Growing opportunities for true partnerships

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

Editor's Note -- Weekly column by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson.  He can be reached via email here

When Quesnel City Council decided five years ago to embark on the path toward recognition of and reconciliation with our local First Nations communities we committed to move beyond mere symbolism and find ways to engage in true and meaningful government to government partnerships. From the outset, Council wanted to achieve “true reconciliation:” the formation of new relationships that would be clearly demonstrated in productive and proactive partnerships.

With advice from local First Nations leadership we began our journey with the Lhtako Dene Nation (often referred to as the “Red Bluff Indian Band”). Over a year and a half, we worked on building trust between both Councils, with Lhtako’s elders, and between our respective staffs. This process led to a formal reconciliation agreement between Lhtako Dene and the City of Quesnel, the placement of signs in all our public buildings recognizing Lhtako Dene traditional territory, and the flying of a Lhtako Dene flag at the Visitors Centre’s main flagpole.

Subsequent to formalizing our relationship, the City collaborated with Lhtako Dene in the design of a cultural centre proposed to be built at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers, a place of historic settlement and deep cultural significance for the Lhtako. This proposed cultural centre has been submitted for 100% funding to a grant program and we’re now awaiting a response from the granting agency. If Lhtako is successful in their grant application, Quesnel City Council has committed to restore the ownership of the land the facility will be built upon to the Lhtako.

Along with this specific opportunity to collaborate on a major cultural infrastructure project, the City of Quesnel has engaged in ongoing dialogue with Lhtako on the City’s capital projects and potential economic development opportunities. In particular, our shared desire to obtain a community forest and to develop more trail systems within Lhtako’s reserve and traditional lands that abut the City.

Since signing our formal agreement with Lhtako, Council has formally committed to developing a protocol agreement with the North Cariboo Metis Association, begun work with ?Esdilagh First Nation (Alexandria Band) to create a more appropriate commemorative venue on the Fraser River at the location where the hanged Tsilhqot’in Chiefs are believed to be buried, and engaged in dialogue with the Southern Dakelh Nation Alliance toward realizing community and economic development opportunities together.

Our opportunities to collaborate and continue to develop true partnerships with local First Nations took a giant leap forward last week with the announcement of an allocation of significant timber volume for First Nations and community forest licenses. This is welcome news for our communities and represents a courageous and forward-looking decision by the Minister of Forests, his staff, and the government he represents.

The City of Quesnel has been attempting to obtain a community forest since the mid-1990s without success. However, the City’s decades long desire to be more connected to the land base surrounding the community and to derive economic and social benefits from that land base pales in comparison to the obligation the Provincial Government has to find meaningful ways to restore the millennia long relationship that First Nations have with the land they lived on and never ceded.

The announcement last week that timber volumes have been allocated for First Nations and community forest licenses is a welcome first step in a process that will enable the City of Quesnel, the Cariboo Regional District, the Southern Dakelh Nation Alliance and its member nations, and ?Esdilagh First Nation to work together to achieve community development objectives, protect our communities from the threat of future wildfires, and learn to sustainably manage our surrounding land base together with our industry partners.

On behalf of Quesnel City Council, I want to thank the Provincial Government for their leadership and their commitment to enable us to realize a resilient future for all our communities.