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The Penticton Indian Band (PIB) and Interfor, one of North America’s largest forestry companies, have signed a historic working partnership focusing on collaboration and co-operation they hope can become the template for future negotiations between big business and First Nations in British Columbia and Canada.
PIB Chief Chad Eneas and Interfor vice-president and chief forester Rick Slaco signed an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Wednesday morning in the PIB band council boardroom.
The MOU will detail the intent and scope of the working agreement, importance of cross-cultural education and First Nations culture and history will be considered on all future projects between the PIB and Interfor, said Eneas.
It will also set out key details ensuring protection of land, air and water through all future business negotiations, said Eneas.
“I think this can be a model in the province and in this country,” said Eneas.
The longstanding business model of moving forward with projects without First Nations consultation must end, said Eneas.
“It’s time to circumvent the old divide and conquer approach,” he said.
Several members of the PIB council and two elders were joined by senior management from Interfor at the signing ceremony.
Eneas said this working partnership will ensure that forestry companies like Interfor will no longer be able to “annihilate the land for commercial purposes.”
For hundreds of years, provincial and federal laws allowed big companies to ignore First Nation people, go on to their land and harvest their natural resources without penalty from senior levels of government, he said.
This MOU will ensure a much more positive framework guaranteeing a true working partnership based on mutual respect, he said.
Slaco agreed that this working partnership with the PIB is historic and agreed it would ensure mutual respect, collaboration and co-operation on all projects moving forward.
Interfor is committed to “core values” of honesty, integrity and respect, which form the heart and soul of this working agreement with the PIB, said Slaco.
“The very heart of our core values is honesty and integrity,” he said. “You can’t have trust without honesty and integrity.”
The PIB and Interfor originated a service agreement back in 2016, but this MOU is much more detailed and ensures protection of the environment and First Nation cultures and practices, said Eneas.
“It’s a real shift in values,” he said.
This new partnership with Interfor is significant because it “values our world view” where land, air, water and the environment are sacred, said Eneas.
The MOU also contains language that recognizes that First Nations like the PIB are the rightful land owners and hold title of all resources on their land, he said.
Respecting First Nations language, laws “and our way of life” are at the heart of this working partnership with Interfor, said Eneas.
PIB Coun. Inez Pierre said living off the land and providing for loved ones by fishing, hunting and picking berries have been part of traditional First Nations culture for hundreds of years and that’s not going to change.
“It’s not something we take lightly,” she said. “It’s part of our DNA … having this strong relationship with our land and water.”
One of the PIB elders commented that this agreement “got off to kind of a bumpy” start over the past couple of years, but Interfor has shown a real commitment to respecting First Nation cultures and traditions as talks continued.
A group of PIB elders have been meeting regularly “and a lot of knowledge has been passed down” through continued negotiations, he said.
First Nations like the PIB are not against economic development, but not at the expense of “hundreds of years of ecosystem devastation” and ignoring thousands of years of culture and history, he said.
Eneas said he will be meeting with other Chiefs from the Okanagan Nation Alliance next week and will discuss this working partnership in hope similar deals can be discussed and finalized in the future.
The deal provides a wonderful opportunity for the PIB to shape its own economic future and ensure that its land, air and water are protected, he said.
Eneas said he also hopes this working agreement sends a clear message to the provincial government that the PIB is open for business as long as the government recognizes indigenous land and title for all natural resources belongs to First Nations people.
PIB Coun. Kyle Alec, by far the youngest person at the table during Wednesday’s MOU signing, said he’s hopeful this deal will set a precedent for future negotiations between big business and First Nations.
“It makes me super optimistic about the future,” he said.
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