With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1458960
READ THIS For every booster of the mining industry, there's an equally vocal critic. John Sandlos and Arn Keeling, professors of history and geography, respectively, at Memorial University of Newfoundland, stake out some middle ground in Mining Country: A History of Canada's Mines and Miners. Acknowledging the industry's economic importance and its vast influence on the nation's development, they also take a hard look at its impact on Indigenous peoples, mine workers, community life and the environment. The lavishly illustrated book starts with a fascinating account of Indigenous mining, which dates back 10,000 years. It goes on to spend plenty of time in B.C., a province forged by coal mines and gold rushes. Lorimer 224 pages, softcover, $29.95 • 339-day trial with a price tag of roughly $40 million. Eight years later, the hard work continues, Chief Lulua says. For procedural simplicity the case focused on Xeni Gwet'in territory because there were no overlapping land claims with other nations, Lulua explains. "We're the care- takers," he says. Now the Xeni Gwet'in are charting their future, and it's complicated. The Tsilhqot'in decision signalled a new rela- tionship between a First Nation and the provincial and federal governments, but it lacked im- portant details, like what hap- pens with existing tenures on what used to be Crown land. "Another challenge is that the federal and provincial gov- ernments have not developed the statutory tools to adequate- ly recognize the Tsilhqot'in Nation as a legal entity, which complicates entering into any agreements in relation to the title area," says Dalton Baptiste, administrator for the Xeni Gwet'in. TNG is now developing new forms of planning and gover- nance "rooted in Tsilhqot'in values," Chief Lulua says. But he admits that capacity and re- sources are a big challenge. So far, with the B.C. government, his nation has issued 21 permits for tourism operators in the ti- tle area. The Xeni Gwet'in have also signed five agreements with ranchers to allow contin- ued grazing on title lands. Given those legal and admin- istrative complexities, opening a band-owned tourism prop- erty is a big win. Three years ago, the Xeni Gwet'in bought Elkin Creek Guest Ranch from its longtime owners before tak- ing on major renovations and rebranding it Nemiah Valley Lodge. For improvements, the nation got a $974,000 grant from the Province's Community Economic Recovery Infrastruc- ture Program in 2021. Kathryn Nair, who worked four seasons at Elkin Creek, is staying on as general manager. "I'm looking forward to help- ing put Nemiah Valley Lodge on the map and being part of a unique opportunity to share the Xeni Gwet'in culture and ways of life with our guests," Nair says. June's grand opening will be the end of one long road and the start of another for the Xeni Gwet'in. The resort, near Vedan Lake at the head of the Nemiah Valley, will employ nine band members. The past two years have been tough, Lulua says. The pandemic disrupted the trad- itions of feasting and gathering, and further isolated a commun- ity that is already geographi- cally remote. Lulua expects that the recent announcement about the discovery of 93 po- tential human burials at the onetime St. Joseph's Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, which closed in 1981, will reopen old wounds. "A lot of our people don't know what mental wellness is and feels like," says Lulua, whose work before becoming chief focused on youth health and wellness. That's why for him, Nemiah Valley Lodge is as much about healing as it is about jobs and revenue for his people. "We're the first to earn rights and title to our territory, and there will be others," Lulua says. "This is a sacred path we're walking." • ( the informer ) G O F I G U R E No Small Parts With Prince Rupert taking a starring role as filming of The Island Between Tides kicks off in March, we focus our lens on the movie and TV industry's impact beyond big city lights by Melissa Edwards B.C. is home to 8 regional film commissions and 35 municipal film offices Almost 19% of the 413 motion picture productions in B.C. during 2021 filmed some or all of their production outside of the Lower Mainland/ Southwest region corridor Increase in spending on regional "below-the-line" labour (all workers other than producers, screenwriters, directors and lead actors) in B.C.'s motion picture industry, 2012-17: 194% CARIBOO 161% VANCOUVER ISLAND AND COAST 149% NORTH COAST/NECHAKO 143% THOMPSON-OKANAGAN 135% NORTHEAST 74% KOOTENAY 12% of B.C.'s below-the-line labour force live outside the Lower Mainland 8% work outside the Lower Mainland Since 2013, 55 Indigenous filmmakers have taken part in the five-month Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship immersion program hosted by the Whistler Film Festival, with 49% hailing from communities in B.C. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE COMPRISE 6% OF B.C.'S FILM CREWS, VERSUS 5% OF THE OVERALL PROVINCIAL LABOUR FORCE 16 BCBUSINESS MARCH/APRIL 2022 ISTOCK (cont'd. from p.15) 2002 Xeni Gwet'in launch a title claim in B.C. Supreme Court on behalf of the Tsilhqot'in people 2014 Supreme Court of Canada confirms Tsilhqot'in title to 1,750 square kilometres of territory. Then-premier Christy Clark apologizes for the 1864 convictions and hangings 2018 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally exonerates the Tsilhqot'in chiefs. "They acted as leaders of a proud and independent nation facing the threat of another nation," Trudeau says in a statement SOURCES: SUPREME COURT OF CANADA, CBC NEWS, CANADIAN PRESS