Summit Lake residents are seeking answers after learning Crown land within the townsite could be transferred to the West Moberly First Nations as part of a treaty settlement agreement.
The news was enough to draw 50 to 60 people meeting in the community north of Prince George on Sunday afternoon, said Terry Burgess, the alternate director for Fraser-Fort George Regional District electoral area G (Crooked River-Parsnip).
"It was just us talking, there was nobody there from the government," he said.
Word got out in the form of an email to a guide outfitter from the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation that was then circulated among the residents. It came with a map with a significant portion of the townsite marked out as being of interest to West Moberly.
Burgess said those who attended had no problem with West Moberly taking over the land in question but felt blindsided by the way it has reached them.
He said they are also concerned about the form that ownership would take. The preference is that it be in the form of fee simple in which West Moberly would own the land outright rather than through the federal government, but also make the band subject to the same regulations as adjacent property owners.
"Nobody wants the community surrounded by a big reserve," Burgess said. "If it's reserve land, there there is no control over what happens to the land...none of the regional district rules or the provincial rules would apply to reserve land."
Burgess's sense is that West Moberly would want it in the form of fee simple too, so it can be used as collateral for loans or be sold. Either way, Burgess said the land being considered is largely low-quality.
The area mapped has a couple of lakeshore lots to the north, then a subdivision that dates back to the '50s and would cost millions to develop, then over to Hubble Road and all swamp land," he said in an e-mail following a telephone interview.
"Even the wooded areas have been selectively logged and have very little timber value."
Burgess also said that he has it on good authority that Moberly Lake expressed an interest only in expanding on the land surrounding the Ranger Station, which the band already owns, and in some pipeline right of way.
"How it expanded into this, we don't know," Burgess said.
Even if it ends up as fee simple, Burgess suggested there could be trouble. As part of the McLeod Lake Indian Band's treaty process, he said some members secured land in Summit Lake in the form of fee simple only to find out it still could not be sold without federal government approval.
Burgess pins the blame for that caveat on an ongoing legal dispute between the owners of Loons Haven Resort, McLeod Lake Indian Band members Justin and Bernard Chingee, and the FFGRD.
In July, the FFGRD filed notices of civil claim seeking orders to shut down the operation after the owners let a temporary use permit lapse. In response, the Chingees say the FFGRD has no authority because the resort is on treaty land. The matter remains before the court.
In an e-mail, ministry communications director Sarah Plank said the provincial and federal governments are in discussions with five First Nations on compensation for reserve lands owed to them for more than 100 years through Treaty 8: Saulteau, Doig River, Blueberry River, Halfway River and West Moberly First Nations.
"Specific parcels of Crown land have been identified for their cultural, spiritual or economic significance to First Nations communities, or for additional community space," she said and added most of it has some form of tenure, licence or lease on it be it for forestry, guide outfitting or cattle grazing.
"The Province is engaging with local governments, industry, associations, tenure and licence holders, other stakeholders and the public before any decisions are made," she said.
Burgess said residents are asking ministry officials to meet with them in the spring.
Editor's note: In a further email sent Wednesday, Plank said the following: "The Summit Lake parcels under discussion are Crown land and it is our understanding that no one is living on them. Ministry staff have just begun outreach to residents in the area, and there will be multiple opportunities for input into potential land selections in the coming months. Provincial staff intend to meet with the Summit Lake Community Association, area residents and other stakeholders, and their input will be taken into consideration before any decisions are made."
