In March, a map, purporting to be the Treaty Land Entitlements (TLEs) for the West Moberly First Nations was shared to the Internet, sparking much discussion online.
On June 19, representatives from West Moberly, along with Urban Systems and the District of Tumbler Ridge held a public meeting to discuss those proposed area.
According to Clarence Willson, who represents the Miller family on the West Moberly Council, many of the first nations were skeptical of the treaty process when Treaty 8 was first signed on June 21, 1899, so not a lot of people applied for the 128 acres per person that were promised to members of the Treaty 8 Nations. “100 and some years later we are finally getting to it,” he jokes.
For nearly two decades, West Moberly has been in discussion with the Federal government about the lands they are entitled to as part of the Treaty agreement. “We started discussions in 2003,” says Willson. “Everyone was very optimistic. The plan was to wrap everything up in 2007.”
Then the federal government took four years off. Then there was an election and the process was put on the back burner. In 2012, An agreement was signed between West Moberly and the District of Tumbler Ridge, but seven years on, the process is still only in its early stages.
West Moberly has identified three tracts of Crown Land around Tumbler Ridge, but not owned by the District, which they have identified as potential areas they would be interested in acquiring as part of the TLE process. A strip of land across the highway from the town, between Highway 52 and Flatbed Creek, a large unoccupied area behind the light industrial park, and a chunk of what is known to some as the Hundred Acre Woods, behind Peace River Crescent.
The three parcels of land total 212 acres.
While the District is involved in discussions with West Moberly, it is an unusual precedent the two governments are setting to be having public discussions. The land in question is crown land, which means the District has no say over it, and the Federal government is able to impose an agreement on a municipality if, in their opinion the First Nation has taken reasonable steps to accommodate community concerns.
Mayor Keith Bertrand says that these are our neighbours here in the Peace Country. “I regret not knowing more about our neighbours,” he says. “As a resident I didn’t know about the TLE. I was surprised.”
Now, though, he has had a chance to see the documents, as well as meet with members of West Moberly. “I am impressed with how business minded they are,” he said, “and how interested they are in seeing how this can this benefit our community. We are looking to create a partnership, beneficial to both parties. When I learned about the TLE process taking 100 years, I was disappointed in our government, not just the current one, but historically. This is well overdue, and I believe we have developed a good relationship. They want to be a part of our community. They are entrepreneurial and forward looking, and they care deeply for family and are passionate for the land. It’s Very much like culture we have in Tumbler Ridge.”
The TLE process is a legal mechanism that First Nations have access to, which compensates them for land that they were entitled to under original treaties signed between the First Nations and the Federal Government.
According to a public memo released by the District, the result of the TLE process can provide compensation in a number of ways to First Nations. “They may receive money in lieu of land, they may receive Provincial or Federal lands, or, as in this case, the First Nations may receive land within municipal boundaries.”
Currently two First Nations have expressed interest in establishing an Urban Reserve as part of their TLE process in the District of Tumbler Ridge, the West Moberly First Nations and the Saulteau First Nations.
While the discussions with West Moberly have been going on for quite some time, the discussions with Saulteau are further behind. Mayor Bertrand says he met with representatives from Saulteau June 17, and saw the proposed TLE areas in the Tumbler Ridge area for the first time.
These maps are yet to be made public.
The TLE process has three phases.
Saulteau is currently in phase 1, which consists of land selection, and will inform Indigenous and Northern Affairs of their choice.
In Phase 2, which West Moberly is currently in, the Province will search to see if the land is already owned, inform the municipality of the selection, and begin service agreement discussions. They have a Memorandum of Understanding with the District to commence discussions about the establishment of an Urban Reserve in Tumbler Ridge. Once the areas are agreed upon, survey reviews are completed and the official requests for the land are sent from the Federal to Provincial Government. The Province will transfer the land to the Federal Government. Phase 2 is the lengthiest of phases and requires in-depth consultation with the Province and municipalities.
In Phase 3, the land is transferred to the First Nation. The land is then registered as Reserve land and the First Nation begins administering the land. At this point, the First Nation will frequently lease the land to a development company; the municipality will provide the installation of services and the reserve is connected to the municipality’s infrastructure system.
The area that West Moberly is most interested in is the so-called 100 Acre Woods. This area has been identified within Tumbler Ridge’s Official Community Plan as the next area to be developed. According to the public memo, “[West Moberly] was aware that this area was slated for development and they wanted to be consistent with Tumbler Ridge’s development plans. This area also provides other significant advantages for development: it is close to existing services, has direct road connections, is a natural expansion of currently developed areas, is currently wooded so parks and recreational land would be easily established, and the topography is largely flat allowing for easier development.”
The current concept plans would provide spaces for approximately 300-400 new housing units in the 100 Acre Woods area. Of course, this is only a concept, and development of the land will only take place when there was enough demand, available funds, and organizational capacity to oversee and coordinate the work.
While some have expressed concern that additional development might be more than the District’s infrastructure can bear, the public memo points out that an urban reserve would bring stability and an influx of social supports from the Provincial and Federal Governments.
“This reserve could lead to a higher minimum standard of health care, social support institutions, and school funding,” says the memo. “This Urban Reserve would represent a significant financial investment by the West Moberly First Nations into the success of Tumbler Ridge. Currently projects like HD Mining could see their projects move forward more easily with support from First Nations. With an Urban Reserve the value of the First Nation’s development is directly proportional to the value of the land which rises and falls with the amount of economic activity in an area.”
The memo also points out that it has been difficult for the District to attract investment for new residential development. “It remains that the large majority of residential development in this community has been funded by one of the operating mines. While small scale 1 or 2 house developments have taken place, no large development company has attempted to make a major residential expansion.
“It is possible, and what is being suggested by the West Moberly First Nations, that they would act as a development corporation. This would include the building of houses and other developments they would then lease as a revenue stream. Should this come to fruition it would prove a major benefit for the community seeing permanent development, an increase to Tumbler Ridge’s population, and increased revenue to the District.”
However, the District has some concerns. “100 Acre Woods represents the District’s next area for development,” says the memo. “It also represents the only viable area in the community for large scale dense urban development. It has long been on the District’s radar to purchase this area for development when the timing was right. Should part of this area go to the West Moberly First Nations and they follow through on the commitments they have made in meetings there would be no cause for concern. However, should the reserve be established the District would lose our ability to manage or use the land for development. Should the West Moberly First Nations not be ready or able to develop them at a time the District could, that development would not take place.”
Additionally, there are some concerns around jurisdiction. “Current laws give the Council of a First Nation much the same power to make local legislation over reserve lands as urban councils have over urban land. More important, Canada has retained for itself exclusive authority to legislate over these areas. Furthering the importance of a service agreement which contains an agreement on bylaw provision and adoption, something WMFN has indicated they will accept.”
If the plans go ahead as expressed, non-members would be allowed to live on reserve lands, as the plan is to act as developers and use the land as a revenue generation project. “However, this could only be done on long term leases, people would not be able to actually own the land. Functionally at the end of the lease this would result in one of three scenarios: a new lease is entered into, the land and all development would roll over into West Moberly First Nations ownership, or the land would return to the West Moberly First Nations ownership and the improvements of the land would be removed by the current lease holder. This could possibly pose potential problems for private developers who would not want to take the risk on developing land which would result in a lower value.”
Andrew Baigent of Urban Systems has worked on a number of these urban reserves. He says the goal is a seamless transition. “If you’ve been shopping at Park Royal in the Lower Mainland, you have been on an urban reserve.”
The goal, he says, is to develop one community. “We are trying to bring people together,” he says. “This isn’t rocket science. You just have to communicate with each other.”
Willson says at one point in time, Peace River Coal was the biggest employee of West Moberly members. “There were 40 people who trained and went to work for the mine,” he say. “One of the problems was finding a place to stay. There were stories of three of them renting a room, and working opposite shifts. Companies will be happy to see Westmo put skin in the game.”
One resident expresses concern that band members will start up competing businesses and put local employers out of work. Willson says that wouldn’t be very neighbourly. “It doesn’t make sense for us to open businesses that put other people out of business. We’d be the scourge of town and nobody would shop with us.” Instead, he says, they are looking at “emerging industries.
“There are a lot of possibilities.”
