The Haisla First Nation's Kitimaat Village is seen in an aerial view along the Douglas Channel near Kitimat, B.C., on January 10, 2012.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
June 17, 2014 - 7:01 PM
KITIMAT, B.C. - The B.C. government is heralding the sale of land to a First Nation in an area Premier Christy Clark hopes will one day be at the heart of a booming liquefied natural gas industry.
Clark was in northern B.C. to mark the sale of land in downtown Kitimat to the Haisla Nation.
The land has sat idle since a hospital on the site was demolished in 2005, though the prospect of a growing LNG industry along with other industrial projects has turned it into prime real estate.
The Haisla Nation reached an agreement with the province to purchase the land in May.
The First Nation will now enter negotiations with the District of Kitimat to discuss how the land will be developed.
Ellis Ross, chief counsellor of the Haisla Nation, says current plans include a hotel and condominium development, a restaurant and a shopping centre, which would be built in three stages with private partners.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014