“Group argues flooding valley would impair their rights to fish, hunt and use the area for ceremonial purposes”
First Nations are aboriginal people who have lived in Canada for a long time, but they are considered minority in Canada. They also have they own rights and land in Canada, and there is Indian Act to protect the native population and their rights as well. B.C. government wants to make good cooperation with First Nations, but First Nations are ambitious and they want more land and more rights in Canada. They also even declared that B.C. was Indian land.
The news is about that the B.C. government plans to work on Hydro’s $8-billion Site C hydroelectric megaproject, but B.C. First Nations rejected Harper government to do this. The First Nations wanted to negotiate with federal government and reject the project, because B.C. hydro project will bring many negative impacts on First Nations.
“The Panel disagrees with BC Hydro and concludes that the project is likely to cause a significant adverse effect on fishing opportunities and practices for the First Nations represented by Treaty 8 Tribal Association, Saulteau First Nations, and Blueberry River First Nations, and that these effects cannot be mitigated.”
This is a news article on First Nation partner issues, and it is mainly on the political, social, economic aspects. Political instability has been one of the external factors that influence the development between the B.C. government and First Nations. In this case, whatever B.C. and federal government decide to do, they should consider about the aboriginal people’s rights. If the B.C. government starts that hydro project, they could get a lot of benefits, but First Nations will get less fishing opportunities and their rights will be violated. Based on the Indian Act, aboriginal people’s rights should be protected as Canadian people. From the economic aspect, if B.C. government is going to do that, it will hurt the economic growth of First Nations. First Nations allow some small projects, but they reject the megaproject like this one to impair their rights to fish, hunt and use the area for ceremonial purposes.
Reference:
O’Neil, Peter. First Nations chiefs to stage Site C showdown. Vancouver Sun. September 18, 2014. Newspaper Article.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html
Montpetit, Isabelle. Background of the Indian Act. CBC New Canada. July 14, 2011. Newspaper Article.