Communities in Transition Information Resource: Project Reviews: First Nations Comprehensive Community Planning

CURRENT CIT PROJECT OVERVIEW:

First Nations Comprehensive Community Planning: Musqueam and Sliammon

The Real Estate Foundation established the Communities in Transition (CIT) program to focus on issues related to use and conservation of land that primarily affect non-metropolitan regions of BC. Established as a signature program of the Foundation, CIT works with a wide range of project and funding partners in communities across BC to help them plan for and make transitions.

Two recently completed projects in Comprehensive Community Planning by First Nation's communities at Musqueam and at Sliammon relate to the Foundation's interest in sustainable land uses, integrated planning, and innovation. Sustainable land use planning and practices have been ongoing themes at the Real Estate Foundation through most of its 20+ years.

Currently, the Foundation is preparing detailed case studies of these projects. Both projects suggest positive models for First Nations communities making the transition to local government status. Each of the two projects include innovative features, in terms of comprehensive planning and community engagement, that will be of interest to all rural communities and consultants working with similar regional concerns.

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Sliammon Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP)

PROJECT PARTNERS

Funding and in-kind support for the Comprehensive Community Planning project came from a variety of partners including:

Indian and Northern Affairs Strategic Planning Unit
BC Treaty Commission
City of Powell River, and the
Real Estate Foundation of BC.

GRANT AWARDED BY REAL ESTATE FOUNDATION OF BC

$40,000 (2005)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Sliammon First Nation (SFN) is a relatively small community adjacent to the City of Powell River and surrounded by the Powell River Regional District on the Mainland coast several hours north of Vancouver. As of 2009, SFN has been involved in treaty negotiations for close to 15 years, a period that has included some land use related conflicts with adjacent local governments. In contrast to the nieghbouring non-First nations community, SFN occupies a limited land base with a young and rapidly-growing on-reserve population. This planning initiative originally emerged from treaty negotiation experiences and was conceived as a pilot in intergovernmental planning, engaging Sliammon and the adjacent local governments.

Sliammon is, as Chief Negotiator Roy Francis describes it, making the transition "from an Indian Band to a First Nations government," a process that involves "fairly traumatic, huge changes." He describes "the purpose of the Comprehensive Community Plan [as] all about mapping out a plan for those changes." Or, as Pre-Implementation Manger Laura Roddan summarizes it: the CCP "was about getting ready for the day after treaty."

The project addressed a number of challenges and several are critical issues facing all First Nations governments, as distinct from other forms of local government in BC. Funding arrangements with senior government departments have historically limited (First Nations') planning to physical land use planning, included broader service responsibilities, and generated "silos" of funding and service provision that inhibit collaboration and integration. During the past 15-year period SFN was also engaged in a treaty negotiation process, and the resolution and/or mitigation of land use conflicts with local governments.

When assessing the success of the project and the resulting inter-governmental relationships Francis is positive. He notes that the City of Powell has taken the project-related protocol agreement to the Union of BC Municipalities, and presented it as a model for building working relationships between government and First Nations. "These relationships are still new and evolving... The approach and outcome has been a hugely positive thing for us... [it] came out to be a very good thing for Sliammon."

CONTACT

Laura Roddan, Pre-implementation Manager, Sliammon (and Project Manager, Sliammon CCP)

email: lroddan@sliammontreaty.com

COMMUNITIES IN TRANSITION BACKGROUND

An overview of the project details, as proposed in 2005, is available here.

The Real Estate Foundation of BC is currently preparing a case study of the Sliammon Comprehensive Community Plan project. It will be posted online.

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Musqueam Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP)

PROJECT PARTNERS

Funding and in-kind support for the Comprehensive Community Planning project came from several sources, including:

Musqueam
New Relationship Trust
Vancity Savings Credit Union, and the
Real Estate Foundation of BC.

GRANT AWARDED BY REAL ESTATE FOUNDATION OF BC

$45,000 (2007)

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Musqueam First Nation (MFN) is a small but rapidly growing community located within the greater Vancouver region. With a relatively young population and a relatively high rate of birth, Musqueam faces significant pressures to plan and develop their at-present limited community lands in a sustainable fashion.

Aware of the challenges facing their community and of the limits of conventional planning (as previously carried out under the auspices of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) Musqueam leaders decided that a community-based approach to planning and developing the community was critical. As Leona Sparrow, Director of Treaty, Lands & Resources Department, notes,

"The full integration of the Land Use Plan with the broader ‘We Speak with One Heart and One Mind’ community planning process is a fundamental departure from past, engineering and infrastructure focused physical development planning"

Several elements are key to the Musqueam project. One was the element of time. Similar to the Sliammon First Nation, Musqueaum, and particularly staff and leadership, had been informally "in preparation" for the CCP for a number of years, in part through the treaty negotiation process. Secondly, Musqueam took an "entrepreneurial" approach to funding the planning project. Using their own resources, and successfully sourcing other funding, Musqueam was able to conduct the kind of planning and community engagement process that fits their needs, rather than be limited to funders' criteria. Musqueam also engaged in an extensive process when choosing the consultancy for the project. Again, as with Sliammon, there was an emphasis on internal capacity-building, and wherever possible staff or on-reserve resources were used.

The proponents believe that the project exceeded expectations in several areas. These include capacity building within local governance and staff structures, particularly with regard to strategic planning skills and utilization. Capacities for civic engagement have also been strengthened as community members were brought effectively into the discussion about the future of Musqueam. On-reserve and off-reserve communications have been strengthened. The use of several "quick start" projects in response to community-identified needs during the process also helped build credibility, capacity, and momentum for both the project and its outcomes.

CONTACT:

Dianne Buchan, Associate Director, Treaty, Lands & Resources Department, Musqueam First Nation

email: dianne.buchan@musqueam.bc.ca

www.musqueam.bc.ca

The Real Estate Foundation of BC is currently preparing a case study of the Sliammon Comprehensive Community Plan project. It will be posted online.

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