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British Columbia premier urges Natives to work with energy industry Promises technological training and more aboriginal participation in permit reviews amid growing tensions over land claims and blockades Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is urging his province’s aboriginal leaders to consult with their counterparts on ways to cooperate with the energy industry.
Faced with Native blockades last year in northeastern British Columbia’s gas fields and the prospect of aboriginal land claims derailing oil and gas development across the province, Campbell said the Native leaders should seek advice on how to benefit from the energy sector.
He said the leaders should seek help from their colleagues in Alberta and Quebec who have struck agreements with energy companies.
He told an Aboriginal Energy and Resources Development conference on March 28 his government wants aboriginal communities to have “a sense of confidence that they are being included not at the end of the game but at the beginning of the game” as British Columbia creates thousands of jobs from an anticipated C$24 billion in energy investment over the next five years.
Campbell said the government is now working to develop technological training programs for Natives and has recently signed memorandums of understanding with Native groups in northeastern British Columbia to ensure they have a role in reviewing oil and gas development permits. Compensation undetermined But he said he is not yet in a position to discuss how First Nations might be compensated for future oil and gas exploration, beyond being “very clear that aboriginal and non-aboriginal British Columbians will both benefit from the economic opportunities.”
The province’s oil and gas potential is reflected in government revenues which climbed to C$4.6 billion in 1999, five times the revenues generated in 1990, he said.
However, the challenge for Campbell’s government is reflected in the lawsuit initiated by the Haida Nation against the provincial and federal governments, laying claim to the Queen Charlotte Islands.
The suit argues the Haida has title not just to the land, but to the resources under the sea, including the substantial oil and gas reserves believed to be under Hecate Strait.
The Haida are adamant they will not allow a moratorium on oil and gas exploration to be lifted until their claim has been resolved.
Although last year’s protests in northeastern British Columbia have cooled as aboriginal communities try to negotiate Native participation in oil and gas projects, the tensions remain.
Garry Oker, chief of the Doig River First Nation, said his greatest concern is that his community of 230 will get no benefit at all from petroleum activity while watching the destruction of its environment.
He wants the industry to provide employment and training to help get the Doig River First Nation’s own energy company off the ground and find its own reserves.
“There’s lots of talk but no action,” Oker said. “Talk is cheap. As the talks are under way, the land is being exploited.”
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