And now a word from the lawyers

With construction at the Fairview container Port scheduled to go into a more intensive phase in the next couple of weeks, the other shoe has dropped in the dispute over negotiations between the Federal government and the Coast Tsimshian First Nations regarding rights and title to a portion of the lands scheduled to be developed.

It’s a situation that has been simmering since January and with construction now ramping up as they say, so is the rhetoric from the lawyers for the First Nations. Gregory McDade who is the spokesperson for the firm of Ratcliffe and Company said in an interview with the Daily News, that their clients have simply run out of options in their dealings with the government and thus will be proceeding with court actions to address their grievances.

The possibility of a court action that would stop construction could have long term ramifications for the North Coast, the container port is on fixed timelines of construction which must be met, any delays or deviation from those timelines could certainly put the project into perilous waters.

The container project has been hailed by many as the salvation of the local economy and promises to provide a new dynamic on the North Coast. Besides the direct and indirect jobs that will be created by the project, the influx of container traffic is thought to herald a new era of development for the area.

For an area that has been battered from one economic disaster after another of late, the Container project seemed to be the pot of the gold at the end of a rainbow. It was yet one more chance to rebuild the shattered economy of the area. This is why tempers get short, residents get frustrated and fingers get pointed, whenever the possibility of delays or even an outright cancellation rears up on the radar for the locals.

So far the only side of the discussion that has been made public is that as represented by the First Nation’s lawyers, we’ve not heard a word thus far from the Federal Government who are in the middle of the controversy. Nor has the province or local municipal government offered up an opinion on the current status of what is no doubt the biggest project seen on the North coast in recent history.

Ancillary information comes out in snippets that say that a “favourable” agreement was presented to the First Nations, but if they’re now proceeding to court, one assumes that it wasn’t what they were looking for.

Beyond that though, it seems puzzling how setting up a situation where the project itself could possibly come into peril is beneficial for anyone concerned. One would like to think that the courts would factor that into any deliberations that they shall make when this comes before the bench.

For now the project continues on as planned, with clocks ticking away on many different agendas. Construction deadlines and legal deadlines loom large, one seeming to have as much importance and relationship to the other.

The lawyers for the First Nations suggest that legally things will now unfold quickly; residents of the North Coast can only hope that is true. Uncertainty it seems lately is the always constant companion to life in Prince Rupert and the North coast, all the people of the North Coast deserve a bit of consideration from all concerned as well. Before the rumours and finger pointing get too out of hand, it would be a welcome situation for all concerned if we were included in the process as well.

A good start might be to inform its residents completely about what has led us to this point. What was asked for by First Nations? What was offered the government? And then what was rejected? Most importantly what might be the options remaining to solve the problem? In short we need to know where we go from here.

Giving everyone a complete accounting of how the situation has reached this point, might help in providing answers to those who are feeling like hostages to events beyond their control.

For a complete look at the latest twist in the project we have the Daily News article from Wednesday in its Podunkicized form.

LEGAL ACTION CASTS SHADOW OVER PORT
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Pages One and Three

The Coast Tsimshian First Nation will proceed immediately with two court actions that may seriously impact the Prince Rupert Container Port expansion.

“Our members are extremely frustrated with the complete lack of interest from the federal government to negotiate as is required by law,” said Melakatla Chief Councillor Harold Leighton.

“We have a ‘prima facie’ case of aboriginal rights and title to the area of the port expansion and the federal government just continually refuses to recognize our rights.”

The Coast Tsimshian, comprising the nine Allied Tribes of Metlakatla and Lax Kw’alaams, threatened legal action last January but backed away in the hopes of reaching a deal with the newly elected federal government. The court actions are directed respectively at the Minister of Transportation and the Attorney General of Canada for failing to consult and accommodate the Coast Tsimshian and the Minister of Western Economic Diversification, Minister of Environment and the Prince Rupert Port Authority for a number of issues including WED’s $30 million grant to the project and alleged Canadian Environmental Assessment Act violations.

“The court actions filed earlier had been pending in hopes that negotiations with the federal government would go forward, but there has been no progress. The port is attempting to proceed without the federal government having resolved any negotiations, or any pending court action,” said Lax Kw’alaams Chief Councillor Garry Reece. “We are now at the point where court action against any expansion is our only option to protect our member’s aboriginal rights and title interests and we will be proceeding to court immediately.”

According to the Coast Tsimshian’s lawyer, they’ve simply run out of options to solve the dispute outside of court.

“Our client has been really reasonable for the last four weeks and it doesn’t seem to have gotten them anywhere,” said Ratcliffe and Co’s Gregory McDade. “We have to try other options.”

McDade said they hope to have a hearing date set in the next few days, although when that date will be is unknown. He would not elaborate as to whether or not an injunction would be sought to stop what development is currently going on.

“We’ll be going forward with a whole host of initiatives,” he said. “Things will unfold quickly.”

At this time, the port has ordered cranes, is expecting steel pilings any day and contractors are one site. Prince Rupert Port Authority president and CEO Don Krusel said the development must continue regardless of any legal action from the Coast Tsimshian.

“We have no choice but to continue construction and moving forward until such time as a court orders us to stop,” said the port boss.

“Any delays will compromise the project,”

Krusel explained that every effort has been made to meet the needs and concerns of the Coast Tsimshian.

“We’re very confident that the port authority and various federal government agencies have maintained an open and respectful dialogue with First Nations,” he said. “We have made every attempt to respond to any issues they’ve brought up.

“It is our understanding that a very favourable agreement was presented to the First Nations by the (last) government (and) it is our understanding that offer was reaffirmed by this federal government.”

The offer is understood to include employment opportunities, financial support for job and skills training, the creation of an Aboriginal employment coordinator to help band members realize these opportunities, and “significant funding” for Aboriginal businesses that would benefit from the port expansion. Krusel said that the port recognizes that the Coast Tsimshian have aboriginal rights and title issues, with the Canadian government concerning Prince Rupert harbour.

However, he adds that the dispute has nothing to do with the container port expansion and that the development should not be used in an attempt to leverage a solution at the expense of aboriginal and non-aboriginal people alike.

“We’re extremely concerned these actions will have negative consequences,” said Krusel.

“(They should not) put at risk (the development) for the sake of trying to resolve long standing land claims issues.”

It was announced in April 2005 that the federal government would contribute $30 million, the province $30 million, CN Rail $30 million, Maher Terminals (one of the East Coast’s premier container terminal operators) $60 million and the port $20 million to build phase one of the container terminal.

Phase one is scheduled to provide the terminal with capacity to handle 500,000 containers annually. The second phase would increase the capacity to two million containers by 2009.