Syntaris Power

John Baird is moving to the key position of government House leader in a federal cabinet shuffle announced Friday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Baird, who has served in three different cabinet posts —Treasury Board, Environment and Transport — replaces the retiring Jay Hill.

Chuck Strahl steps in for Baird as transport, infrastructure and communities minister while John Duncan replaces Strahl as minister of Indian affairs and northern development.

Strahl was also first elected as a Reform party MP in 1993, and represents the British Columbia riding of Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon. He has served as agriculture minister and most recently, as the Indian affairs and northern development minister.

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They didn’t receive a ton of media coverage, but last week two agreements were announced that speak volumes about where this province is headed in its relationship with the aboriginal communities.

The first deal was with the Coastal First Nations, while the second was with the Haida nation. Both are essentially business deals, although they are officially called “reconciliation protocols.”

While Premier Gordon Campbell’s declaration that the Queen Charlotte Islands will officially be changed to “Haida Gwaii” on all provincial maps got some attention, the real meat of the matter is in the fine print.

The deals essentially give First Nations equal footing to government in economic development matters, the idea being to bring new prosperity to many people who have long been impoverished or denied access to the many things that flow from economic prosperity.

The provincial government has essentially brought First Nations bands into a joint-management company that will oversee and determine all land-use decisions, and how resources are going to be extracted and by whom.

As well, the First Nations have signed onto the province’s green energy plan, and are getting access to millions of dollars (and a new ferry terminal on the north-central coast).

by Keith Baldrey, Special To North Shore News

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A First Nations government and a renewable energy developer in British Columbia (B.C.) have paired up for a biomass project that could generate 420-gigawatt hours of electricity per year.

The Tsilhqot’in Power Project is a joint venture between the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG) and Western Biomass Power Corporation, a subsidiary of renewable energy developer Run of River Power Inc. (ROR).

The facility is proposed for Hanceville, B.C. It will use timber that has been damaged by the mountain pine beetle to fuel steam-powered turbines.

TNG was awarded $340,000 in federal funding under the Community Economic Diversification Initiative, part of the government’s Mountain Pine Beetle Program.

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PRINCE RUPERT – A B.C. Utilities Commission decision last week will have more ramifications than just the obvious injury to private industry proponents of BC Hydro’s Clean Power Call, writes Geoge T. Baker in the Prince Rupert Daily News.

Independent Power Producers come in many different shapes and colours and one of them would be Tricorp, who believed that IPP projects were going to be a safe investment for First Nations investors.

The BCUC has determined that the province cannot sell long-term acquisition plans through BC Hydro. This decision was based upon assessing what it believes to be the best deal taxpayers can get when it comes to power projects.

And it could make the current investment field more treacherous than before.

“Absolutely it does. This is the whole private-public debate again. By the BCUC making this decision it basically means that they are favouring Burrard Thermal. And to us it is outrageous that they would think they should make that decision,” said Tricorp COO, Peter Lantin.

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