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Dispute simmers in B.C., First Nations chiefs issue ultimatum
Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary correspondent
With the pieces falling into place for its greatest wave of natural gas exploration yet, British Columbia is having to confront an unresolved problem.
From two sides, Native groups have signaled they are ready to get in the way of government and industry.
Chiefs from seven Treaty 8 First Nations in northeastern British Columbia warned they will use “any means available to us” to force compliance with their air, land and water rights.
Meanwhile, the Kelly Lake Metis of the Tumbler Ridge area, 650 miles northeast of Vancouver, are ready to pursue court action this month to assert their right to stewardship over traditional lands.
If carried out, these threats could undo the promise contained in record land sales, drilling and pipeline applications. Chiefs sign ultimatum The Treaty 8 chiefs — who led a 2001 blockade of well sites and access roads — signed an ultimatum giving the Canadian and British Columbia governments 60 days from Sept. 29 to negotiate a framework agreement covering items such as resource revenue sharing, cumulative impact assessment, compensation and treaty integrity.
The resolution said governments have deliberately attempted to undermine advances made in recent court rulings that have reinforced Treaty 8 rights, echoing concerns of a year ago when British Columbia aboriginal leaders accused government and industry of moving too quickly to cut seismic lines, clear roadways and establish lease sites. New challenge from Metis The Metis — Canadians of mixed aboriginal and European descent — pose a new challenge to a vast area stretching from Dawson Creek to west of Tumbler Ridge and south to the Fraser River.
Their claim is the first to follow a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in September that recognized the Metis as a distinct group like treaty Indians and Inuit.
The Kelly Lake community of 200 subsists on moose hunting and trapping — a meager existence that has prevented them from financing hospital, educational or police services.
But the court ruling coincided with the emergence of Canada’s hottest gas exploration play, led by EnCana, which has invested C$500 million on land acquisition and drilling in the Dawson Creek-Tumbler Ridge-Chetwynd area.
To assert their rights, the Kelly Lake Metis have already used roadblocks to slow movement to drill sites and launched a lawsuit against the British Columbia government, alleging they have been wrongfully excluded from the province’s land claims talks.
Metis spokesmen have given assurances that they do not want to drive away the energy industry, but they are determined to gain access to job training and to protect ancestral lands including burial grounds.
But the Treaty 8 ultimatum is not seen as entirely negative by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission, which welcomes the unified stance by the seven chiefs, opening the door to working out a single agreement for the region.
James Burns, vice president of exploration for Dominion Exploration Canada, who believes there is a large prize in the offing in northeastern British Columbia, insists that coordinated participation by aboriginals is essential to the efficient development of resources.
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