Hydro Deals Give First Nations In B.C. A Path To Self-Sufficiency

"At some point in time, first nations have to step up to the plate and say, 'We are going to be economically self sufficient. We are not going to wait for some government official to do it for us,' " says Ken Brown, chief of Klahoose First Nation, one of three bands involved in the project being developed by Plutonic Power Corp. Resource development and aboriginal interests have a rocky history in B.C., where a lack of treaties means virtually the entire province is subject to unresolved land claims. Indian bands' objections over using a lake as a tailings dump factored into a regulatory decision last year that killed Kemess North, a copper-gold project in northern B.C. Mining and forestry interests have chafed against the obligation to consult and accommodate native interests, a requirement underlined in court rulings. Increasingly, bands are seeking ownership stakes, royalties, training and employment in resource projects. Developers and financiers are turning to aboriginal partners to help make their projects work. ... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080219.wrrivers19/BNStory/energy

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