B.C. bands seek input into Alcan hearings

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The B.C. government may hold its own talks to address Native concerns over the expansion of a hydroelectric project in the northwest section of the province.

The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council boycotted the B.C. Utilities Commission public hearings over completion of the Alcan Kemano Project on the Nechako River.

But provincial Native Affairs Minister John Cashore said the NDP government may try to get an agreement to start talks with the council and resolve concerns over the environmental and economic impacts of the expansion.

The tribal council has already met with a provincial negotiator to set up the "government-to-government interim talks," tribal council co-ordinator Rick Krehbiel said.

"There may be hope for that process. It remains to be seen."

Some of the tribal council's 10- member bands, including the Cheslatta, have registered as participants in the public hearings just to "keep their options open.

"But there's no representation at all," he said. "Some (tribal council) staff registered just to get information out of those clowns."

The terms of reference for the commission's discussions, which began Nov. 7, were too narrow for the tribal council's participation to have any effect, Krehbiel said. The commission is not addressing the extent of damage done to flooded lands and salmon runs on the Nechako and Fraser Rivers during the 1950s.

The review process further ignores the government-to-government protocol signed between British Columbia and First Nations in the province only three months ago, Krehbiel said.

Last month, the Assembly of First Nations executive council, including Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi, called on the federal government to suspend hearings. The AFN also wants Ottawa to compensate the Cheslatta for 40 years of "inaction and inattention."

Band Chief Marvin Charlie said the Cheslatta were prepared to participate "under protest" until the commission announced in September that Alcan would be providing the information base for the hearings.

"They (the B.C. Utilities Commission) wants us to play their game and as soon as we reluctantly agree, they change the rules," Charlie said.

Experts retained for the benefit of registered participants, including the band, are no longer available and now act only as advisers to the commissioners.

The Cheslatta maintain the Nechako is the most important tributary to the most significant salmon-producing river in the world. Expanding the project, originally built to provide power for Alcan's aluminum smelters near Kitimat, B.C., will entail drilling a second tunnel from the Nechako's watershed, diverting up to 84 per cent of the flow.

The council has mounted an extensive public pressure campaign to sway support away from the mega-project, Krehbiel said. They're concerned that recent drops in the price of aluminum means power from the expansion of the project will be earmarked for sale to B.C. Hydro and the U.S.

That could mean taking the province or Alcan to court over a breach of license,

he said. The project is currently licensed only to produce electricity for Alcan's smelters, not for sale in the U.S.