Our information session turned out a great success when 66 members from different communities that live in the area of Kamloops that came to the North Shore Community Centre. We started with an open house for members to sign in, retrieve their information and agreement packages.
The evening started with an introduction from Jacob Beaton along with other members of BC Hydro and CopperMoon's team. There was also 8 Chiefs and 1 Council member that were able to attend to show their support and knowledge of this information.
Jacob opened presentation with explanation of the slideshow and talked about this history of our people and how it had impacted some communities.
Raymond Phillips presented a breakdown of certainty provisions agreement with BC Hydro. He was also able to explain the opportunities for job contracts for St'at'imc and educational opportunities.
Halfway through the presentation, we had a break for a delicious dinner of roast, rice, potatoes, peas and carrots, salad and topped with a bun.
Gloria was able to say a prayer in her own language before dinner was served.
After everyone was well fed, they were able to ask lots of great questions. Chief Perry Redan from Sekw'el'w'as (Cayoose) was able to answer some concerns that some of the members have, with an explanation of how long the chief and council have been working on the St'at'imc Hydro Agreement.
Some concerns and questions that were brought up
include:
- Where is voting taking place? There will be polling stations in each of the communities, as well as the urban areas where St'at'imc reside.
- Do the chiefs agree with this agreement? All the Chiefs of our communites fully support the agreement and are satisfied with what they are presenting to our people.
- How is money divided into communities? The money is divided based on the amount of impacts to each community from BC Hydro operations. The most heavily impacted communities receive a larger portion.
- What is interest rate? The calculations were projected with an interest rate of 5% which is conservative, and is based on investment rates, and not the rate you would receive at a bank.
- What's the St'at'imc population? The total population is estimated at 6,000 with the voting members estimated between 3,000 and 4,000.
- How many votes have to be in each community? In order for the agreement to go through, 50% plus one of the voters in each community must vote yes. This means everyone needs to vote, as every single vote counts.
After a long session of questions and answers, we encouraged members to inform other St'at'imc members to attend an information session.
Lorrinda James
