Amanda Follett Hosgood
Staff from BC’s Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation were in Tumbler Ridge on Saturday, June 13, seeking community feedback on plans to transfer plots of Crown land to West Moberly First Nations.
Nearly 20 people attended the open house, which was held at the community centre, to ask questions and share local knowledge. The province is accepting feedback on the proposed changes via email or online submission form until June 30.
The transfers are meant to address land promised — but never received — following the Nation’s entry into Treaty 8 in 1914.
West Moberly has identified 13 parcels in Northeast BC that are being considered for transfer, including one within the District of Tumbler Ridge.
Tara Forest, who is a senior resource co-ordination officer with the ministry’s North Regional Negotiations Team out of Fort St. John, said the transfers are “very overdue.”
“It’s been a really long time and now the lands after 100 years are finally being provided,” she said.
Some land is also being transferred as compensation for treaty impacts caused by flooding from the Site C dam.
Forest and Alanna Schroeder, the ministry’s northeast regional director, told the group they are seeking to understand potential impacts to recreation, trail use, access or other concerns about the proposed transfers. The 62-hectare plot straddles the road that leads to the Tumbler Ridge Golf and Country Club west of town.
Schroeder said the road to the golf course, like other resource roads that cross the lands slated for transfer, will be excluded and remain under provincial jurisdiction. Infrastructure such as power lines would likely be addressed through rights-of-way or easements.
She said there was a possibility that a walking trail adjacent to the road could be excluded from the transfer, but that there would need to be further discussion with the Nation.
The provincial representatives also heard that ATV trails exist within the land. The Tumbler Ridge Outdoor Recreation Board and Grizzly Valley ATV Club are aware of the plans and are engaged in discussions.
The process of transferring lands through the Treaty Land Entitlement Settlement or Site C Land Agreements involves several stages, beginning with identifying parcels, consulting First Nations, and considering feedback from tenure holders, local governments and the public, the ministry staff told those gathered.
The province is emphasizing that land slated for transfer will not be taken from fee-simple private land but from Crown land. Negotiations to address the historic shortfall of Treaty 8 lands have been ongoing for more than 20 years, the government said.
West Moberly policy advisor Jim Webb told the group that the nation intends to use the land for economic, residential and cultural purposes. While the nation didn’t officially join the treaty until 1914, he said the nation’s leaders met with government in 1900 and agreed to share lands with Canada.
“That’s why we’re all treaty people,” Webb said. “We’ve never broken it.”
Anyone interested in providing feedback can email MIRR.Northeast@gov.bc.ca. More information and an online feedback form can be found at engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc/engagement/land-transfers-in-northeast-bc.
