Ktunaxa strikes gas-forestry accord

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On Oct. 4, Robert Nault, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and Geoff Plant, attorney general and minister responsible for treaty negotiations of British Columbia, announced joint funding of more than $1 million for the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council's (KKTC) forestry and coal bed methane economic development projects. The announcement was made at the Delta St. Eugene Mission Resort, recently built on the site of a former residential school.

Vic Clement, a member of the St. Mary's Band and the resource protection manager for the KKTC, told Raven's Eye, "There are two economic measure agreements in place with the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Forests; they are for us to pursue coal bed methane exploration as well as forestry-related activities."

The coal bed methane exploration project will be done in partnership with EnCana, an enterprise worth more than $30 billion, and one of the world's leading independent oil and gas companies. The area that the KKTC and EnCana will be looking at is next to existing coal fields in the Elk Valley. There are already 15 drill sites planned north of Elkford. Clement said, "The exploration is way out in a part of the territory that nobody goes, because it is adjacent to coal fields which have already been mined."

"Through the partnership with Encana, we are looking at economic development activities such as Aboriginal-owned companies with their own drill rigs, and there is no reason why those entrepreneurs couldn't also be using their equipment for such things as on-reserve water wells," said Clement.

Gary Merkel is a member of the Tahltan Nation who is employed by the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Council. Merkel said, "This is potentially worth billions and billions of dollars."

A key planned outcome of the forestry project, the community forest pilot agreement, will provide the KKTC with five-year tenure of approximately 6,000 cubic metres of wood per year. KKTC administrator Kathryn Teneese said, "While the licence will be relatively small, it will give us tenure and a foothold in the forest economy of southeastern B.C. On a very fundamental level, the various components of these economic development projects are a first small step toward increasing our human and technical capacity, which is so critical for everything we do."

Nault said, "I am encouraged by the dedication the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council shows its members through engaging in partnerships, resulting in new opportunities and business developments."

These opportunities could include research and development in oilsands, offshore exploration, and coal bed methane."

At the same time obstacles to development remain in the form of outstanding treaty and land claim issues and high taxes.

The province is contributing $586,000 and Canada is contributing $548,378 to the two projects over a three-year period. Expected outcomes for the projects include two or more partnerships; three or more new businesses established; and the creation of 19 new full-time and up to 60 part-time jobs.

The provincial government's treaty negotiations office manages the $40 million economic measures fund. It creates new opportunities for First Nations' participation in the economy, including activities related to oil and gas, shellfish aquaculture, tourism, forestry and the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Funds are available for B.C. First Nations inside and outside the treaty process. To date, $25 million has been approved for 113 projects.