British Columbia seizes initiative in aboriginal dealings

Gary Park

PNA Canadian Correspondent

British Columbia is joining the Canadian government in a series of bold initiatives to jump-start aboriginal economic development projects and find an alternative to confrontational politics.

Aboriginal, oil and gas industry and local community leaders were among those who participated in a two-day seminar at the start of August.

Underlying the session was British Columbia’s decision to establish a C$30 million Economic Measures Fund to be spent over three years fostering partnerships that benefit First Nations.

It comes on the heels of a July decision by the Canadian government to inject C$2 million into a C$10 million Indian Resource Council capital fund to promote oil and gas development projects on aboriginal land. The hope is that the fund will eventually spawn up to C$150 million for 300 projects over the next decade.

British Columbia is approaching oil and gas investment with a sense of urgency, now that the industry is generating more in royalties than the forestry sector.

But the province’s hopes of doubling oil and gas production and attracting C$24 billion in new investment over the next six years has encountered strong opposition from tribes within the Treaty 8 First Nations land, which encompasses the major plays in northern British Columbia.

Native blockades last year stalled work by Petro-Canada, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Westcoast Energy Inc., prompting Canadian Association of Petroleum producers president Pierre Alvarez to urge the federal and British Columbia governments to quickly resolve issues such as treaty and land claims.

The seriousness of the issues was reflected in the attendance at the CAPP-sponsored seminar, which attracted representatives from Suncor Energy Inc. and a host of U.S.-based companies such as Duke Energy Corp. (which bought Westcoast last year), Calpine Canada Energy Corp., Burlington Resources Canada Energy Ltd., Conoco Canada Ltd. and Pioneer Natural Resources Canada Inc.

A spokesman for Duke said improved relationships with First Nations are vital for several reasons, including the shortage of skilled labor that is an impediment to pipeline construction.

Ray Gerow, manager of the Aboriginal Business Development Center at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, said he would now like to see industry show how serious it is by matching the province’s funding commitment.