Division Among Saulteau First Nation Over Site C Deal with BC Hydro
Prince George, B.C.- Less than a week after BC Hydro announced it had reached an agreement with the Saulteau First Nation on the Site C project, comes word of division within that First Nation.
A group calling itself Saulteau First Nation’s Citizens for Accountability, is calling for the deal to be rescinded saying the vote on the package was “deeply flawed and undemocratic”.
According to this group, only 144 of the Saulteau First Nation’s estimated 1180 members voted, and just 89 said yes to the deal which BC Hydro says provides lump sum payments, an annual payment stream, contracting opportunities, Crown land transfers and protection of the Peace Boudreau an area important to the Saulteau First Nation.
The SFN Citizens for Accountability claims some who were registered to vote never received the online package and that no one actually saw a full copy of the agreement, rather that some were simply shown a power point presentation which outlined the benefits of the deal.
The SFN Citizens for Accountability are calling on the Chief and Council to retract the agreement and refrain from further negotiations with BC Hydro until ” a legitimate process is in place.”
The Site C dam project could start construction any day now. Job fairs have already been lined up to start on the 28th of this month.
Comments
Same story, different industry. Sounds like someone got paid off by the BC government / BC Hydro, more Elmer Derricks out there, IMO.
www. cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/enbridge-deal-causes-dissent-among-gitxsan-1.1089296
Give them more money..just like anyone they have their price.. Say it’s that they are worried about the land, the environment etc…but it’s just about more money.. Always will be and that’s how it has been.
And that’s a fact P Val
Well P Val, its not always about money and here is the example.
“A First Nation along Canada’s Pacific Coast turned down Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s offer of $319,000 (US$267,000) for each member as compensation for building a natural gas export terminal on ancestral lands. The Lax Kw’alaams band in northern British Columbia spurned the $1.15 billion package after the community unanimously voted against the US$30 billion project in three polls.”
They even said the following publicly; “The public should recognize that “this is not a money issue: this is environmental and cultural,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.”
http: //business.financialpost.com/news/energy/b-c-first-nation-rejects-1-15-billion-petronas-led-lng-deal-this-is-not-a-money-issue
P Val — In my opinion I would have to say your wrong. The First Nation have more class than that.
Comments for this article are closed.