In June of 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada granted the Tsilhqot’in people title to 1750 square kilometers of land West of Williams Lake: this has already created an unexpected impact on resource development in the interior of British Columbia. If the Aboriginal land claim is further extended, business for the Taseko Mines will become extremely intricate seeing as they will need to go through the First Nations Government for any negotiation. This highlights the need for businesses to create and maintain effective and cohesive relationships with the First Nations. After looking at what has happened between the Western Bands and Enbridge, I realize an agreement between the Taseko the Tsilhqot’in would be  time consuming and expensive.

Businesses who operate close to aboriginal land often face difficult tasks. It appears developers who are attempting to seek approval on projects inside Aboriginal borders will be forced to go through a “new” process, often ending in the developers  providing financial compensation for the ability to use the land. Instead, I feel companies, such as Taseko should create value for aboriginal stakeholders. Regardless, in todays changing environment, companies are forced to learn to negotiate directly with aboriginals, creating the need for actual relationships.

In response to:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Unilateral+park+declared+Tsilhqot+includes+Prosperity+mine/10192766/story.html

With the creation of bike lanes, Vancouver has witnessed a transformation. These lanes have helped transform Vancouver into a green city by encouraging clean, easy, healthy transportation. However, they have also eliminated retail parking, creating issues for the businesses along the lanes. For example, for Brascia’s Tailors and Menswear on Hornby Street, the bike lane has sapped away customers as people can no longer park in front the store. In my opinion, the government doesn’t seem to care about the negative impact to the businesses such as the estimated 2.4 million dollar annual loss for the stores along Hornby.

Being a city which encourages entrepreneurship and small business, it bewilders me that the municipal government has not reached out to help the businesses affected by the loss of the parking. I think the mayor and city counsellors should do two things. Firstly, if the businesses can provide proof with their historical balance sheets that the lanes truly are impacting their business negatively, then some form of compensation may be warranted. This could be in the form of a property tax break. Relief from crippling high property tax on commercial retail spaces would be a welcome jester. Secondly, from a marketing standpoint, having cyclists riding past your store could be viewed as an incredible opportunity. Perhaps these stores would benefit from the chance to meet with a marketer who could show the businesses how make their store stand out to the cyclists. For example, for Union Street Cycle, they now have thousands of citizens within their target audience riding past every day; however, they report no financial benefits.

In response to

Vancouver Sun-Jury Out on Impact of Cycling Routes: Jeff Lee

http://kwantlenchronicle.ca/beyondnews/bike-lanes-controversial-even-among-cyclists-second-in-a-series/