Blueberry River First Nations chart a new course

The path forward begins with a new vision of reconciliation.

Chief Judy Desjarlais speaks at IPSS 2022. This article, with special relevance following a new agreement, is an excerpt of the IPSS Rights & Respect Magazine.

“I’m here to talk to you about the treaty rights and the importance of partnering with First Nations,” says Chief Judy Desjarlais in the closing session of the 2022 Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase. “Partnerships that start with a common understanding and goals that provide benefits to both parties is the first step towards reconciliation.”

Desjarlais was elected chief councillor of the Blueberry River First Nations in January 2022, six months after a precedent-setting ruling by a BC Supreme Court judge that the provincial government had breached the Nation’s rights under Treaty 8 because it allowed development, including forestry and natural gas extraction, without the Nation’s approval. In the ruling, the court determined the cumulative effects of the resource development in Blueberry traditional territory in northeastern BC were significant, and it prohibited the government from issuing permits in the area without the Nation’s consent.

Desjarlais says the ruling was “a blessing to our Nation in many ways, because had things gone the way they have been going, with where we’ve been overlooked and often set aside for our major concerns, we’d not be here today in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing our territories, managing our backyard.

“The treaty was imposed on us in 1899 and 1900s where the Crown promised there would be no impact on our way of life. And that promise would last forever. . . . Actually, our words [were] ‘as long as the grass grows, the sun shines, and the river flows.’ Our ancestors took the Crown at their word and believed them. When that became inconvenient, the Crown just ignored it. Since then, our lands have been hacked up by oil and gas, by forestry, by agriculture and private landfills, while the Crown ignored treaty obligations.”

Desjarlais, who comes “from a Nation whose territories [are] rich in resources,” says that 86 percent of the Nation’s territory was within 250 metres of an oil and gas development, and 91 percent was within 500 metres. “There was nowhere left for our people to practise their way of life.”

“With Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada starting up in 2025 and two other pipelines approved but not yet built, we estimate that to keep those pipelines running would take 80,000 new wells over the next few decades. Where are they going to put those new wells? Those new roads? New feeder pipelines? If 91 percent is gone now, how can this be done without further destroying our lands and our treaty rights? That’s what the absence of cumulative effects assessment means in practice. The Coastal GasLink pipeline was approved without ever looking at the impact that the wells to fill it would have in our territory, which is the Blueberry River territory. So are all the other pipelines and new projects. Fortunately, the court has spoken. We are embarking on a process to fix these things.”

For decades, says Desjarlais, the method of dealing with treaty rights entailed “checking off boxes.”

“And those times have changed. It’s no longer doing your due diligence. Meaningful consultation comes at the First Nations table. Building that relationship is the first step and the real step onto the path of reconciliation.”

Desjarlais says, “we support reasonable oil and gas development,” but that “there has to be a way. . . . for us to sustain our way of life, protect our treaty rights for generations to come. We’re looking for balance, as well as equal opportunity to build a successful future and a great path called reconciliation. We have a long way to go.”

Reconciliation, says Desjarlais, requires engagement at all levels, including at pre-planning stages. “Meaningful consultation goes a long way, and communication is key.”

She notes that oftentimes projects could have been moved to protect natural environments had there been proper engagement with the Nation. “We have environmental monitors and elders within our Nation who are stewards of the land. So, what better way to have a successful project than to have the elders and monitors at the table? Show them the map. They know the land best.”

Desjarlais says the Nation also wants to know, “what are the corporations and people knocking on our door going to bring to the table? Not just looking for a checkbox or a letter to say, ‘We are signed with Blueberry River.’ We need to have real, meaningful relationships that are looking into the long term to bring forth the vision of sustainability . . . for our members and our community.

“We want to see how investors are going to invest into our people, not only in our territory. How are they going to invest into our infrastructure and our restoration plan that is moving forward? How are they going to do the reclamation work and who are they going to utilize?”

Proper reconciliation, says Desjarlais, includes providing Indigenous peoples with opportunities to build their own economic capacities.

“There were millions and millions of dollars made within the Blueberry territory. . . . All non-Indigenous corporations bloomed overnight.” Meanwhile, the Nation’s member-owned corporations, of which there are a couple of dozen, were “often overlooked, because they didn’t have the capacity, or nobody had the confidence in them. Well, there are people that are business owners out there who are capable of doing this job.”

“Working with the Nation for long term is not just today. It belongs to tomorrow, and then the next day, and it’s an ongoing thing to build that relationship and make sure that we have a sustainable future moving forward.

“There definitely is certainty that we’re going to move forward, but again it won’t be at the price of risking our treaty rights or cultural traditional way of life. . . . The point of real certainty is when we all have the same shared vision with industry and the governance.

“When you see our vision and you’re walking with us on a path forward, I think that’s going to be a great success.”

This article was originally published in Rights & Respect, Issue 2. To purchase a physical copy of the magazine, click here. To purchase tickets to the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase, coming June 1-2, 2023, click here.