如果开发安大略省东北部一座矿山的计划继续推进，弗吉尼亚镇大约500名居民将需要搬迁到附近的社区。
If plans to develop a northeastern Ontario mine go ahead, the roughly 500 residents of Virginiatown will need to be relocated to nearby communities.
居民们是在9月29日得知这一计划的，当时卡迪拉克矿业公司首席执行官里克·豪斯在一次投资者会议上表示，拟建的露天金矿将占据该镇的大部分区域。
Residents learned about the plan when Cadillac Mines CEO Rick Howes said at an investor conference on Sept. 29 that a proposed open pit gold mine would occupy most of the town. "It's about 250 homes, 500 people.
“大约涉及250户住宅、500人。自从1996年矿山关闭以来，这个镇一直在走下坡路，所以镇上为居民留下的服务已经所剩无几，”他在会上说。“在我们与社区讨论搬迁小镇的过程中，反对的声音并不多。”周三晚上，弗吉尼亚镇约一半的居民参加了一场公开会议，公司在那次会议上向人们通报了其计划的最新情况。
The town has been on a downhill slide since the mine shut down in 1996, so there aren't many services left in town for the people that live there," he said at the meeting. "There's not a lot of opposition as we talk to the community about moving the town." Around half of Virginiatown's residents were at a public meeting Wednesday evening where the company updated people on its plans.
“我们来这里是为了道歉。那些言论显然不是有意伤害或冒犯任何人，”卡迪拉克矿业公司总裁兼首席运营官莱昂·勒布朗说，他指的是豪斯早前的言论。
“We came in here to apologize. These were obviously comments that were not meant to hurt or to insult anybody,” said Cadillac Mines president and chief operating officer Leon Leblanc, referring to Howes’ earlier comments.
“我认为那些话令人反感，我们对此感到后悔。”勒布朗表示，拟建矿山的计划尚处于早期阶段，但如果公司继续推进，就需要买下弗吉尼亚镇的每一栋住宅并重新安置所有人。
“They were, I think, distasteful, and we're regretting them.”Leblanc said plans for the proposed mine are early, but if the company were to move ahead, it would require purchasing every home in Virginiatown and resettling everyone.
“我们已经确定，基本上，要让该项目推进到建设和运营阶段，对麦加里镇区的影响太大、太广，无法保留该镇区的一部分，”他说。
“We've determined that essentially for the project to be moved up to construction and operation, the impact on McGarry Township is too large and too wide to maintain a portion of the township in place,” he said.
他表示，公司预计到2027年中期能更确定是否打算推进该矿山项目。
He said the company expects to have more certainty about whether or not it intends to move ahead with the mine by mid-2027.
“他们想把我们赶出自己的家”与会居民对拟议计划以及迄今缺乏细节表达了愤怒和不满。
‘They’re trying to kick us out of our homes’ Residents at the meeting expressed their anger and frustration at the proposed plan and a lack of details so far.
“他们想把我们赶出自己的家，”最近从尼亚加拉地区搬到弗吉尼亚镇的珍妮弗·特威迪说。
“They're trying to kick us out of our homes,” said Jennifer Tweedy, who recently moved to Virginiatown from the Niagara region.
“我祖母刚搬到这里。我们还没准备离开。他们得给我们更多（补偿）。”史蒂夫·马拉卡说，即使只是矿山可能导致所有人搬迁的可能性，就已经毁了他的房产价值。
“My grandmother just moved up here. We're not ready to leave yet. They're going to have to give us more.”Steve Mallack said even the possibility of a mine forcing everyone to relocate destroys his property value.
“在我看来，卡迪拉克矿业公司让弗吉尼亚镇在房产买卖上成了一个跛脚鸭。”他说。
“As far as I'm concerned, Cadillac Mines has made Virginiatown a lame duck for selling or buying property,” he said.
马拉卡说，卡迪拉克矿业公司需要两年时间才能敲定计划并决定是否推进这座矿山，而在这两年里，他将无法卖掉自己的房子。
Mallack said that for the two years it will take for Cadillac Mines to finalize its plans and determine if it will move ahead with the mine, he will be unable to sell his home.
“卡迪拉克矿业公司让弗吉尼亚镇所有房子的唯一可能买家变成了他们自己。”他说。帕特·史蒂文斯说，公司的说明会含糊其辞，没有回答她的问题。
“Cadillac Mines has made them the only possible buyers for any of the houses in Virginiatown,” he said. Pat Stevens said the company’s presentation was vague and didn’t answer her questions.
“我想确保我能得到搬迁费用的补偿、我房子的成本补偿，以及我对房子所做所有修缮的费用补偿。”她说。
“I want to be sure that I'm going to be compensated for my moving expenses, for my costs of my home, for the cost of all the repairs I've made to my home,” she said.
“而且我希望保证，我最终能拥有我现在所拥有的东西，也就是一处没有抵押贷款的房子。”史蒂文斯说，她最近从安大略省格雷县搬到弗吉尼亚镇，是为了更负担得起的住房，也是为了退休。她说，由于房产价值下降，要搬回格雷县会很困难。
“And I would like to guarantee that I will wind up with what I have now, which is a mortgage-free property.”Stevens said she recently moved to Virginiatown from Grey County, Ont., for the more affordable housing, and to retire. Because of the lower property values, she said it would be difficult to return to Grey County.