Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band, band office pictured here, is set to acquire 82 hectares of Crown land near the lake.

Image Credit: GOOGLE

The federal government is giving more land to the Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band, but the First Nation is now blocking access to 12 non-reserve properties along the lake.

Gate access to the 12 properties was locked along a "historic" road since last year, according to a Thompson Nicola Regional District staff report.

While the first road was blocked, some could still access Little Shuswap Lake Road until February, when the Band also locked that gate at its border along the lake.

"Owners and residents have been using both roads for as long as they have owned the properties, in some cases, for generations," the staff report reads.

READ MORE: Completion of final section Okanagan Rail Trail hinges on federal gov't approval

Some residents can access their properties by water, but there's no longer any access by road, which blocks not only land owners but also emergency services and utility workers like B.C. Hydro.

At least some of the properties are cabins, but it's not clear how many, if any, include permanent residents.

The 82-hectare plot of land is on the west side of Little Shuswap Lake, north of Chase. There appears to be no access to the properties from the south, and property owners instead must travel through Squilax and Little Shuswap Band lands to the north.

The provincial government told the regional district about the land negotiation in the fall of 2022, which was in exchange for four-lane expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway on the east side of the lake, according to the staff report. Property owners were already contacting government officials that spring, concerned about their impacts from the land deal.

Property owners sent a letter to the regional district, calling the land transfer and road closures "unacceptable" for not considering their access to the 12 properties. None of the property owners were named in the letter.

"The proposed land transfer has made no provision for permanent access to our properties which we currently have, and this is unacceptable to us as property owners," the letter reads.

READ MORE: Former Merritt councillor acquitted of criminal charges

Their letter details a timeline of events where the owners have contacted multiple government officials, trying to find an "amicable" solution so they can still access their properties, with little progress.

"We are very concerned (about) the silence we are getting from some of the parties involved," the letter reads. "We want to be consulted and our questions answered."

The regional district discussed the land deal at a March 9 board meeting, debating whether to support the reserve expansion, which was recommended in the staff report.

The staff report also recommended the board request a meeting with the First Nation chief and council. The board debated whether they should change that wording the "require" a meeting, but it was defeated because most directors were concerned about sounding too demanding to the First Nation.

READ MORE: Homeless Kamloops man found dead of suspected exposure at camp along river

Ultimately, regional district directors decided to postpone their decision to support the reserve expansion, recognizing the federal government will make the decision and the regional government will have little influence on the decision anyway.

"This could be done and dusted before we have a community to community (meeting) let alone meet with them to discuss the item in question, but we would not go in with all guns blazing," board chair Barbara Roden said. "It would be a respectful meeting between the stakeholders to address the concerns of (regional district) residents."

Regional district directors did vote and approve a request to meet with the Band, but it's not clear when that meeting will happen and it's not clear exactly when the land deal handing Crown land over to the Band will be completed.

Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band chief James Tomma didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

This regional district map shows the proposed reserve expansion, bordered in red, and the private lakefront properties.

Image Credit: Thompson Nicola Regional District

— This story was updated at 9:25 a.m., March 13, 2023, to correctly state the Crown land and private properties are on the west side of Little Shuswap Lake.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2023