After negotiating since 1993, BC Hydro and the Province of British Columbia have initialed a final agreement with the St’at’imc. The agreement, which has to be ratified by members of the 11 communities, settles past grievances caused by existing Hydro dams and transmission lines.
Mike Leach, Chair of St’at’imc Chiefs Council, has been involved in the negotiations since, as he put it, before day one. Leach said it was BC Hydro who analyzed their situation legally and politically and made a decision to negotiate but they only wanted to negotiate reserve issues when they wanted to install another transmission line.
“We indicted to them that no there was an unresolved issue called our territory so therefore the negotiations would have to be expanded to the territory,” said Leach. “So that’s how we ended up with community settlements and a St’at’imc agreement.”
There are three main components to the agreement. The first deals with how BC Hydro manages their impact on the environment from ratification of the agreement forward including managing water levels to ensure they are high enough for salmon to come up the river.
The second component is the framework for future development. Now when BC Hydro wants to put in any more transmission lines or another damn, the corporation will have to go through a very specific process with the St’at’imc which is outlined in the agreement. This process includes education, consultation and consensus.
The third part of the agreement is generating the most attention. This is the monetary settlement for past grievances and is reported to be worth between $200 and $210 million. While each of the communities will receive individual sums, there is also an amount that will be placed in a trust and administered over the next 50 to 99 years.
Leach explained this will guarantee the fund is there for future generations. “If managed properly it can do many things for the communities.”
“The most important thing about this agreement is that basically it’s not really entirely just based on money,” said Leach. “The concept of this whole agreement is based on multiple issues that had to be dealt with because of past impacts. So we consider it a small measure of justice meaning that there are many issues between us and the province. It sets a very good tone between the relationship between the province and the St’at’imc for one thing to accomplish this agreement and we’ve gone into this agreement really about trying to get some resources to our communities that they don’t have and about making sure that future generations are going to be able to have some access to this settlement.”
Leach said that the key to this whole issue is how it’s managed after the signing ceremonies and that’s when the work really starts to ensure both sides uphold the agreement. “It’s a living agreement meaning everyone just doesn’t go home at the end of the day. Hydro stays, we stay and the province stays.”
Members of the 11 communities will have a chance to vote on the agreement in the next few months and Leach said the response from the community members has been quite positive. “I see that there would be a yes vote from the communities.”
Leach said he is more concerned that the people get the information because, he said, it has to be an informed vote and not just a vote because of the money. “We have to prove that yes, there is money available and that there has got to be good government and all those kind of things that go with this package. There has to be transparency, there has to be accountability.”
“This is a benefit for Lillooet. It’s an opportunity for Lillooet,” Leach said. “The spin-offs to the local merchants and recreational issues – I think there are going to be great spin-offs for everybody on this particular arrangement.”
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