Rio Tinto giving back to northern B.C

from INDUSTRY & TRADE SPRING/SUMMER 2022

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Rio Tinto provided funding for summer interns from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. to conduct programs to help re-establish the Nechako white sturgeon population in 2021. (Rio Tinto handout photo)

Citizen Staff Rio Tinto invested $2.2 million in community initiative across B.C. last year, up by $200,000 from 2020.

In a statement issued in February, the international resource company said it helped support 38 B.C. organizations in areas including culture, heritage, community, education, health, reducing inequality and the environment. Rio Tinto owns and operates the BC Works aluminum smelter in Kitimat, which runs on hydroelectric power provided by the Nechako River watershed. The majority of the organizations supported are

in the Kitimat and Terrace areas, and along the Nechako River watershed, including Prince George.

“In 2021, we increased our support to enhance the physical and mental well-being of our people, as well as the health of the environment,” Claudine Gagnon, Rio Tinto Aluminium’s general manager of communities and communication, said in a statement issued in February. “We continued to collaborate with First Nations to advance meaningful reconciliation in northern British Columbia. We also provided assistance to local organisations that help build more sustainable and livable communities in Kitimat, Terrace and the Nechako Watershed.”

Among the projects supported was the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C.’s summer program to support the re-establishment of the Nechacko white sturgeon; UNBC research into the impacts of atmospheric rivers and pineapple express weather patterns on the Nechako watershed, and the launch of the UNBC Centre for Technology Adoption for Aging in the North. The Prince George Community Foundation and Spruce City Wildlife Association also received funding to support their activities.

The contributions were made from the Rio Tinto Aluminium Canada Fund, the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund, BC Works’ own budget as well as in kind donations.

“I want to thank our partners for everything they do to create a better, more resilient future for our communities,” Gagnon said.