-No timeline set for completing feasibility study-
OSOYOOS TIMES-February 25, 2009-
By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times
After more than half-a-year of silence, Parks Canada issued an online update this month on the feasibility study it's conducting on establishing a national park in the South Okanagan- Lower Similkameen area.
The prominent point of the two-paragraph update is that Parks Canada's priority for the feasibility study is to respectfully seek re-engagement with the Okanagan First Nations, so that we may have a park proposal that fully reflects the interests of the Sylix people, as well as local communities.rnDiscussions of creating a national park all but ground to a halt last May when members of local First Nations communities gathered in Keremeos for a day of action to express opposition to the park concept.
Local band leaders said Parks Canada had shut them out of the study process and many band members said they felt the establishment of a park would infringe on First Nations land and title rights in the South Okanagan and Similkameen valleys.
Debbie Clarke, Parks Canada's community liaison for the study, said in an email there have been some attempts in recent months to bring local First Nations communities back to the table.
Since May we have had some informal discussions asking advice on how we can meet the needs of the Okanagan First Nations to move towards a meeting and complete the assessment of park feasibility, she said. We have learned that the park proposal requires input from the Okanagan First Nations to fully understand implications to the original land stewards and their on-going relationship with this area and local residents.rnAlthough requests for interviews from the Osoyoos Times to representatives of the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Lower Similkameen Indian Band went unanswered, band leaders made statements last spring that no further discussions about the park concept would take place as long as First Nations input was not being sought.
Joan Phillip, who represented the Okanagan Nation Alliance at the May gathering, said that without consultation, nothing should go forward.rnChief Joe Dennis of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band told reporters during the gathering that federal officials had not discussed the park issue with local bands since late 2007.
Parks Canada began its park feasibility study four years ago and its focus is an area stretching from the U.S. border to Penticton including lands south of Keremeos.
As for when the study, which was originally scheduled for completion last year, may be finished, Clarke could not give a definitive answer.
Our short-term goal is to refocus and continue to build relationships, she said. We do, however, remain committed to completing the study in a timely manner.rn[email protected]
