Reality show ‘Jade Fever’ pulls plug amidst mining controversy with B.C. First Nation

Jade Fever aired its last episode on July 19, following a controversy in May when the Tahltan First Nation called for the show to be taken off air owing to mining issues on their territory.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Jade Fever

July 22, 2021 - 8:00 PM

After seven seasons, the popular Discovery Canada reality TV series, Jade Fever, aired its last episode on July 19.

Bell Media confirmed in an email statement that Jade Fever had come to an end with its most recent season being its final one.

Since it first aired in 2015, the show followed the Bunces, a family of jade miners working in the Cassiar Mountains in Tahltan First Nation’s territory in northwest B.C.

Claudia Bunce, who stars in the reality show, also put up a social media post that Jade Fever will not be renewing for another season.

“Yes it’s true. We are at an end. The series finale is tonight (July 19) on Discovery. We are all proud of the seven years you have welcomed us in your homes. Thank you all from the Jade City crew,” wrote Claudia in her July 19 Facebook post.

Season seven aired on May 10 and had a total of 10 episodes.

In May, the Talhtan Central Government (TCG) – the political arm of the Tahltan Nation – had called for placer jade mining to be halted as well as for the “extremely problematic” show Jade Fever to be taken off air.

At the time, Chad Norman Day, president of TCG accused the show of “sensationalizing, encouraging and promoting” an activity that according to him was “illegal and unethical and causing all kinds of environmental degradation” on Tahltan territory.

In a statement released in May, Discovery’s parent company Bell Media had said that they were unaware of Tahltan’s request to take the show off air, and added that they were investigating the matter and took the Tahltan Nation’s concerns very seriously.

The demand to take the show off air came in after the TCG had slapped several miners that held provincial permits, including the Bunce family, with eviction notices in 2019, citing environmental degradation and danger to its wildlife’s health.

Bell Media did not respond to questions of whether the show was pulled off-air owing to pressure from the Tahltan First Nation.

— This story was originally published by the Terrace Standard.