Locals Not Happy with BC Hydro Settlement

Thursday, December 14, 2006 04:12 AM

Local people contacting Opinion 250 say they are surprised that the Provincial government is finalizing claims by Native bands in the province that have no finality.

Yesterday the province announced that Tsay Keh Dene band and the Kwadacha Nation will each receive $14 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by the bands over the flooding of Williston Lake.

The bands will also receive a further 11 million for health and heritage studies and contracting opportunities.
In addition The Tsay Keh Dene will receive $1.9 million yearly and the Kwadacha $1.5 million .

The complaints generally settle around the argument that there still is no finality in this agreement and future generations will be called upon to increase the amounts paid due to inflation.

The Kwadacha band has 439 registered members, while the Tsay Keh Dene has 377.
The number actually living on these reserves is not known.

The two bands started a lawsuit in the late nineties claiming damages for the destruction of their traditional areas as a result of the Williston Lake Dam.

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Posted on Thursday, December 14, 2006 04:12 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: acrider54 on December 14 2006 6:13 AM

They have been getting paid for years and years, it will never end.

Posted by: Gofaster on December 14 2006 6:52 AM

Campbell strikes again

Posted by: banananuthead on December 14 2006 7:41 AM

Who's unhappy? "Local people?" Why are they unhappy? Do they have informed opinions or are they just the regular cranks who post to this site?

For criminy's sake, whatever happened to actual decent journalism? You know, where you give people actual information they can use, so they have a better understanding of what's going on in their community.

With the total lack of decent newspapers in the north, you had a real opportunity to fill a void. Instead, you give your readers photo ops and press releases from your friends, the local MLAs. And when a good local issue comes up, like the settlement of a decades-old dispute, you run this empty piece, citing "local people" who are upset. Where's the context? Heck, where's the content?

Maybe it's time for some honesty: admit to your advertisers that this is just a vanity site. There's sure no journalism here.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on December 14 2006 8:04 AM

On the other hand it is no longer politically correct to call a spade a shovel. The facts are there, it's just that it is illegal to put it in a summary of plain English as it would be called offensive or discriminatory.

Posted by: RRrabbitt on December 14 2006 8:05 AM

"journalism" is in the eye of the beholder. This venue makes us all journalists of a sort.

At least here I don't have to pay for a bunch of advertising (and throw out) that somebody else has already paid for.

Posted by: diplomat on December 14 2006 8:20 AM

The newspaper called these settlements "final" and they may very well be final as far as agreeing on something goes. However, as circumstances change (effects of inflation, for instance) the annual amounts payable will most certainly not be fixed forever, as may be other elements of the agreement.

What is "finality" on one person's opinion may not be "final" at all in another's.

I agree that it would be better to publish the complete facts about these "settlements" instead of tip-toeing through the tulips, afraid to step on somebody's sensitivities, all for the sake of political correctness.

(Hope this post wasn't too cranky).

Posted by: ammonra on December 14 2006 9:26 AM

I don't know where "political correctness" comes into it. There was nothing in the text that was overtly so.

I presume any distaste is related to the $1.9 million and $1.5 million yearly payments. If so, just think of it as rent. The land was expropriated illegally, so compensation has now been paid for back rent and ongoing rent is now being paid yearly. That's pretty standard. People rent property out all the time. If people don't like the fact that indians are getting the rent for a change, tough. It may increase too as time goes by, but that's what happens when you rent instead of buy.

Posted by: kimbo on December 14 2006 10:11 AM

I have an idea to finalize this deal and that would be to index the amounts paid out annuly. Go for it Gordo.

Cheers

Posted by: diplomat on December 14 2006 8:52 PM

Vaughn Palmer today on PBS interview: "To settle all of British Columbia's land claims will cost an estimated 45 to 50 Billion dollars."

Posted by: Chester on December 14 2006 10:13 PM

I think it's time to ask all natives to head back to their reserves. Take a head count. Evaluate who qualifies and make a deal.

They can't continue to take over the entire province, our entire economy and expect someone else to spend their entire lives paying for it. Can they?

We are talking about a few hundred people on each reserve. Why are we allowing them to hold the rest of us hostage for an indefinite period of time? Chester

Posted by: Zar on December 14 2006 10:41 PM

Used to think the same way Chester did, however, the longer I'm around the more I find I was mistaken in my youth. "They" haven't taken over the province, they're just finally getting some overdue rent from some tenants who've at least not been evicted for non-payment of rents.

"We" settled on already occupied land, now it is time to "pay the piper" I think the "rent" analogy is a good one. They've managed to settle native claims elsewhere. The premier has made some wonderful progress. Who'd have guess?