Seven Oaks Magazine.

On Sunday, August 29, Native activists and their supporters converged on Sun Peaks Resort, just outside of Kamloops, to protest the continued expansion of the development on unceded Secwepemc territory. Late last week, Sun Peaks sought and received a court order for the removal of the Skwelkwek'welt Protection Centre. As of Monday, September 6, Native defenders were refusing to leave their ancestral territory.

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Speech by Billie Pierre, Nlaka’Pamux/Saulteaux nations

B.C. is using the Olympics as a cover for a gigantic land grab. It’s worse than the B.C. Treaties because our legal ties to our territories are not addressed. Even our corrupt “leaders” are being bought off at a smaller price. Mega-tourism projects are being developed on so-called “Crown Lands” or “Public Lands”. Corporations are being given leases to build trams, and other structures for the resort projects. The lands at the bottom of the mountains become privately owned. That’s where the real money is made: Through real estate. Through these villages, storefronts and condominiums.

Intrawest is one of the big companies developing in B.C. They are a Vancouver-based company that, in the 1980s, built up Whistler/Blackcomb into what it is today: a partnership between the ski resort and real estate. Intrawest is now a leading company in this industry globally, and has resorts in Canada, the US and Europe. Whistler is now being used as a blueprint for developing a province-wide network of all-season resorts, especially in the Interior and in the Kooteneys.

Currently, the province’s tourism industry generates $9.2 billion. They want to double the profits by 2010. In each region of the province, $5 million has been invested in provincial, national and international promotion of tourism. Also, last year BC created the B.C. Resort Taskforce. This taskforce is actively doing research and is paving the way for the creation of, and also the expansion of, existing resorts. They intend to cut the red tape by one third in the approval process of resort projects. They are altering commercial recreation policies to bring them in line with business requirements. This task force is also working on developing a Master Development Agreement template, effectively providing structural guidance and support to developers building resorts. The people who sit on the BC Resort Taskforce (BCRT) either own, run, or are themselves, CEO’s of various resorts. The BCRT is headed up by Kevin Falcon, who is also the province’s de-regulation minister. Basically B.C. is putting taxpayer dollars into assisting big business in making profits. Some resort development projects in B.C.:

Another land scam that is occurring is that more Crown Land is being converted into provincial parklands. Provincial Parks are under provincial jurisdiction, and it is easier to implement development on these lands. Crown Lands are under federal jurisdiction, and are harder to develop on. Also Crown Land is federally recognized as unceded lands, whereas provincial parks are not. Provincial parks generate $2 billion of the $9.2 billion industry. Jasper Ski Resort, a huge, posh ski resort, is a good example of what kind of business can be run on a provincial park. The province is aiming for the Provincial Parks and Protected Areas statutes to be amended to allow for the deletion of lands from parks for commercial development, such as lodges, or roads for extraction industries.

And finally, on a related note, last Fall, the province announced its intention to legalize horizontal drilling, so that extraction can take place in provincial parks. Thus, even so-called “protected lands” aren’t really protected at all.