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Consultation has a purpose, Nation says

November 1, 2023: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Consultation has a purpose, Nation says

And “No” is a valid outcome when it comes to projects in ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa

yaqan nuʔkiy (Where the Rock Stands [Creston, B.C.]): A recent court case filed by an American mining exploration company is trying to cut off Constitutionally required consultation with the Ktunaxa First Nation of yaqan nuʔkiy and the Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) and fast track a controversial new mining exploration project.

In a media release of October 16, 2023, Taranis Resources announced that it has filed a Petition with the B.C. Supreme Court regarding its Thor Project near Trout Lake in ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa, (Ktunaxa homelands).

Taranis is asking the Court to force the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (“EMLI”) to make a quick decision on its August 2022 application for a major exploration program north of Trout Lake, near Revelstoke, in the Ktunaxa Traditional District of miȼ̓qaqas ʔamakʔis (Land of the Chickadee). Taranis is also asking the Court to declare recent public statements by EMLI Minister Josie Osborne committing her Ministry to work with Indigenous Peoples as Aboriginal Title holders to be “contrary to law.”

yaqan nuʔkiy and the KNC first learned of the new exploration program in January, 2023.  After extensive review, major concerns were identified including impacts to archaeological values, ungulate winter range, old growth forests and species at risk including mountain caribou, grizzly bear, and whitebark pine.  There are also significant concerns around water quality and important fish species, including Gerrard rainbow trout, westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout and kokanee.  Impacts to these important values translate to impacts to legally protected Ktunaxa rights.

yaqan nuʔkiy also identified that their traditional lands were under increasing development pressure without being provided any time for Ktunaxa people to develop a Ktunaxa-led vision and plan for the area.  This prompted yaqan nuʔkiy and the Lands and Resources Council of the KNC to send the Province ‘letters of non-support’ for the new exploration permit in March and April of 2023.  The Province responded in August, acknowledging those concerns and committing to further consultation. Only two months later, Taranis filed its court challenge.

“Consultation must include the possibility of denial, or it isn’t meaningful consultation,” said nasuʔkin Jason Louie of yaqan nuʔkiy. “And ‘No’ is a valid outcome of consultation.”

“It looks like Taranis wants to cut off our voice and ability to represent and protect our Indigenous title and rights. But the Crown has the duty to consult and, more important, the fiduciary duty to protect Aboriginal rights as per Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Taranis’ desire to fast track this project can’t trump our Constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights. We are duty-bound to the Creator to ensure respectful stewardship of our homelands, and this is our focus.”

British Columbia has committed to fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which requires the Province to respect Ktunaxa inherent governance authority and rights, and to seek free, prior and informed consent prior to the authorization of any use of lands and resources in ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa.

“The best way for British Columbia to ensure Ktunaxa rights are protected is to receive our free prior and informed consent, which in this case, has not been provided,” said Louie.

“We know that Treaty 8 Nations had to fight for years in court to finally force the Province to protect their rights from the cumulative degradation of industrial development;[1] we will not wait until things are so bad we can no longer use our lands. We are standing up now and saying we need time to plan and do things right.”

yaqan nuʔkiy disagrees that Taranis’s application has been subject to unreasonable delay.

“Ktunaxa have been stewards of our homelands for longer than 10,000 years. Colonization only happened in the last 200 years, but we have already lost so much,” said Louie. “Fourteen months in a permitting process doesn’t seem like a long time, and, in this case, matters of how many months isn’t our concern, because, yes, we are on-the-record as unsupportive. We do not consent. Our view is of the bigger picture, with the long-term health of our homelands.

“We are not an anti-mining Nation, but some areas should remain undeveloped or require time to heal. Proponents are guests within our homelands – those who respect us, who are willing to accept that not all projects are meant to be developed, and who are willing to work with us and obtain our free, prior and informed consent, are the ones we would classify as ‘good guests,’ who we are willing to host.  Proponents who do not meet these expectations will have challenges.”

Louie said he and his leadership council, along with the rest of the Ktunaxa First Nations, will watch any developments in regards to the judicial review with interest, “But, when reviewing the company’s requests of the Supreme Court, we would say that, even if the Court issued the declaration the proponent wants, it would still not create a necessity for an eventual permitting decision to be in favour of exploration or development.  The Province must still address and protect our title and rights.”

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[1] Yahey v. BC 2021 BCSC 1287

For more information, contact:
nasuʔkin Jason Louie
yaqan nuʔkiy ~ Lower Kootenay Band
Email via council@lowerkootenay.com

About yaqan nuʔkiy
Historically and since time immemorial, the Lower Kootenay Band, locally known as yaqan nuʔkiy, have remained the original inhabitants of the Lower Kootenay area. The name Yaqan Nukiy literally means “where the rock stands” and refers to an important place in the Creston Valley. lowerkootenay.com

About the Ktunaxa Nation Council

The Ktunaxa Nation Council is comprised of elected officials from ʔakisq̓nuk First Nation, yaqan nuʔkiy (Lower Kootenay Band), ʔaqam (St. Mary’s Band) and Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡiʾit (Tobacco Plains Band) First Nation Communities. www.ktunaxa.org

Ktunaxa Nation calls for meeting with Canada and U.S. to address watershed pollution

The Ktunaxa Nation calls for the U.S. and Canada to meet with the Nation immediately to address watershed pollution

Trudeau and Biden Strike Out, Missing Both the End-of-Summer Deadline and the Commitment to Work in Partnership with the Transboundary Ktunaxa Nation to Address Mining Pollution in the Kootenai/y Watershed

For Immediate Release:  October 18, 2023

The United States and Canada have failed to meet their summer deadline to reach an agreement in partnership with the Ktunaxa on how to address pollution in the Elk and Kootenai/y rivers, demonstrating the federal governments’ continued lack of commitment to address this serious pollution problem.

Ktunaxa leadership have been urging Canada and the U.S. to address water quality pollution in Ktunaxa homelands for over a decade.  In March of this year, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden publicly committed to “reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, in order to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system.” (Full statement available here.)

Yet, the end of summer has come and gone without any agreement, or any real progress, in working together. This, despite numerous opportunities and ample time for all eight governments to meet, including at the federal bilateral meeting in April, the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT) transboundary mining conference in September, and even the federal bilateral meeting happening this week in Ottawa.

Ktunaxa were initially encouraged by President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau’s March commitment which acknowledged the need for a solution—developed and implemented in partnership with the Ktunaxa—for the Elk-Kootenai watershed.  Yet this initial encouragement faltered as engagement with the federal governments—particularly Canada—following the statement’s release was nearly nonexistent, and a far cry from a “partnership.”  The lack of engagement and collaboration led Ktunaxa leadership to convene in June to pen their own solution which was sent to federal governments in mid-July.

The Ktunaxa proposal includes a reference to the International Joint Commission (IJC), along with a Ktunaxa-Federal action plan.  This “two-pronged approach” is based on (1) the need for an IJC-established Watershed Board to conduct an independent, transparent, and accountable scientific assessment of pollution in the watershed and perform ongoing monitoring, and (2) the parallel need for a governance plan that guarantees both federal governments and all six Ktunaxa governments an equal seat at the table to immediately begin to implement solutions, restore the waters, and ensure effective regulation and management of the watershed going forward.  The Ktunaxa proposal aims to bridge the draft IJC reference put forward by the U.S. and the call for a governance table from Canada. 

Yet, despite the fact that Canada has had proposals for an IJC reference from the Ktunaxa Nation, the U.S., and even British Columbia since mid-July, Ktunaxa did not receive even an acknowledgment of the proposal from Canada until September 21—one day before the end-of-summer deadline.

“We were encouraged that the U.S. and Canada committed to reaching an agreement—in partnership with the Ktunaxa—on the damaging pollution in the Kootenai/y watershed by this summer, and we were even more encouraged when British Columbia—a long holdout—indicated their support for an IJC reference in July,” said Tom McDonald, Chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

“With B.C. on board, we now have all crucial governments in support of an IJC reference, except for Canada. We simply can’t understand what is holding Canada back and keeping them from honoring their promises to Indigenous peoples, the environment, and the International Boundary Waters Treaty,” McDonald continued.

Remarks made at a conference at the end of September by a Global Affairs Canada representative that “Canada knows that they are late with their homework” have spurred Ktunaxa Leadership to initiate a government-to-government-to-government meeting to be set in November.

“There has not been a single multi-government meeting to discuss solutions,” Ktunaxa Nation Chair Kathryn Teneese said.

“While the United States has met regularly with the staff of the full transboundary Ktunaxa Nation, Canada has not done the same. And, there haven’t been any meetings between the U.S., Canada, and the Ktunaxa Nation all together, despite our repeated requests and numerous opportunities and ample time for that to occur.”

The Ktunaxa Nation invites Canada and the United States to immediately make good on their promise and meet with the governments of ʔakisq̓nuk; ʔaq̓am; Yaqan Nuʔkiy; Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡiʔit; Kupawiȼq̓nuk [Ksanka Band, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes]; and ʔaq̓anqmi [Kootenai Tribe of Idaho] and are initiating a meeting in the coming weeks.

“We must come to a solution before the end of the year — we were strung along in 2022, and then again in 2023 with a target of end of summer.  The governments need to show that their deadlines, and their intent to meet them, are meaningful.  We cannot accept any more broken promises.  We have been asking for action on this issue for more than a decade, and we can’t wait any longer,” said ʔaq̓anqmi Vice-Chairman Gary Aitken, Jr.

“We thought the commitment to work in partnership with the Ktunaxa Nation meant that all eight governments would sit down together to reach an agreement, but nothing could be further from the truth. Since the U.S. and Canada are not able to set up a process for reaching agreement, the Nation has no choice but to set one up so that we can actually address the devastating pollution in the Kootenai/y watershed.”

 

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Press Contacts

Gwen Lankford, Executive Communications Team, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, gwen.lankford@cskt.org

Trish Barnes, Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator, Ktunaxa Nation Council,
Contact via info@ktunaxa.org

 

2023 Ktunaxa Literacy Day

AGM for Seven Nations Soaring Eagle Treatment Centre

Download (PDF, 307KB)

National Parks ‘hangtags’ for Ktunaxanin̓tik

ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa has some awesome national parks, and all Indigenous Canadians can access them at no fee (Except for camping and other activity fees).

Now, thanks to working with Ktunaxa, Parks Canada has issued ‘hangtags’ for members of the Ktunaxa Nation.

These tags are to hang from the rear-view mirror, or bring with you to enter parks, historic sites and the pools at Radium Hot Springs.

They are available (and free) for Ktunaxanin̓tik, (Ktunaxa by ancestry or closely related to someone who is Ktunaxa by ancestry).

Ktunaxanin̓tik can pick up the tags at the Ktunaxa Nation Council Building in Cranbrook.

(220 Cranbrook Street North, call 240-489-2464)

We hope to make the tags available at each community band office very soon.

ABOUT the TAGS

Tags are valid for entry to national parks:

–              Banff

–              Yoho

–              Kootenay

–              Mount Revelstoke

–              Glacier

–              Waterton Lakes

–              Jasper

They are also valid for entry to:

–              Banff Park Museum National Historic Site

–              Cave and Basin Nation Historic Site

–              Radium Hot Springs Aquacourt

Important Details:

• One tag per Ktunaxa adult who signs for it.
• The tag allows entry for all people in the car or family groups at the sites and Aquacourt.
• Not valid for camping, services or other activity fees.
• Void if sold or transferred to ineligible parties.

For more information, please email knc-reception@ktunaxa.org.

Additional details to come.

Tribal and First Nation governments of the Transboundary Ktunaxa Nation send President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau their solution to address mining pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed

For Immediate Release:  August 11, 2023

Tribal and First Nation governments of the Transboundary Ktunaxa Nation send President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau their solution to address mining pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed

The Ktunaxa Nation urges Biden and Trudeau to hold to their earlier promise as the deadline looms to reach an “Agreement in Principle” on this issue by the end of the summer.

On July 20, the leadership of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation —the governments of ʔakisq̓nuk; ʔaq̓am; Yaqan Nuʔkiy; Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it; Kupawiȼq̓nuk [Ksanka Band, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes]; and ʔaq̓anqmi [Kootenai Tribe of Idaho—submitted a proposal to Canada and the U.S. to address long-standing mining pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed.

For decades, five massive open-pit coal mines located in the Elk Valley of southeast British Columbia have leached selenium, nitrate, and sulphate into the Elk and Kootenai/y rivers — impacting the waters that are woven into the heart of ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa (Ktunaxa Territory) and that are vital to the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation and residents of British Columbia, Montana, and Idaho. Since 2012, Ktunaxa leadership have been urging Canada and the U.S. to address this water quality pollution.

This past March, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau finally committed to working with the transboundary Ktunaxa to “reach an agreement in principle” by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution” in the watershed (full statement available here).

With the end of summer deadline looming, the Ktunaxa proposal offers a promising way forward.

“Our proposal contemplates the full involvement of our Nations in building long-term solutions to this problem,” said Ktunaxa Nation Council Chair Kathryn Teneese. “As the stewards of this place for more than 10,000 years, there can be no solutions or assessment of this watershed without deep and meaningful partnership with the Ktunaxa ʔaqǂsmaknik.”

The Ktunaxa proposal includes a reference to the International Joint Commission (IJC), along with a Ktunaxa-Federal action plan. This “two-pronged approach” is based on (1) the need for an International Joint Commission (IJC)-established Watershed Board to conduct an independent, transparent, and accountable scientific assessment of pollution in the watershed and perform ongoing monitoring, and (2) the parallel need for Ktunaxa-Federal action to implement solutions, restore the waters, and address current violations of the Boundary Waters Treaty, the U.S. Clean Water Act, and the Canadian Fisheries Act.

 

“Canada and the U.S. created the IJC over a hundred years ago, under the Boundary Waters Treaty, to address transboundary water issues exactly like this one. Our solution includes this IJC process because it is transparent, inclusive, and accountable,” said Chairman Tom McDonald of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

 

“We’ve also included an action plan in addition to the IJC process because we recognize there is an immediate need for action to begin restoring these waters that are so central to the Ktunaxa people,” he added.  “Now all we need is for Canada and the U.S. to sign onto the Ktunaxa proposal so we can get to work.”

For the Ktunaxa Nation, work to address the mining contamination cannot begin soon enough.

“We continue to see impacts of coal mining more than a hundred kilometers downstream of these coal mines. We see our fish populations declining despite our own hatchery efforts to sustain them. We see our waters becoming worse. While pollution loads continue to increase, we see less than 20% of the selenium load being removed, despite nine years of implementation of a provincial plan to reduce and mitigate water quality concentrations.  We are watching our river suffer as the regulators stand by and watch,” said Gary Aitken Jr., Vice Chairman of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.

One year ago, Canada and the U.S. were poised to refer the mining contamination issue to the IJC, but Canada suddenly halted any further engagement, leaving both Ktunaxa and the U.S. hanging.  Freedom of Information documents later revealed that Canada’s abandonment of an IJC reference in 2022 was the result of intense pressure by industry and the Province of British Columbia to protect mining’s economic benefits.

Only a few months after Canada abandoned the reference, a newly released mine mitigation plan confirmed that water quality contaminant concentrations would continue to be higher than previously expected, and that regulatory compliance would not be achieved until 2028 or later.

British Columbia’s failure to provide adequate enforcement and regulatory oversight of the mining industry illustrates the urgent need for federal involvement and action.

Following the transboundary Ktunaxa proposal last month, British Columbia also sent a letter to the Canadian Federal government indicating that the Province is now receptive to IJC involvement in the Kootenai/y watershed.

With British Columbia — who has previously been opposed to IJC involvement — no longer standing in the way, Canada is now well positioned to sign on to the Ktunaxa proposal, meet its obligations to protect the environment under the Fisheries Act, and honour its commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

In the past three weeks, however, Canada has been silent on the Ktunaxa proposal.

This silence is puzzling given President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau’s commitment to “reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenay watershed, in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, and in order to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system.”

 

With only three weeks of summer left, the leadership of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation await the Federal governments’ response on the comprehensive proposal which was carefully developed to ensure that meaningful assessment and action would occur.

“The Ktunaxa covenant with the Creator says that the Ktunaxa ʔaqǂsmaknik (people) were tasked with guarding and keeping the land and that as long as ʔaqǂsmaknik took care of the land, the land would take care of ʔaqǂsmaknik,” said Teneese.

“For millennia, we have honoured this covenant.”

“Our proposal invites Canada and the United States to enter a new era of real collaboration and Indigenous-led environmental stewardship. It is our hope that Canada and the United States will join us in honouring the covenants and care of ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa.”

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Press Contacts

Gwen Lankford, Executive Communications Team,
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, gwen.lankford@cskt.org

Trish Barnes, Public Relations Coordinator
Ktunaxa Nation Council
Contact via info@ktunaxa.org

(Note, this release was reposted on August 21, 2023, due to a hosting issue.)

 

 

23rd Annual Malyan Michel Bursary

23rd Annual Malyan Michel Bursary

Awarded: Wed, July 26, 2023

This $500 bursary was established in 2000 by friends and family of Malyan Michel to recognize deserving post-secondary students from the Ktunaxa Nation.

Malyan was a language and culture teacher and always encouraged people to return to school and further their education while still holding onto their Ktunaxa heritage.

This bursary has been awarded to 35 Ktunaxa Nation students so far, totaling $17,500.

The funds for these bursaries are raised every year through raffles and 50/50 draws, as well as donations from our generous supporters.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support over the years.

To be eligible, candidates must:

• be of Ktunaxa ancestry
• be an existing post-secondary student that will be returning to studies in Sept 2023.
• or be an adult 19 and over beginning or returning to studies in Sept 2023
• show an interest in their Ktunaxa language and culture

Please use the form below to nominate.

Deadline for nominations: Friday, July 21, 2023
Submit nominations to:

Cindy Sutherland 604-603-4733

gregncindy@shaw.ca

 

Download (PDF, 38KB)

CRT agreements are significant to Ktunaxa

June 13, 2023: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ʔa·kisk̓aqǂiʔit / Cranbrook, B.C.:
Through the three separate interim agreements, signed on June 8, 2023, the Ktunaxa Nation, Secwépemc Nation and Syilx Okanagan Nation will each receive five per cent of the revenue generated through the sale of Canada’s share of downstream power benefits under the Columbia River Treaty. (The downstream power benefits are otherwise known as the ‘Canadian Entitlement.’)

“The interim agreements are significant for us,” said Kathryn Teneese, Chair of Ktunaxa Nation Council. “They acknowledge historical impacts to Ktunaxa rights and title, and are a step on the path of reconciliation.”

Since 2018, Canada and the United States have been engaged in negotiations to modernize the treaty. The Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations have been an essential part of the Canadian negotiating team, alongside the governments of Canada and B.C.

The four First Nations as represented by the Ktunaxa Nation Council are ʔakisq̓nuk First Nation, ʔaq̓am, Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it, and Yaqan Nuʔkiy.

“Ktunaxa Nation Council, on behalf of our four member First Nations, will continue with the broader collaborative work on Columbia River Treaty renewal with our partners–Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations, plus B.C. and Canada,” Teneese said. “Ktunaxa perspectives are vital to this treaty process, and we value being at the table.”

The Columbia River Treaty was ratified in 1964 by the U.S. and Canada to provide flood control and generate additional hydro power, but was negotiated without considering the impacts it would have on the rights, culture, economies and ways of life of the Indigenous Nations

Troy Hunter, who is Strategic Initiative Coordinator at Ktunaxa Nation Council, said, “We did not get here today without the many efforts of our ancestors and of those who brought Aboriginal rights and title cases before the courts.”

The late Ktunaxa elder Wilfred Jacobs said the word ‘Kootenay’ is a Ktunaxa word pronounced Kuǂni, and it means to travel by water.

“These agreements are a beginning, but the course we have embarked upon, as we travel together each steering our own yaqsuʔmiǂ, (canoes), is now part of our story,” said Hunter.

Negotiations will continue between the partners towards a long-term agreement to help address environmental, cultural and economic impacts caused by the operations of the Columbia River Treaty Treaty as well as work with the United States to renew the CRT itself.

The Nations have also led efforts to enhance ecosystem function and investigate the feasibility of restoring salmon to the B.C. portion of the Columbia Basin through the treaty-modernization negotiations.

Ktunaxa Citizens’ Excellence Awards, 2023 Nomination Forms

Nominations are open for the Ktunaxa Citizens’ Excellence Awards.

Date for nomination extended to July 5, 2023!

Awards will be presented at the 2023 Annual General Assembly,
July 26 & 27, 2023 • Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡiʔit

Award Ktunaxa Excellence in:
• Sports
• Education
• Arts & Entertainment
• Health
• Cultural Knowledge & Language
• Entrepreneurial / Business
• Lifetime Achievement
(Awards are to honour those who are physically here with us today.
At the 2022 Ktunaxanin̓tik Gathering held in ʔakisq̓nuk,
they recognized those who have passed on, new Ktunaxa babies born, and graduates.
KNC will incorporate this practice into AGAs going forward, starting this year.)

When will the awards be presented?
At the Annual General Assembly in July 26 & 27, 2023 at Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡiʾit

Who can nominate?
Any individual, community group or recognized entity (Band Council, Aboriginal business, etc.)

Who can you nominate?
Any Ktunaxa Citizen or Ktunaxa Citizens’ Group.

Who selects recipients?
The Ktunaxa Citizens Excellence Awards Committee (KCEA).

Please see below for information about volunteering for this fun, Ktunaxa-only committee!

What’s in a nomination?

Please see the nomination form below. It may take a few moments to load.
It is a “fillable” PDF, so you can open it in Acrobat Reader and you can then type in your responses, save it, and email it to caylee.toma@ktunaxa.org.

Or, you can print it out to fill it in and deliver it to the address below.

Or even fax it… number below.

Complete 2023 Ktunaxa Citizens’ Excellence Awards nomination form, with the following details:
• Name of the person or group you are nominating,
• A description of their contributions
or how they have excelled in their field,
• What the person’s or group’s involvement has meant,
• A short description of successes achieved,
• One paragraph describing the nominator’s relationship to the nominee.

How to send in nominations?
Due by Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Mail, fax or email to:
Ktunaxa Nation Council
7825 Mission Road
Cranbrook, B.C. V1C 7E5
Attn: Ktunaxa Citizens’ Excellence Awards
Caylee Toma
Email: caylee.toma@ktunaxa.org
Fax: 250-489-2438

Nomination forms are just below… it may take a few moments for the forms to load.

Date for nomination extended to July 5, 2023!

Download (PDF, 290KB)

 

 

First Nations, Tribes Confounded by Canada’s Resistance to Obvious Solution on the Kootenai Watershed Pollution Crisis

Indigenous leaders from both sides of the border call for immediate IJC reference

Trudeau risks century-old treaty to appease British Columbia

For Immediate Release

May 11, 2023

Representatives from the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation call on Canada to set aside delay tactics and immediately honor the Nation’s outstanding request to refer ongoing and legacy mining pollution in the Kootenai/ay watershed to the International Joint Commission (IJC).  Despite Prime Minister Trudeau’s stated commitment to address the Kootenai/ay pollution issue through an agreement in principle with the U.S. by this summer, Canada continues to stonewall an IJC reference.  This resistance to the clear process established under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to address transboundary water pollution issues exactly like that in the Kootenai/ay remains confounding.

The transboundary Ktunaxa Nation’s renewed request follows bilateral talks between Canada and the United States two weeks ago in Washington, D.C., where Ktunaxa representatives traveled across the country to deliver a clear, continued, and united message to both

the Canadian and U.S. officials, that the solution in the Kootenai/ay watershed must include an IJC reference.  Trudeau stated cryptically the day after these talks that “processes … are being followed right now that have a better chance of getting to a resolution” than a reference.

“We are completely baffled by Prime Minister Trudeau’s remarks,” says Chairman Tom McDonald of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, one of the six governments of the Ktunaxa Nation.

“Canada and the U.S. created the IJC over a hundred years ago, under the Boundary Waters Treaty, to address transboundary water issues exactly like this one.  There is no legitimate reason to avoid the tried and tested IJC process—it is transparent, inclusive, accountable, and enforceable.  We welcome further efforts in addition to the IJC, but we are skeptical that Canada’s insistence on an alternative is a delay tactic designed to produce a watered-down IJC process.”

The Kootenai/ay watershed is a massive river system that flows through the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, from British Columbia downstream into Montana, Idaho, and back into British Columbia.  For decades, open-pit coal mining in British Columbia has contaminated these waters with increasing levels of selenium, resulting in violation of the Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and the United States.

For over a decade, the Ktunaxa Nation has called for a transparent and credible process to address legacy, ongoing, and increasing pollution in the Kootenai/ay watershed through an IJC reference.  This request is supported by the United States and all of the sitting Commissioners of the IJC.

In a recent demonstration of solidarity, last month, numerous First Nations and Tribes across what is now known as British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska, also voiced their support for the reference in a letter to Canadian leaders.

Canada and the United States were expected to commit to the IJC reference a year ago, but at the eleventh hour, Global Affairs Canada walked away.

Freedom of Information documents later revealed that Canada’s last-minute reversal followed intense interference by the Province of British Columbia and the mining industry to defeat the joint reference and override Canada’s obligations and commitments to the Boundary Waters Treaty and Indigenous peoples. Following this shocking turn, the Biden-Harris Administration reaffirmed its support for a joint reference and its commitment to respecting Tribal priorities and sovereignty.

In March of this year, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden committed to “reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, in order to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system.”

It remains unclear whether this soft commitment will result in an IJC reference and a substantive plan to address the pollution crisis, or whether it will be just another empty promise.

Trudeau’s recent remarks on Canada’s unwillingness to seriously engage with the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation’s decade-long request for an IJC reference certainly puts Canada’s commitment to “partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples” into question.

“Canada must stop allowing British Columbia to stonewall the IJC reference, especially as more and more information comes to light about the close relationship between B.C. and the mining industry,” says Vice Chairman Gary Aitken Jr. from the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, another Ktunaxa government.

“In refusing to engage the IJC, Canada is allowing the B.C. provincial government and mining industry to effectively nullify the 114 year-old treaty.  Meanwhile, our rivers are dying.”

“We’ve been clear that the path forward for the Kootenay must include an IJC reference. The independent, credible, and scientific process the IJC provides will give us certainty on understanding the complex system and its stressors. The transparency and unbiased process should serve to motivate and drive the parallel action that is needed at the international and federal level,” says Ktunaxa Nation Chair Kathryn Teneese.

“The duty of honoring the crown rests with Canada.  That duty comes with legal responsibilities that are currently being overlooked.  It is time for Canada to meet its obligations under the Canadian Constitution, Boundary Waters Treaty, and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by recognizing Ktunaxa jurisdiction and working with our governments to ensure that the Kootenay watershed is restored and protected for generations to come.”

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Joint News Release from 
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
Ktunaxa Nation Council

Press Contacts

Gwen Lankford, Executive Communications Team, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
gwen.lankford@cskt.org

Trish Barnes, Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator, Ktunaxa Nation Council
Contact via info@ktunaxa.org

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