"We lost and we don’t know what comes next"

The long process that made up the process of negotiations towards the Lheidli T’enneh treaty vote, ended on Saturday with the treaty being defeated after two weeks of voting in Prince George, Prince Rupert and other northern BC locations.

To the memory of many of those involved in the negotiations, this marks the first time that a negative vote has been handed in regarding treaty negotiations.

The Opinion 250 website had the details of the vote, which turns down the offer of an estimated $13 million and 4,000 hectares of land in addition to rights on fisheries, governance and natural resources.

The developments leave the treaty process in a state of limbo, with all sides now having to consider their options and what course of action is to follow this weekend’s result.

Lheidli T'enneh Treaty Rejected
By 250 News
Saturday, March 31, 2007 11:27 AM

"We lost and we don’t know what comes next". Those are the comments of Rick Krehbiel, on the results of the Lheidli T’enneh treaty vote which took place over the past two weeks.
Krehbiel is the Director of Policy & Research and the lead negotiator on several aspects of this treaty process.

"This is the first treaty to ever be voted down to the best of my understanding" says Krehbiel.

"We now are going to have to sit down and talk to the Province and Canada to see what we can do next. We have spent $6 million dollars trying to negotiate the treaty and now we will have to step back to see where we go from here."

Last fall, Premier Campbell, Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and other dignitaries were on hand to initial the treaty with Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dominick Frederick.

The voting took place over the past two weeks, and the final count was 123 against, 111 in favour. The Band had set an acceptance threshold of 70%. The voter turnout was a true account says Krehbiel with 234 of the 273 eligible voters casting ballots.

"There has been a great deal of work started on projects. That work is now in limbo" says Krehbiel. Some of that work includes the Master Agreement with the Regional District of Fraser Fort George which was waiting on property tax assessments before proceeding. There was also a great deal of discussion about services, and shared responsibilities with the City of Prince George.

No one knows what the next step will be or when it will be taken.

Krehbiel says the irony comes in the other ballot that was conducted at the same time as the treaty vote "The constitution for the new treaty government passed by a vote of 121 for, and 112 against, but that is meaningless when you have no treaty. We will definitely be sitting down with everyone in the next few days to look over this entire matter."

Peter Quaw, who recently ran (unsuccessfully) for the position of Chief, said at the initial signing that he, along with his supporters would vote against the treaty.

The Treaty would have given given the The Lheidli T’enneh about $13 million and 4,000 hectares of land in addition to rights on fisheries, governance and natural resources.