Woman has many questions she wants answered relating to Haynes Point park

Dear Editor:

There certainly has been a lot of buzz around town about what is going to happen to Haynes Point Provincial Park.

After the article that appeared a couple of weeks ago in the Osoyoos Times about local MLA Linda Larson suggesting she had not received any complaints from members of the public about the situation at Haynes Point, it seems to me we really should be sending all our letters to her office.

I started making calls in and around July to the Ministry of Environment office after getting the phone number from an article in the Osoyoos Times about the planned closure of the park to local residents.

The ministry assured me losing the provincial park would not happen yet and I understood it would be closed once the campers left effective October 1.

As we all know, the park has been closed and signs posted denying access to the park by local citizens.

The man I spoke with at the ministry office indicated staff from BC Parks, the OIB and the Ministry of Environment would be taking a closer look at things, but he did not have many details.

So without much success at the Ministry of Environment, I decided to phone the Town of Osoyoos office and talked to somebody who told me the land belonged to the RDOS.

I was given the phone number and I called there.

After waiting for a return call for two days, I called again and left another message.

Later that day, they called back to say, in fact, the land does not belong to them, but is considered and registered under the Crown as land that belongs to BC Parks.

In an article I read, it does state that in 1939, land lot 627, later named Haynes Point after former local Judge Haynes, would be set aside for park purposes.

A provincial Order in Council dated January 25, 1939 stated that Lot 627 came under the administration of the Parks and Recreation Division of the B.C. Forest Service.

This land has been continually maintained and grown into a lovely spot thanks to many volunteers and costs to local taxpayers.

So with a few more unanswered questions, I went searching for another phone number and name given to me to someone who worked in the provincial land planning department.

I was told this man would be able to answer my questions.

But he referred me to another man, who wasn’t in, so then I was put back in touch with the first man I spoke to.

He was able to answer many questions but not all of them.

The rumours I had heard about of only one bone of human remains being found at Haynes Point earlier this year were apparently not true.

I was told an entire skeleton was found.

Apparently, this skeleton dated back about a thousand years.

This information was found and confirmed by using carbon dating techniques and it was not a surprise to many to find out the skeleton was apparently aboriginal in nature.

I was told Haynes Point Provincial Park would be closed for about two months so further archaeological testing could be continued.

The man I spoke to indicated the Osoyoos Indian Band did not like the idea of campers tracking around a possible burial site.

He also indicated there are two other archaeological sites on the point, neither marked that I have noticed.

I also wonder if an unbiased party is doing the dig?

Another thought I had was that if I find a bone in my backyard, would this be the process I am obliged to go through?

I ask this because I understand that First Nations people – approximately 390,000 aboriginals, Inuit, and Metis based on 2006 provincial statistics –  are claiming ownership of a huge percentage of the land mass in this province.

So the land I and other non aboriginal people (close to 4 million according to the 2006 B.C census) is sitting on must be in their claim as well.

If the taxpayers got equal opportunity and quit paying taxes then who is going to build and pay for the roads, schools, parks and hospitals that we all use?

Is the intent then to give Haynes Point Provincial Park to the OIB?

What is the real meaning of traditional OIB lands?

This term was used in media reports and according to BC Parks, falsely stated that Ok Falls, Inkaneep, and Vaseux Lake belong to a proposed settlement between the OIB and the province.

Who is on the line to maintain all these parks?

It’s probably safe to assume the taxpayer will get that bill.

I still have so many questions with so little help to explain them.

I have spoken to many longtime Osoyoos residents and discovered Haynes Point, in and around 1972, was completely covered in water when the area was flooded.

One resident told me they canoed all the way over top of the point and could see it below.

Apparently once the waters receded, tons of dirt was hauled in to help build the area back up.

I understand much of that fill was taken from the Dividend ridge mine site to make it what it is today.

Would it not be feasible then that these bones could have come from anywhere either washed in from the flood waters or dropped off by the dirt that was hauled in?

I did recommend three weeks ago that the land planning department contact their media correspondents and try and keep us, regular citizens, informed.

Since October 1, not a whole lot of questions have been answered.

It also concerns me that our mayor doesn’t care  who runs the park.

I wonder if he cares who owns the park, controls access to the park and reaps the monetary rewards from it.

Is there no financial gain in running what I would guess to be one of the most popular provincial parks in the province?

Does all of this make us one step closer to losing yet more of our land?

I certainly hope that’s not the case.

Many people I speak with are really tired of catering to one group of citizens. We are a huge melting pot of people and the majority of us have a lot of history in this country.

Our non aboriginal forefathers broke their backs trying to make a better place for all of us to live here.

How did we get to this point where a small group of people with great lawyers (wonder who pays that bill?) is not monitored and has the final say on very important issues affecting all local residents.

I am really tired of this business and I say we must all be treated equally.

This letter is forwarded from a very concerned Osoyoos resident.

 Thank you for providing me the opportunity to write about this very important issue in our community and I hope we can all receive the answers we are looking for in the next little while.

Linda Chamberlain

Osoyoos, B.C.