This story is the second of a five-part interview series where CJDC-TV sat down with former Blueberry River First Nation’s (BRFN) Chief Judy Desjarlais to discuss the challenges faced by the First Nation.
In part two, Desjarlais provides insight on delays in oil and gas permit approvals, and their potential impact on the Nation’s prosperity.
“I think the problem is that the Nation is not being led by the vision of our people, but outside consultants, outside legal firms, outside voices that are telling us how we should live and how we should move forward,” says Desjarlais, “We should be listening to the people and understanding that we need to find a balance in order for our Nation to start managing prosperity.”
Along with managing the prosperity that came with the historic Supreme Court decision comes managing the First Nation’s biggest commodity -- oil and gas.
In part one of our series, we learned that permit approvals played a major role in the removal of Desjarlais as chief. The approvals are tied to the 2023 Implementation Agreement with the province. The former chief explaining that the goal was to find a balanced approach to production, not to stop development, highlighting the importance of working alongside the government to find a pathway forward.
“The Implementation Agreement didn’t say that we’re going to say no to development all step of the way. It says we’re going to find a balanced approach into production of our traditional territories,” said Desjarlais.
However, there are fears that delaying oil and gas permits will push investment out of the province, and in turn, impact revenue streams intended to support generations through the lands that have been BRFN ancestors occupied for millennia.
In July 2024, NorthRiver Midstream filed a Notice of Motion and Constitutional Question with the Canada Energy Regulator after delays in permitting put the project ‘at risk.’
NorthRiver stated that they requested the consent of the Blueberry River First Nation. However, despite numerous efforts to establish a new disturbance cap, they didn’t receive a response from the BRFN.
The company also expressed concerns over governance issues within the Nation and a civil claim against the province, which they say made the project’s timeframe unachievable.
After CJDC-TV reported on the issue, the oil and natural gas company issued a release confirming the permitting issues.
“NorthRiver values its relationships with Indigenous communities and remains willing and motivated to continue collaboration with all stakeholders to determine a satisfactory solution that would allow construction of the NEBC Connector to proceed,” read the September 25 statement.
“What happens when the others follow suit?” Questioned Desjarlais. “They’re going to take their investment elsewhere, because Texas is booming, Trump’s there, he says we’re going to ‘drill, drill, drill’ and we should be the same because we now have to find a balance.”
In January of 2023, oil and gas executives told CJDC-TV News that most development permits were put on hold during negotiations between the Province and First Nation, resulting in a $2 billion dollar loss to the local economy.
Executives also accuse the NDP government of ‘sitting on their hands’ and refusing to give the oil and gas commission the go-ahead to issue new drilling permits.
Those executives refused to do on-camera interviews, as they feared being blackballed for speaking out, but say the drilling rigs that left the Peace Region and returned to Grande Prairie are not coming back.
Premier David Eby saying at the time that oil and gas companies will have find a way to work with less land disturbance, adding that the cap was not on production.
“We are sitting on the largest oil and gas plate in North America, and what I’m seeing is we’re at a bust when we should be at a boom, said Desjarlais. “We should’ve found that balance last year, and we’re not anywhere near finding that balance.”
In a December statement, BRFN remains steadfast that they are not delaying oil and gas activity.
Councillor Wayne Yahey calling rumours that the Nation is holding up activity “categorically false.”
The Nation says over 700 permit referrals from the BC Energy Regulator have been reviewed between October of 2023 and November of last year with BRFN’s Lands Department providing comments and suggestions where necessary.
The Nation says they’ve only disagreed with nine permit referrals since entering the Implementation Agreement, in each case, they were in an effort to protect Treaty Rights, traplines, and high value areas.
“Blueberry has not wavered from its position on balancing the protection of our Treaty Rights with sustainable industrial development. Our Lands department has been, and continues to, review permit referrals in a timely manner,” said Yahey.
In the same release, BRFN says they continue to dispute the validity surrounding the HV1 Gundy Complex Plan, the first High Value plan created under the implantation agreement.
It was approved by the province and Desjarlais, ‘without the knowledge of or approval by the majority of Blueberry’s Council’, according to BRFN.
“The permit referrals Blueberry has disagreed with represent a very small proportion of the total permit referrals that the Lands department has reviewed since Blueberry and BC entered into the Implementation Agreement,” said Councillor Yahey. “As this clearly demonstrates, Blueberry has taken a collaborative approach to reviewing permit referrals with the province to ensure as much efficiency as possible with the new permit referral review processes.”
Planning work in collaboration with the provincial government to develop High Value and Water Shed Basin area maps, and strategies that harmonize the safeguarding of Blueberry’s Treaty Rights and the environment with a sustainable regional economy is also underway.
As for Desjarlais, she says the goal remains to bring prosperity to her people.