An agreement between one First Nation and the province will see the restart of numerous industrial projects in the Peace Region.
This summer, BC’s Supreme Court ruled that the province had violated the Treaty 8 rights of the Blueberry River First Nation.
In the ruling, they found that mass approvals of industry projects had infringed on the Nation’s rights to hunt, trap, and fish unimpeded.
That led to a 6 month suspension of all energy and industry projects on the Nation’s land.
Now, the two parties have come to a new agreement which will see the province provide 65 million dollars in funding to the Nation.
35 million of that will help the Nation with land restoration and job creation in the region.
The rest will help the nation protect its culture, restore the health of the land, and manage its resources.
With the suspension lifted, 195 projects will begin restarts, while a further 20 will need to renegotiate with the Nation.
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