St'át'imc Nation

Hello Everyone,

We did a draw for some prizes, drawn from everyone who completed the second survey. The second survey was run from January 5th until February 15th, and covered the first round of community meetings. We drew for 16 prizes, including a grand prize of an iPod touch. The winners were selected by entry number, using the website random.org to pick totally random numbers. 

Congratulations to all the winners!

Martina Pierre- $25 iTunes Card

Victori John- $25 iTunes Card 

Shannon McDonald- $25 iTunes Card

Colleen Terry- $25 iTunes Card

Keith McKeown- McDonalds Gift Card

Debra Smith- $25 iTunes Card

Sharon James- $25 Buy Low Gift Card

John Michell- $25 buy Low Gift Card

Justin Kane- $25 iTunes Card

Victori John- $25 iTunes Card

Mary Ann Thomas- $25 Buy Low Gift Card

Kathy Doss- $25 Buy Low Gift Card 

Janita Saul- $25 iTunes Card

Theresa Peters- $25 Peto Canada Gas Card

Seataesca Andrew- $25- Buy Low Gift Card 

Sherry Michell- WINNER OF IPOD TOUCH

The third and final survey will be launched by the weekend. The third survey will cover the second and third rounds of community meetings.

As with the first survey, a report of the second survey will be posted shortly.

Jacob

The Lil'wat meeting was held on Saturday, Feb 5th at the Ullus. Thanks to Lucinda Phillips and her workers, every household on reserve had received a copy of the agreements as well as the summary and pamphlet before Saturday. It seemed like not many people were going to make it out to the meeting, but in the end more than 70 community members came to learn about the agreement and have their voices heard!

Here are some of the questions (with answers) we heard that day:

Q: Is Lil’wat having a say in how the money is split?
A: Lil'wat would receive a $10 million settlement, and it will be up to the community on how it is spent.

Q: Are we going to keep the money in the community or will it go to paying band debt?
A: The money must be spent to benefit the community, in any number of broad ways such as employment, language, culture, education, social well-being, and more. Debt servicing isn't one of the agreed ways in which the money will be spent.

Q: How did Lil’wat come up with the $10,000,000 number for the community?
A: The $10 million is a negotiated amount, and is a part of the overall St'át'imc settlement. All settlement amounts are based on impacts. The main impacts of Hydro on Lil'wat territory is 2 transmission lines and the damming of Daisy Lake.

Q: Why are we not involved in the nation agreement?
A: Lil'wat IS a part of the nation agreement, and only opted out of the Participating Communities (PC) agreement that sets up a Trust and distributes the settlement monies from that trust. Lil'wat is a party to other agreements such as the certainty and relationship agreements, and would continue to work with the other St'át'imc communities.

Q: Why isn’t there revenue sharing?
A: This settlement is for impacts, and isn't based on revenue. It also creates a relationship moving forward. Revenue sharing is still on the table and would be worked on after the agreement. Keep in mind that the Bridge River System in St'át'imc territory generates about 5% of BC's electricity, so comparisons to total BCH revenue isn't accurate.

 Q: What about EMF in the agreement?
A: Effects of EMF on health are NOT settled in this agreement, and could be settled separately. 

Q: Are we having another meeting?
A: Yes, Lucinda Phillips is organizing a number of meetings, including elders and youth meetings.

Q: Are there any plans to bring back the depleted fish to our rivers?
A: Yes, one of the main parts of the agreement the Chiefs fought for is the Bridge River Water Use Plan, which aims to bring back salmon by changing how water is managed in the system.

Q: If this agreement is signed we should use the interest and leave the rest in the bank?
A: Investing the Lil'wat settlement is an option and will be up to the community. Investment certainly results in much higher benefits in the medium and longer term.

The presentation was followed by a brief Q&A, which was then followed by a wonderful lunch. After lunch, Tom Molloy from BC Hydro addressed the community, and fielded questions. BC Hydro representatives then left, and the floor was open for community discussion and answers from St'át'imc Hydro.

Initially the questions revolved around the settlement amount and the details of the negotiations. In the end, the focus of the community was on the culture and health of community spirit. A beautiful song was sung, which I understand was a Lil'wat longing song. It was beautiful and really helped ground everyone for the rest of the discussion. Mike Leach was on hand at the meeting and addressed questions about the agreement from the St'át'imc Chiefs perspective.

It was a very good day, thank you everyone for coming out, and for having those of us non-Lil'wat in your territory.

Jacob Beaton

*IMPORTANT* Please make sure your community office has your UP TO DATE mailing address, it is very important as a lot of information will be mailed out regarding SHA.

We started the evening with an opening prayer from Lawrence Patrick. Then Chief Ralph made his opening remarks to the community members. As members were signing in to receive their packages, there was an open house for one hour. Before the meeting started Lorrinda James reviewed the agenda for the meeting, then an introduction was made from BC Hydro, legal counsel, SCC and CopperMoon’s team. For the presentation, Jacob Beaton from CopperMoon started with a slideshow on how we are getting the word out, as well he spoke about the history of the Agrement and how Hydro development has impacted the St’at’imc community.

With a brief history, then Raymond Phillips was able to introduce some of the agreements that are here for their review. We had break for dinner and were able to finish the presentation and open the floor with questions and comments.

Q: Is there going to be another meeting about this?
A: Yes, We will be coming back to N’Quatqua on March 17, 2011. Chief Ralph also mentioned they will be having their own community meeting.

Q: What is the age for someone to vote?
A: The legal at is 18 years of age.

Q: When is the new line going through?
A: We know that this new line is not in the 10-year plan; talks are still in progress for this to happen.

Q: How are your going to control the ballot boxes in different communities?
A: There is another team that will be handling the ballot boxes throughout the community and they are the ones to know how they are managed.

Community members felt much more comfortable after their questions had been answered. With a closing prayer from Lawrence, we had 6 door prize winners from the 37 community members that were able to receive more information on this project.

Lorrinda James
Communications Officer