National park still work in progress
There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to negotiations between senior governments and local First Nations regarding a new national park reserve in the South Okanagan-Similkameen.
In an update on the project Wednesday, Parks Canada explained how meetings have carried on through the pandemic as the sides work to reach an establishment agreement that sets out how the groups would co-operatively manage the 27,000-hectare park.
“Even under normal circumstances, this is a detailed process that takes time, and seeks to address the concerns, needs, and priorities of each government and the communities they represent,” wrote Parks Canada.
“There is no specific timeframe for moving through the process; we need to take the time to do it right.”
The establishment agreement would cover the development, management and operation of the proposed park.
“Topics planned for discussion amongst the parties in the next year include employment, training, contracting, dispute resolution, a conservation based/ecotourism economy, sustainable tourism, administration facilities and infrastructure, and exploring ways that the syilx nation and Parks Canada land management systems can coexist and inform one another in co-operative management,” the letter explained.
It marked the first update on the project since the parties – the B.C. government, federal government, Osoyoos Indian Band and Lower Similkameen Indian Band — signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding in July 2019.
Neither the respective chiefs of the two bands nor Parks Canada responded to a request for comment Wednesday regarding the meetings.
Parks Canada also said in the letter it has “continued to meet” with rural directors of the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen whose constituencies overlap the proposed park.
But the chair of the RDOS said the last such meeting was Dec. 3, 2019 and more sitdowns would be welcomed.
“I know that last year the area directors that are specifically in the area of the proposed national park… had really expressed concerns over the park and wanting to be involved, because our constituents want to know what’s going on and they reach out to their director,” said Karla Kozakevich.
“When I don’t hear anything, to me it means that they don’t have something new to update us on yet, but we don’t know.”
She did note, however, that Parks Canada’s project manager reached out to the RDOS recently and is expected to give an update to the board in September
RDOS directors were told last year it could take two years to hammer out an establishment agreement that could then be put into legislation, after which it could take another 12 years to get the attraction up and running.
The working boundaries of the park, which has been under discussion since 2001, cover a finger-shaped area between approximately highways 3 and 97 from Keremeos south to the Canada-U.S. border. It’s roughly centred on Mount Kobau.
It’s described as a national park reserve to acknowledge First Nations’ claims to land inside its boundaries.