Lheidli T'enneh First Nation will hold a second ratification vote on a treaty with the B.C. and federal governments rejected in 2007.
In a community forum held Saturday at the Coast Inn of the North, members voted 92-89 to take the step after discuss the findings of a governance initiative working group established in early 2008.
Beyond that, details about when and how the next vote will the carried out and what threshold will be needed to ratify the agreement, still need to be fleshed out.
"We will not set a date for the second ratification until we have further consultation our community members," chief Dominic Frederick said during a press conference following the outcome. "At this point, we would expect the ratification vote might be held later in the new year."
In 2007, the treaty failed to meet the 70-per-cent threshold needed. Of the 233 valid votes cast - out of a possible 300 - only 48 per cent voted in favour of the treaty.
The vote will be on the same treaty but it was noted that in 2007 information regarding the side agreements was not included in the packages given to members.
"The side agreements were negotiated right up until the last date of the vote," said treaty office manager Marvin George. "The vote was on Sunday and we completed the implementation plans on Friday, so in all fairness to the members, a lot of them didn't get the side agreements and so they didn't have time to look at the content of those side agreements."
