Province, OIB and Baldy sign agreement for revenue-sharing

A landmark agreement between the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and the province will boost South Okanagan tourism, Premier Gordon Campbell announced at the opening of the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre last Thursday.

"This is a revenue sharing agreement with the Osoyoos Indian Band," said Campbell. He said it is the first agreement of its sort, reflects a process of reconciling the past with the future, and points to a positive economic future for all parties.

"This is truly a partnership," he said.

The agreement sets out a revenue sharing framework for the development of Crown lands within Osoyoos Indian Band traditional territory that are slated for development as part of the expansion of the Mt. Baldy ski area. Expansion of the ski area is a key part of a long-term strategy to develop the Nk’Mip resort and the South Okanagan’s appeal as a four-season tourism destination.

According to a press release from the ministry, this is the first agreement of its kind to be signed in BC.

"The Premier and his government are to be commended for his vision," said Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) Chief Clarence Louie. "This agreement helps create meaningful partnerships between the band, all levels of government and the private sector so everyone can share in the economic benefits of developing traditional territories for tourism resorts and other business activities."

The band and the Mount Baldy Ski Resort have also reached a partnership, which was signed at the same time. The band has purchased an interest in the resort, which will provide many benefits to the band including a share of revenues from real estate development, job opportunities for band members at the resort, as well as an agreement that archaeological sites and traditional land use will be respected in all future expansion activities.

The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which celebrated its grand opening Friday in conjunction with the agreement-signing ceremony, is the first of three new Aboriginal cultural tourism attractions set to open in BC in the lead up to the 2010 winter games. It is a $9-millon centre, and part of the 200-acre Nk’Mip resort. It has a 20,000 sq.ft. exhibit centre that blends indoor and outdoor galleries with interactive stations and hands-on displays that allow guests to witness live camera feedings of nesting bats, take a peek into a rattlesnake hotel, dig for artifacts, or settle into a tule mat tepee for storytelling and interpretive shows.

Over 200 people attended the grand-opening ceremonies on Thursday, including other Indian band chiefs, and local and federal politicians.

Border jumpers caught, saved from becoming sex slaves

Ten people from South Korea were trying to sneak into the U.S. when they were arrested at the Osoyoos border last week, said Cpl. Norm Massie from the Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET).

"Ten Koreans are in custody," said Massie. He is a human trafficking awareness coordinator for the RCMP in BC, and was personally involved with the interviews of the Koreans. There were seven young ladies – between the age of 20- and 28-years old – one older lady and her son, and one older man.

"They were in the bush along the fence line at the border waiting for the corresponding receiver from the other side," he explained.

The Korean Nationals came into Canada, because no visa is required to do so. But the U.S. requires a visa – which is why the group tried to smuggle across from the Canadian side, about 15 - 20 km east of the Osoyoos border crossing. The smugglers were discovered because of a tip, he said.

"It would be organized crime doing this. We don’t think it’s a one-time thing," said Massie, adding they think it’s a smuggling organization. Two of the men and two of the women involved were being smuggled into the U.S. simply for the purposes of living there.

But six of the young women were probably headed for trouble. According to information he gathered in the interviews, Massie said there is human trafficking involved, unbeknownst to some of the young women involved.

"I believe they knew they were going to work in a massage parlour in L.A.," said Massie. "Their idea of working in a massage parlour and what was going to happen are two different things."

One of the first signs of their fate was that none of them had any money, and none of them had paid anything for their trip up to that point. He said they each seemed to think they would owe between $3,000 and $5,000 when they reached their destination, and were expecting to be able to pay it off.

"The trafficking people don’t want money from you up front," Massie explained. It is common that young women in this situation would be forced into prostitution in order to pay off the debt.

"Of course, they never get that debt paid off," he said. "We think they would have to service about ten or fifteen men a day, and they would not be paid."

Once he explained that to the women, it all clicked into place.

"They were very grateful to have been caught. They had already been lied to so much by that point, the lights went on."

Each of the young women had answered an advertisement, either in a newspaper or on the Internet, advertising U.S. visas. When the contact is made, a smuggler tells victims to find their way to Canada, and they will be taken to the U.S.

Then, the people on the U.S. side pay the smugglers, and the women are trafficked. Massie said the first week usually includes rape and brutalization, their dignity is removed, and they are then under the control of the traffickers.

They are also told that if the authorities in the U.S. find out they are there, they will be arrested, jailed, and deported, and their families will be told about what they have done. Massie said that’s a big deal to the women, and it often keeps them from seeking help.

After they are discovered by authorities, victims of human trafficking in Canada are offered a limited visa to stay. That allows them to seek counselling and medical attention, but it also helps to keep them physically safe, said Massie. The traffickers may have already paid for the receipt of the young women, and if they have not received their product the young women could be in danger.

The women in this case each refused that offer, instead opting to return to South Korea.

So far, there have been no charges, and the investigation is continuing.

Conservation group releases report boasting of local economic benefits from National Park

A new report, released by a group calling themselves the "South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Steering Committee," boasts of significant economic benefit for the region – but it shouldn’t be mistaken for Parks Canada information, said National Park study project manager Tom Hurd.

"It’s an entirely different (group)," Hurd said. "I’d like to reiterate, Parks Canada information, when it goes out to the public, would have the logo on it."

There is indeed a federal-provincial steering committee for the park project, said Hurd, and it shouldn’t be confused with the group of conservationists who published the recent report.

The federal-provincial steering committee is the group that will receive the results of the feasibility study from Parks Canada. That information will include an economic report.

"We will do our own complete and detailed study this fall," he said. "Ours will be much more detailed, as it will take social and economic factors into account, as well as the environment."

After that study is done, it will be presented to the public in another round of open houses.

Hurd said he has only just received a copy of the 36-page report released by the pro-park group, he hasn’t had a chance to review it in depth, and he won’t comment on the validity of the document.

Federal Senator Ross Fitzpatrick, one of the members of the South Okanagan Similkameen (SOS) National Park Steering Committee, was excited about the report and released it to the public on Saturday, June 17 at a pro-park function in Osoyoos.

"The funding came from a number of sources," Fitzpatrick said, unable to be more specific about whom is behind the study or how much it cost.

According to a release by Fitzpatrick, the SOS National Park Steering Committee is made up of Okanagan conservationists and is not affiliated with Parks Canada. It states: "The committee commission the economic report from Land Strategies Ltd., in collaboration with Development Consulting Group."

Fitzpatrick is very confident the report is accurate and encompasses all economic aspects of the park’s impact on the region – but he is upfront about its limitations.

"It is preliminary and it is based on assumptions," he said. "Those (park) boundaries have not been defined."

Though Parks Canada is not involved in conducting the study, the group provided some information to the economist.

The report boasts substantial economic benefits from the park, states the press release: "A national park in the South Okanagan would produce $72 million in investments, 832 full time equivalent jobs, $56.3 million in income, $120 million in expenditures, and $39.9 million in government tax revenues … this study forecasts tremendous economic benefits for the region … the study indicates the park could draw as many as 300,000 visitors annually by 2015."

Fitzpatrick said there’s been a lot of speculation about possible benefits from the establishment of the park, and he is pleased to see some information released that gets some numbers out there.

"We felt it was important to get a benchmark out in front of the public," he said, adding it was based on quite conservative assumptions.

There is a three-page section in the report discussing potential negative impacts. It includes a section on the concerns of Canadian Helicopters in Penticton, which might be negatively affected by the park; a section on a local guide outfitting business that conducts a portion of its trophy hunting business in the area; and it briefly discusses issues facing local ranchers who might lose permission to use grazing land in the area.

But in a phone interview, Fitzpatrick emphasizes the park could be seen as positive or negative, even to ranchers who may be compensated for the loss of their grazing tenure or bought out.

"To call it negative is a bit of an oxymoron," he said, adding that if people want to continue ranching, they will be able to continue ranching. "The grazing rights aren’t going to be taken away."

Greg Norton, spokesperson for the Grassland Park Review Coalition anti-park group, has only seen bits of the report.

"Rather shocking," he said, pointing out the numbers the study presents are far different than any estimates he has heard from Parks Canada.

"It adds to the confusion and adds to the lack of information," he said. "I don’t know who paid for this study … it’s just more numbers filling the void (left) by Parks Canada."

Norton continues to call on Parks Canada to get more information out to the public.

"There is not an honest assessment of the negative (impact of the park in this area)," he said. "I think it’s time there is a time out. Straighten the record and tell what impact this will have on the people involved."

Economic projections

We have no doubt that a national park will have a positive economic impact on the South Okanagan. It will be at a price, however. Traditional users may suffer but in the cold, hard light of economic analysis, the area will enjoy a net benefit.

Whether it will be nearly as rosy as the South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Steering Committee has projected in their recently released report is open to question. Economic benefit projections are always based on assumptions, which can be slippery things. How many people will actually come to the South Okanagan for the park rather than the wine, golf and lakes in the valley bottom? The report projects 300,000 park visitors by 2015. Possibly, as locals, we are blinded by the beauty around us but many will have difficulty believing that Mount Kobau will be almost as popular as the spectacular Waterton Lakes National Park which currently draws 402,000 a year.

It is fair, when a group finances and publishes an economic impact study, to ask who paid how much to produce a document meant to influence public opinion. Spokesman Senator Ross Fitzpatrick was less than forthcoming about how much the study cost. Given that the report is prepared to cite numbers on a whole range of topics projected years into the future, one would think that a simple question like, "How much does it cost?" would be an effortless exercise. Not so.

Just as report writers make assumptions, so will readers of the report.