Downstream: Stories from BC's Mount Polley Mining Disaster 12 Years On - Sitansisk

From Stanley to Fredericton, and all the way to Saint John; the proposed Sisson Mine is a threat to one third of New Brunswickers who live downstream.

Join us as Nuskmata (Jacinda Mack) shares her first-hand experience living downstream from the largest tailings dam disaster in Canadian history: Mount Polley 2014.

About the Presenter:

• Nuskmata (Jacinda Mack) is an Indigenous organizer and speaker from the Secwepemc and Nuxalk Nations. Her work focuses on environmental protection and human rights issues, including critical response to the 2014 Mount Polley Mine Disaster in British Columbia. Nuskmata has a Master of Arts degree in Communications and was coordinator of First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FNWARM), a coalition of women leaders advocating mining reform in B.C., and received West Coast Environmental Law’s Andrew Thompson Award in 2025 for environmental advocacy. She lives in her community where she continues to harvest traditional foods with her family.

About the Tour:

In 2014, BC experienced the largest mining disaster in Canadian history, when the Mount Polley Mine tailings dam collapsed, dumping 25 million cubic meters of wastewater and heavy metal-laden tailings into Quesnel Lake and surrounding waterways. The collapse, caused by a foundation failure, devastated local ecosystems and communities.

The proposed Sisson Mine in New Brunswick would have a tailings dam ten times larger than Mount Polley’s. It would be located at the head of the Nashwaak Watershed, which flows directly into Wolastoq in Fredericton (upstream of one-third of the province’s population).

The Stop Sisson Mine Coalition is thrilled to host Nuskmata (Jacinda Mack) from the Secwepemc Nation in BC to talk about her first-hand experience living downstream from the Mount Polley Mine Tailings Disaster and how mining in their territory has changed the land, waters, and her community.

Visit StopSissonMine.ca for all the tour details!