The Cheslatta Carrier Nation and Rio Tinto have reached a long-term partnership agreement that will bring a range of benefits to the First Nation.
Measures include support for a remote training center built on Cheslatta property in 2018 to deliver trades, skills, safety, marine and driver training courses as well as establishment of a scholarship fund for for members of all ages.
The agreement also sets out a process for developing internships and for sharing information on job positions and procurement opportunities within the company’s hydroelectric operations, as well as on potential Cheslatta candidates and suppliers.
And the agreement sets the groundwork for a stewardship program to maintain the Nechako Reservoir watershed ecosystem while promoting recreation and tourism opportunities.
Dubbed the New Day agreement, it was signed Feb. 27 at a ceremony held on the Southside of Francois Lake.
Cheslatta Carrier Nation Chief Corrina Leween called the agreement an important step forward in their relationship with Rio Tinto and in restoring Cheslatta jurisdiction in their territory.
"I want the New Day Agreement to help make up for the many dark days our nation has experienced over the past 68 years," she said and added Rio Tinto has "stepped up where so many before them had feared to go."
"I’m confident that this agreement will build and maintain a new relationship between the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and Rio Tinto based on the principles of reconciliation and partnership.”
Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios called the agreement "historic" and added it will provide long-term certainty between the company and the Cheslatta Carrier Nation.
"We believe that working in partnership with Indigenous peoples is essential to achieve responsible and sustainable resource development that benefits us all,” Barrios said.
In 2012, the company returned 63 district lots totalling just over 11,000 acres to the Cheslatta, it was also noted.
In contrast to signing an agreement with Rio Tinto, two other First Nations have turned to the courts.
The company and the federal government are named as defendants in a lawsuit brought by the Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations over the impacts of the construction and operation of the Kenney Dam on the Nechako River. They are in the middle of a trial that began in October 2019 and is scheduled to last 200 days.
The plaintiffs are seeking a form of declaratory relief that would force the federal government and the company to meet such aspects as ensuring enough water in the Nechako for a healthy salmon run. That could include the construction of a cold water release facility at the Kenney Dam which would cost as much as $197 million according to a 2008 estimate.
Located about 185 km west of Prince George, the Kenney Dam was constructed in 1952 and created the massive Nechako Reservoir which provides hydro power to Alcan's aluminum smelter in Kitimat in northwest B.C.
