THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

re

FEBRUARY, 1978

By LYLE KRISTIANSEN
Minority Groups Relations
Officer IWA - Region 1

In a period when rising un-
employment, increasing wel-
fare rolls, community up-
heaval, and incidents of racial
violence and intolerance are
reported almost daily in the
public press, it is more than re-
freshing to find evidence that
somewhere — something good
is happening.

Well, contrary to what the
open mouth bigots of hot line
radio would have us believe —
itis. Right here in B.C. And it
proves that when ordinary
people — in government, in
industry, in the community,
and in down-to-earth peoples’

organizations — are deter-
mined to start something new
and make it work — they can
do it and show results.

This is the story of a total
community — Burns Lake —
and how what has happened
there since 1973 has changed
things — for the better.

Prior to my appointment to
the IWA Regional staff in
October of last year, bits and
pieces of information about the
Burns Lake project kept
coming to my attention. The
reports, though scattered,
sounded like welcome news
and it occurred to me that, if
the stories were true, then
there were important lessons
to be learned — and acted
upon.

BURNS LAKE TOUR

The following information
and impressions were obtained
from documents received and
interviews conducted during a
tour of the Burns Lake area in
mid-December of last year.

FACTS:
_ Opportunity provided
through the implementation of
the Burns Lake Project and the
supportive services of the
Community Development As-
sociation has been directly
involved in:
© adecrease of 13.5% in Un-
employment Insurance Claim-
ants in the Lakes District
during 1976
© a decrease of 20% in Unem-
ployment Insurance Claimants
in Burns Lake during 1976
© a reduction of 8.5% in Wel-
fare Payments to the Burns
Lake area during 1976
e native people (14 status and

% non status Indian) now
account for some 60% of the
labour force of 200 at Babine
Forest Products

© annual labour turnover rate
during 1977 for status Indians

.at Babine Forest Products was

marginally lower than for total
work force (stats only kept for
total and status workers)

© native employees at Babine
now spreading throughout job
categories and hold three of
seven IWA committee posi-
tions, including the chairman
and vice-chairman

e about thirteen women
(native and non native) are
employed in both the Babine
sawmill and planer, one of
whom is an officer of the IWA
plant committee — and meet-
ings have now been held with a
view to increasing the number
of women employees

RCMP DETACHMENT

e local RCMP detachment
reports that 1977 clearance
rate for offences was double
the provincial average and
indicated good community
cooperation and relations with
law enforcement agencies
throughout the local area

© RCMP also reported a dra-
matic reduction in visitations
to local reserves and a general
relaxation in community ten-
sions as compared with many
other areas

e discussions with other rep-

resentatives (Human Re-
sources, Civic leaders,
Womens’ Centre, manage-

ment, IWA committee and
Local Union, etc.) indicated a
much improved climate as
between native residents and
other segments of the com-
munity, along with increased
integration in residential and
commercial patterns.

The facts speak for them-
selves. While no one in Burns
Lake would suggest that they
have solved all their problems,
it is clear that substantial
social progress towards the
development of a happier and
more satisfying total commun-
ity can be accomplished in a
relatively short time when a
few imaginative and deter-
mined leaders, with faith in
their own people, seize an

opportunity and work together
-to earry it through. And while
no one gave anybody anything
they didn’t earn, it should be
remembered that it was a gov-
ernment of other ordinary
people in Victoria in 1973 that
offered the initial opportunity
to the people of Burns Lake.

All of these people, but par-
ticularly the native people of
the Lake Babine, Oineca,
Cheslatta, and Burns Lake
Band, and the local non status
Indians, deserve our congratu-
lations and admiration.

The Indian people of the
Burns Lake area are members
of the once-proud Carrier
Indian Nation. The Carrier
people, particularly those in
the Burns Lake area, were, in
recent times, innocent victims
of industrialization. They were
drawn from their traditional
way of life in the early years of
the 20th century by low-paying,
menial jobs in small sawmills
being constructed throughout
the area. Soon they became
dependent upon the new indus-
trial economy.

When the small sawmills were
phased out to accommodate
the sustained yield require-
ments of the new forest facili-
ties at Houston, the Indian
people, most lacking technical

expertise or the means of

transportation to Houston,
were left to unemployment
insurance and then welfare.
The Department of Indian
Affairs, for reasons of ease of

welfare administration,
required many of these once-
proud people to leave their
homes and relocate to the
Village of Burns Lake.
Removed for more than a
generation from their -tradi-
tional way of life; they were
left without hope.

In the autumn of 1973 ‘the
Government of the Province of
British Columbia published a
request for proposals for the
construction and operation of a
massive: sawmill complex in
the Burns Lake region in
northern British Columbia.
This sawmill complex was to
be a key component in a new
forestry policy.

The Burns Lake area at the
time had an estimated popula-
tion of 6,500 persons of which
1,700 were Native. Eighty-five
percent of the Native people
were unemployed.

Responding to the request
for proposals, the Burns Lake
Indian people, with the assist-
ance of the Provincial British
Columbia Association of Non-
Status Indians, submitted a
proposal for the construction
and operation of a sawmill
complex. This proposal in-
cluded the four Indian bands in
the region and the local non-
status Indian association. This
proposal was unique in that it
contained, in addition to the
requisite material for the saw-
mill complex, a wide-ranging
program of social and
economic reforms.

The Indians’ proposal was
refused by the Provincial Gov-
ernment in favour of a
proposal from Babine Forest
Products Ltd.; a consortium of
Weldwood of Canada, Finnish-
owned Eurocan Pulp and
Paper, and Government-
owned CanCel. The Burns Lake
Indian people were offered an
eight percent share in the
Babine consortium.

_ The issue of interest to the
Indian people, however, was
not only one of equity in the
sawmill complex. The issue
was one of economic develop-
ment of Indian people together
with development of an inte-
grated community from
within. The eight percent offer
was refused. Negotiations
followed.

The negotiations, although
hard-fought and tough, were
conducted in a responsible bus-
iness-like manner. Through-

‘out, the objective of the Indian

negotiators were: to provide
for an economic base for the
Indian people so as to enable
them to participate in the
proposed development and to
minimize adverse impact
resulting from the proposed
development on the commun-
ity and hence on the Indian
people. This was to be achieved
through participation of the
total community in its own
development, through provi-
sion of those infrastructure

programs necessary to create
a positive social environment
within the community and

through maximum participa-

- tion by local residents in new

employment opportunities —
thereby denying these oppor-
tunities to a socially-disrupt-
ive, transient workforce.

As a result of these negotia-
tions, through the two entitites
created for the purposes of
economic and social develop-
ment, respectively, the Burns
Lake Native Development Cor-
poration and the Burns Lake
Community Development
Association, the following con-
cessions were obtained by the
Burns Lake Indian people:

The Provincial Government
would loan to the Native Devel-
opment Corporation those
monies required to purchase
and maintain an 8% interest in
Babine Forest Products Ltd.

This loan of approximately $1.5
million is secured by deben-
ture, is interest-free for five
years, bears interest at a rate
of 3% per annum thereafter
and is repayable or forgivable
in eight annual installments
commencing in 1980. Each in-
stallment is forgivable on the
recommendation of a monitor-
ing committee of three per-
sons; one chosen by the Native
Development Corporation, one
chosen by the Provincial Gov-
ernment, and the third chosen
by the representatives for both
parties. The criteria for for-
giveness is that the Native De-
velopment Corporation is
indeed contributing to the -
economic development of the
Indian people in the Burns
Lake area.

N.D. CORPORATION

The Native Development
Corporation would appoint one
Director to the ten-man Board
of Directors of Babine Forest
Products Ltd.

The Native Development
Corporation would receive a
loan of $500,000 to be used as a
Capital Loan Fund for the
development of Indian
economic projects. This loan is
secured by an Income Deben-
ture, is interest-free for five
years, bears interest at a rate
of 3% thereafter and is repay-
able out of income over ten
years commencing in 1980. It is
intended that the monies in the
Capital Loan Fund are to be
used as the 20% ‘‘seed’’ or
“equity” money under the
provisions of Special ARDA
and the Indian Economic De-
velopment Fund.

The Native Development
Corporation would be provided
those funds necessary to
employ staff to assist Indian

people in the development of
Indian economic projects.
These funds would be provided
on the basis of an outright
grant in the following
amounts: 1975: $125,000; 1976:
$90,000; and for 1977 and 1978
those monies necessary, net of
income received from the Cor-
poration’s investment in
Babine Forest Products Ltd.,
to ensure a level of funding for
1977 of $110,000 and for 1978 of
$121,000.

The Native Development
Corporation, as a shareholder
in Babine Forest Products,
would be entitled to purchase
for resale 8% of the chip output
of the Babine Mill. The
Province agreed that the
Native Development Corpora-
tion could obtain an export
permit for these chips and
would be exempt from any
binding order or direction by
the Province with regard to its
share of chips.

C.D. ASSOCIATION

The Community Develop-
ment Association would be
funded to an annual level of
$150,000 in constant dollars
until March 31, 1979, to develop
socially-oriented programs for
the total Burns Lake Commun-
ity — both Native and non-
Native.

The Province and Babine
Forest Products Ltd., agreed
to the principle of preferential
hiring of Burns Lake area
residents.

The Province provided those
monies required to meet the
payroll requirements, for one
year, of a Native Assistant P-
ersonnel Officer to be resident
in the Babine mill during the
start-up period.

The Province agreed to
coordinate, provide and fund,
as an agency of last resort,
those programs necessary to
provide the required education
upgrading and skills training
to ensure that Burns Lake area
residents were adequately
prepared to accept employ-
ment in the Babine Mill, the
logging activities and ancil-
liary operations.

To as great an extent as
possible, education and train-
ing programs were to be

provided locally so as to.avoid
problems of family dislocation.

The Burns Lake area was
declared a priority area under
Section 40 of the National
Housing Act providing for a 75 -
25 Federal - Provincial cost
sharing of the capital cost of
acquisition and construction of
rural and Indian housing
projects in the Burns Lake
area.

Agreements containing the
above provisions were signed
in Victoria on September 6,
1974.

EPILOGUE

The Burns Lake Native De-
velopment Corporation, in
addition to its other activities,

- conducts a successful logging

operation which supplied some
50,000 cunits to Babine Forest
Products in 1977. Now Babine’s
second largest supplier, they
are currently applying for a
larger allowable cut.

The Board of Directors of the
Native Development Corpora-
tion is composed of one repre-
sentative each from the four
local Band Councils, and one
representative of the Non-
Status Indians, George Brown,.

See “BURNS LAKE” pg 9