Whistler Council endorses land deal, but grumbles about lack of direct input in First Nations talks

May 17, 2007

Officials from the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and the chiefs of both the Squamish and Lil’wat nations this week echoed sentiments of cooperation, agreement, partnership and the historic nature of the Legacy Land Agreement between the two nations and the municipality.

The agreement, which Whistler’s Council voted to execute at Monday’s (May 7) regular meeting, hammers out the details and terms of development for about 450 acres of land within Whistler’s boundaries that the provincial government has transferred and leased to the Squamish and Lil’wat nations.

And though the agreement does represent a new era of formal partnership between the nations and the RMOW, some of the comments from the Council table indicated an undercurrent of discontent at what was essentially an agreement that Whistler was left out of. The Province agreed to give 300 acres of Crown land in the Squamish and Lil’wat traditional territory to the two nations and Whistler wasn’t involved in the discussion about what land would be given, said an RMOW staff report.

The entire 300 acres, and another 150 acres in the Callaghan that is to be leased to the nations, are within Whistler’s boundaries. Though Mayor Ken Melamed said he “wholeheartedly” supports the agreement, he talked about Whistler having “no say” in the negotiations between the Province and the two nations for the transfer of land that was promised to the nations in a 2002 agreement with the Province.

“We felt somewhat boxed into having to respond to the granting of 300 acres within our boundaries to – taking away the fact that they’re First Nations – a developer. They become a private landowner, essentially,” Melamed said after Monday’s meeting.

Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden was the first to raise those concerns at the meeting and was the only member of Council to vote against endorsing the agreement. She agreed with the importance of economic sustainability for the Squamish and Lil’wat people and of the relationship between the governments, but went on to express discomfort with the lack of consultation on the location of the transferred lands.

“(Some) would say we’ve been painted into a corner with this and we don’t have a voice,” she said, adding that her vote against the agreement is her voice.

The agreement grants most of Whistler’s remaining undeveloped bed units to the nations, which means that unless more bed units are created, no other significant housing developments will be able to move forward. Wilhelm-Morden expressed concerns with that and questioned the need for more market homes in the next few years.

Melamed said he shares some of Wilhelm-Morden’s concerns and said he has mixed feelings about the granting of 224 of Whistler’s remaining bed units. The Squamish and Lil’wat have also been given the Province’s 228 market bed units, for a total development potential of 452 bed units within Whistler.

“The cost really has beenÖ the expenditure of our remaining bed units,” Melamed said, but added that granting the majority of them now prevents “deliberating and agonizing” over them on future development proposals.

Melamed also stressed the agreement’s benefits to Whistler – in exchange for the bed units and Whistler’s support, the two nations have supported Whistler’s boundary expansion application to the Province and Whistler’s acquisition of Crown land, including the athletes’ village land, the waste transfer station site, day skier parking lots 1 through 5 and land south of Whistler eyed for a potential satellite parking lot.

Those items were all on a “staggering” list of outstanding issues between the RMOW and the Province, Melamed said. “It just kept getting longer and we weren’t getting anywhere, and now this has provided us an opportunity to have that certainty.”

The support of the Squamish and Lil’wat provided the “catalyst” to get assurances from the Province on these outstanding issues, he said. Whistler’s long-awaited boundary expansion could come through by the end of the year.

“I think this is a win-win,” Melamed said.

The potential of the legacy agreement first came to the municipality’s attention in 1998, said Bill Barratt, Whistler’s chief administrative officer. The process has spanned three councils and has been quite complex for staff.

“This has been a real journey, this whole process,” he said.

The land selected by the Squamish and Lil’wat includes the highway works yard across from Alta Vista, the lands in Alpine North above the new Rainbow neighbourhood, lands in the Green Lake area, land at the entrance to Function Junction and several parcels in the Callaghan Valley.

So far, the nations have expressed an intention to eventually develop housing in Alpine North, industrial or commercial uses in Function and a golf course in the leased Callaghan lands.

The agreement clearly stipulates that any development will follow guidelines in the Whistler 2020 plan, the Official Community Plan, the Community Charter and give consideration to other local land-use plans and strategies. All development will have to go through Whistler’s rezoning processes, which includes opportunity for public input and feedback.

Chief Gibby Jacob of the Squamish Nation said none of the development plans are “firm and fast in mind yet.”

The nations have a development partner in mind for a residential rezoning proposal in Alpine North, which, under the terms of the agreement, must come forward to Council for consideration by June 2008. Though the rezoning will likely be on the books next year, the nations aren’t sure when they’d be looking to develop the area, Jacob said.

“It’s all based on market. If there’s no market there, nobody’s going to spend a lot of money to develop,” he said.

Melamed also noted that rezoning processes typically take several years to be completed in Whistler.

Both Jacob and Chief Leonard Andrew from the Lil’wat Nation addressed Council at Monday’s meeting and spoke of the benefit the legacy agreement will have for their people.

Andrew said the past three years of negotiations have been “difficult,” but he’s looking forward to the future. “I’ve looked at (the agreement) as a very positive step,” he said.

Jacob said the agreement represents the possibility of a sustainable economy and way of life for the nation’s young people.

“A new day is dawning for our people,” he said. “We will be sustainable in our traditional lands again.”