BCBusiness

The right to be the fi rst one in. Again. It's about more than the right to access. It's about the right to join the gym we want. Or eat at that new restaurant down the street. Or get work with a company we fi nd interesting. Visit rickhansen. com/access4all to learn more. Let's build a world that's accessible for everyone. rickhansen.com/access4all BCBUSINESS.CA JULY/AUGUST 2017 BCBUSINESS 63 people planning to build occupation camps on their territory in an eort to stop the construction. In her view, the band council chiefs who signed mutual benet agreements, like Tk'emlúps Chief Fred Seymour, didn't have the right to make a deal that aects the traditional territory of the broader Secwépemc Nation. "It's really undermining our author- ity as the grassroots people, as the collec- tive title holders," Manuel says. "Not one band or one person can sign away any of our land. And by challenging that, that's rocking that boat and creating uncer- tainty with investors." Business consultant Archie explains that although bands like Tk'emlúps are their own communities, they are also one of 17 that make up the Secwépemc Nation of more than 10,000 mem- bers. Individual bands are managed by an elected chief and council under the Indian Act, while the Secwépemc Nation as a whole was once governed by a hereditary structure that still has in‰u- ence today. And because the Trans Mountain Expansion Project route crosses the traditional territory of the broader Sec- wépemc, and not just the reserve lands of Tk'emlúps, Manuel and others don't recognize the authority of band chiefs. "I think it's partly lack of under- standing on Kinder Morgan's part," Archie says. "The federal government clearly has a part to play. But also, our Secwépemc leaders have an obligation to uphold our nation, and they have cho- sen not to do that, for whatever reason. And I think the process that was used is untting of a nation as large as the Secwépemc Nation." With her Kamloops occupation camp, Manuel is taking a cue from sev- eral northern B.C. First Nations that have used similar tactics for years in their tra- ditional territories. In the northern Inte- rior, the Unist'ot'en Camp near Houston is blocking the path of two liqueed nat- ural gas ( LNG) pipeline proposals, Trans- Canada's Coastal GasLink and Chevron Corp.'s Pacic Trail Pipeline. Two hours' drive east, the Madii Lii Camp sits on the proposed route of TransCanada's Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line. And on the north coast, by Prince Rupert, mem- bers of the Gitwil›yots tribe are occupy- ing Lelu Island, the proposed location of the Paciœic North West LNG termi- nal, whose partners include Malaysian state-owned oil and gas giant Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). The camp occupiers "do not recog- nize that those leaders who signed on their behalf have the authority to do so," says Jacob Beaton, a communica- tions consultant of Tsimshian Nation descent based in the northern Interior village of Hazelton. "Therefore the cer- tainty that government and companies seek through those signed agreements doesn't exist." W GETTING TO INFORMED CONSENT Beaton has worked for close to 20 B.C. First Nations involved in pipe- line negotiations with companies like "Part of the approach that I've seen that does not work is the backdoor deals, including taking leaders away from their territory to places like Vancouver to have meetings. I've seen projects where those bills can be racked up very quickly—the •ights, the hotels, the consulting, the pressure to sign now. But a lot of times First Nations leaders are not willing to sign now. So those processes tend to be drawn out over a number of years, and the costs add up" — Jacob Beaton, First Nations communications consultant

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