going to have issues with this company.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2025.