安大略省东北部一个小镇的居民在震惊和担忧中度日，此前一家矿业公司的首席执行官透露，正考虑在该社区建设一座露天金矿。
Residents of a small northeastern town are in shock and concerned about their properties after a mining company's chief executive officer revealed he was considering building an open-pit gold mine in the community.
凯特琳·麦卡利斯特（Caitlin McAllister）于今年1月搬到维吉尼亚镇（Virginiatown）与母亲帕特·斯蒂芬斯（Pat Stephens）同住，看中的是这里低廉的房价和更安静生活方式的承诺。
Caitlin McAllister moved to Virginiatown with her mother, Pat Stephens, in January for its affordable housing costs and the promise of a quieter lifestyle.
她们在安大略省西南部格雷县（Grey County）出售了原有住宅，并以5万加元在维吉尼亚镇购买了一栋房子和一块相邻地块，该镇约有500名居民。
They sold their home in Grey County in southwestern Ontario, and purchased a house and an adjacent property in Virginiatown, which has about 500 residents, for $50,000.
麦卡利斯特正在攻读兽医学位，她说：“我们买下这处房产，既是为了让妈妈退休，也是为了让我能支付学费，因为我们卖掉的房子和买下的房子之间有巨大的价差。”
“We bought the property both so that my mom could retire and so that I could fund my education because we got a significant price difference between the house that we sold and the one that we bought,” said McAllister, who is studying to become a veterinarian.
麦卡利斯特表示，她们还在维修和翻新房产上额外投入了2万加元。
McAllister said they have also invested another $20,000 in repairs and upgrades to the property.
她说，她们享受在柯克兰湖（Kirkland Lake）以东这个社区的时光，也享受低房价带来的自由。
They’ve enjoyed their time in the community east of Kirkland Lake and the freedom the low cost of housing has afforded them, she said.
“这是我们考察过的全省最负担得起的居住地之一。”但9月29日，矿业高管的一次演示彻底打乱了她们对在维吉尼亚镇未来生活的期待。
“This was one of the most affordable places in the province that we looked at to live." But on Sept. 29, a presentation from the mining executive upended their expectations for their future in Virginiatown.
居民在公开会议上表达担忧凯迪拉克矿业（Cadillac Mines）首席执行官里克·豪斯（Rick Howes）在股东会上告诉投资者，公司正考虑建设一座露天金矿，将占据该镇大部分区域。
Residents voice concerns at public meeting Cadillac Mines CEO Rick Howes told investors that the company was considering an open-pit gold mine that would occupy most of the town.
他说：“大约涉及250户家庭、500人。自1996年矿山关闭以来，小镇一直在走下坡路，留给居民的服务所剩无几。”
"It's about 250 homes, 500 people. 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 for shareholders.
“在与社区讨论搬迁小镇的事宜时，我们没有遇到太多反对声音。”现名为凯迪拉克矿业的公司于2015年收购了维吉尼亚镇原凯尔-阿迪森金矿（Kerr-Addison gold mine）。该矿区自20世纪30年代末起活跃开采，于1996年关闭。
"There's not a lot of opposition as we talk to the community about moving the town." Now named Cadillac Mines, the company purchased the former Kerr-Addison gold mine in Virginiatown in 2015. The site was actively mined for decades, starting in the late 1930s. It closed in 1996.
在10月28日的一次公开会议上，担忧的居民表示，他们感觉关于这座可能建成的矿山，疑问多于答案。
At a public meeting on Oct. 28, concerned residents said they felt as though they had more questions than answers about the possible mine.
“我要确保我的搬迁费用、房屋成本、以及我为房屋进行的所有维修费用都能得到补偿，”斯蒂芬斯在会后对加拿大广播公司（CBC）新闻表示，当时她刚与Cadillac Mines的代表会面。
“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,” Stephens told CBC News after the meeting with a Cadillac Mines representative.
“而且我希望能保证，最终我拥有的资产与现在一样，也就是一套无抵押贷款的房产。”斯蒂芬斯后来表示，如果她必须搬到房价更高的社区，30万加元的赔偿将是合理的。
“And I would like to guarantee that I will wind up with what I have now, which is a mortgage-free property.”Stephens later said that a $300,000 payout would be reasonable if she has to move to a community where the cost of housing is higher.
“我确实感到沮丧和非常担忧。”这些显然是并非意在伤害或侮辱任何人的言论。我认为它们令人不快，我们对此感到后悔。
“I do feel frustrated and quite worried." These were obviously comments that were not meant to hurt or to insult anybody. They were, I think, distasteful, and we're regretting them.
“Cadillac Mines让他们成为了Virginiatown所有房屋唯一可能的买家，”史蒂夫·马拉克说。
“Cadillac Mines has made them the only possible buyers for any of the houses in Virginiatown,” said Steve Mallack.
在10月28日的会议上，Cadillac Mines总裁兼首席运营官莱昂·勒布朗就首席执行官早前关于社区中心潜在金矿的言论道歉。
At the Oct. 28 meeting. Cadillac Mines president and chief operating officer Leon Leblanc apologized for the CEO's earlier comments about a potential gold mine at the centre of the community.
勒布朗表示，公司预计到2027年中期将对其矿山计划有更明确的把握。
Leblanc said the company expects to have more certainty about its plans for a mine by mid-2027.
魁北克漫长的采矿搬迁纠纷 2008年，魁北克马拉蒂克发生过类似情况。
Quebec's lengthy mining displacement dispute In 2008, a similar situation occurred in Malartic, Que.
Osisko Mining支付费用，将200多户住宅和商铺从一处后来成为露天金矿的地块上实体搬迁走。
Osisko Mining paid to physically move more than 200 homes and businesses away from a property that became an open-pit gold mine in the town.
马拉蒂克居民肯·马塞拒绝出售其房产。经过数年的法律斗争，省级法庭裁决支持公司，他的房产被征收。
Malartic resident Ken Massé refused to sell his property. After a years-long legal battle, a provincial tribunal ruled in the company’s favour and his property was expropriated.
总部设在多伦多、专门从事征收业务的律师谢恩·雷曼表示，政府代表企业介入征收房产的情况很少见。
Shane Rayman, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in expropriation, said it’s rare for governments to step in and expropriate a property on behalf of a corporation.
“有时政府会动用这些非常规权力征收土地，以完成土地拼凑，这对于本应是非常重要的经济利益而言是必要的，”他说。
“Sometimes the government will use these extraordinary powers to expropriate land to complete a land assembly that is necessary for what should be a very important economic interest,” he said.
Rayman指出，2005年有一起显著案例，即安大略省伍德斯托克的牛津县征用土地，以便丰田在该地建造装配厂。
Rayman noted there was a prominent case in 2005 when Oxford County expropriated land so Toyota could build its assembly plant in Woodstock, Ont.
滑铁卢大学专攻气候适应与人口迁移的教授Brent Doberstein表示，在与采矿相关的迁移中，公司应对受影响的人群保持透明。
Brent Doberstein, a professor at the University of Waterloo who specializes in climate adaptation and displacement, said that in a mining-related displacement, the company should be transparent with the people affected.
“没有唯一的最佳做法，我认为通过与社区及房主本人的协商和讨论，能够制定出针对性的流程，让每个人自行决定最合适的方案。”Doberstein说，尤其重要的是，社区中最脆弱的人群在搬迁后不应处境更糟，并且相关公司应努力避免扰乱人们的生计。
“There's no one single best practice, and I think through negotiation and discussion with the community and homeowners themselves, there could be a tailored process where each person decides what is the best approach." Doberstein said it’s especially important that the most vulnerable people in a community don’t end up worse off after a move, and that the company involved works to avoid disrupting people’s means of earning a living.
“无论他们最终搬到哪里，都应获得相当的生活质量，”Doberstein说。
“Wherever they end up moving to, they should be receiving an equivalent quality of life,” Doberstein said.
“因此，我认为与其关注房屋价值和金钱数字，不如关注生活质量和住房质量。”
“So I think rather than focusing on housing values and dollar figures, you should be focusing on quality of life and quality of housing.”