Ministers say Blueberry River negotiations winding down

VICTORIA, B.C. — Several B.C. ministers released a joint statement Saturday, declaring that negotiations with Blueberry River First Nations are entering their final stages.

This statement was put out two days after the release of Energeticcity’s latest investigative article, Lack of transparency fueling uncertainty in resource sector. Research for that piece included multiple requests to several ministries over the course of a month.

The negotiations came after the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the province had infringed on treaty rights by allowing industrial development in the traditional territory of the Blueberry River First Nations.

Last year’s ruling prohibits the province from allowing development activities that would impact Treaty 8 rights of hunting, fishing and trapping.

In the statement, minister of land, water and resource stewardship, Josie Osborne, along with minister of Indigenous relations, Murray Rankin and minister of energy, Bruce Ralston, said that the province and the First Nation are “very close” to reaching an agreement.

“We continue to engage in respectful negotiations with Blueberry River First Nations in response to the BC Supreme Court’s direction in June 2021 to find a new approach to natural resource development that protects the Nations’ treaty rights and addresses cumulative impacts,” the statement began.

The ministers said that negotiating teams have been working to cultivate solutions aimed at healing and restoring the land. The solutions also look to provide predictability for industry and include BRFN in how natural resources are planned and authorized within their territory.

“From the start, our joint focus has been on ensuring we arrive at an agreement that protects Blueberry River First Nations’ Treaty 8 rights and that provides for a sustainable economy with good jobs and opportunities for people in northeastern B.C.”

The province says that it has begun “early engagement” with certain industry groups and other Treaty 8 Nations to get their feedback on a proposed agreement.