Westbank First Nation
Background
Negotiating status
: Negotiating a comprehensive treaty settlement within the British Columbia Treaty Commission six-stage treaty process.
Negotiating affiliation
: Negotiating independently with Canada and British Columbia. Affiliated with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, whose other five member bands are not involved in the treaty process.
Location
: On the west shore of Okanagan Lake, across from Kelowna. (Five reserves on 2,161 hectares.)
Total Band Members
: 637 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence October 2005, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)
Negotiations
The Westbank First Nation began bilateral self-government negotiations with Canada in 1990 and now has a self-government agreement under the federal Inherent Right to Self-Government Policy. The Westbank First Nation Self-Government Act, which implements the Westbank Self-Government Agreement, was passed by Parliament and became law on May 6, 2004. B.C. is not a party to the agreement.
The Westbank First Nation entered the tripartite treaty process with Canada and British Columbia in January 1994, and is in Stage 4 of the six-stage process, negotiating an agreement in principle. Several chapters of an agreement in principle were completed and several others were initiated before negotiations were put on hold in early 2001. Negotiations resumed in the spring of 2003 after the chief and council indicated they had a renewed mandate to negotiate a treaty.
In January of 2004, B.C., Canada and Westbank reviewed the status of previous chapter work and decided that some chapters may have to be revisited because of B.C.'s revised mandates.
The major discussion revolved around lands. Westbank has control of its reserve lands through a Land Code under the federal First Nations Land Management Act and has put forward a land model that did not disrupt its current land tenure system.
The table continues to focus on land selection with the goal of completing an agreement-in-principle.
Other activities
In September of 2002, the Westbank First Nation and the Ministry of Forests signed a forestry interim measures agreement. The agreement enabled the Westbank First Nation to apply for a community forest pilot agreement providing the band with up to 55,000 cubic metres of timber per year over a five-year period (275,000 cubic metres).
In November 2005, the Province announced an extension of this interim measures agreement signed in September of 2003. The extension gives the First Nation access to a further 90,000 cubic metres of timber and $1.5 million in revenue sharing over five years.
Also, in December 2003, Westbank First Nation and the Ministry of Forests signed an agreement that invited the First Nation to apply for a non-replaceable forest licence for access to 100,000 cubic metres of timber damaged in the previous summer's wildfires in the Okanagan timber supply area.
As part of the Province's commitment to eliminate the backlog of water applications in BC, the Westbank First Nation was granted a waterworks licence on Okanagan Lake in June of 2004. The licence allows development of more than 8,000 new homes and the associated construction jobs.
Westbank First Nation is part of the internet-based computer program called FirstVoices.com launched in 2003. The program is designed to preserve aboriginal languages by providing a series of tools to archive text, sound, picture and video, and present these resources in language-teaching materials. The Province has so far provided $700,000 for this program province-wide.
In June of 2005, Westbank First Nation reached agreement with the Province on the new bridge between Kelowna and Westbank. The new bridge is scheduled to open in July of 2008.
Planned meetings
As dates are established for open public meetings, they will be publicized through the local media and on the British Columbia Treaty Commission Website Negotiations Calendar.
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Final Agreements
Principle
