Historic Meeting

February 28, 2011 was a historic occasion for the City of Kelowna, the Okanagan Indian Band and the District of Lake Country. The three councils and administrators met to articulate common interests and a common vision for the areas that are next to each other.

As I was observing the dynamics at the meeting, I felt grateful for the City of Kelowna initiative to call this meeting and hold it with the other two councils. According to those present, - and some of them, like Mayor James Baker of Lake Country, go back quite a few years – this was the first meeting where the three Councils met together, and from my observation of the meeting, it will not be the last.

Rather than simply providing notes from the meeting, I wish to reflect on some of the comments I heard around the table. First, the fact that the District of Lake Country and the Okanagan Indian Band have recently signed an updated protocol agreement which expanded on a previous one signed a few years ago.

The protocol agreement goes beyond the issue of communication and addresses mutual interests in the provision of services, the fostering of common economic initiatives, and, most importantly, the recognition by the District of Lake Country of Okanagan Indian Band title and rights to their ancestral homelands. This means that the District believes in the need to working together with the Okanagan Indian Band to preserve natural resources for the benefit of all those who live in the Okanagan Indian Band traditional territory, including, but not limited to, the community of Lake Country. This is especially important for our common efforts towards water conservation and protection of water reservoirs in the Uplands. I believe this is also a historic event the positive consequences of which will have beneficial effect for our future generations.

The City of Kelowna and OKIB also have a protocol agreement and this renewed effort, started with the meeting last night, will bring to a possible expansion of the old one and the draft of a new, more substantial one.

The other point of major discussion was a joint planning effort for the area where the two local governments and the First Nation boundaries connect. The Okanagan Indian Band is exploring economic development opportunities for their reserve within the City of Kelowna but this will need the cooperation from both Kelowna and Lake Country through the provision of services. As the City of Kelowna continues to work on its new Official Community Plan and the District of Lake Country begins a comprehensive Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, it will make sense to create a joint planning committee, comprised of elected and appointed officials of our three governments to articulate a common vision for the areas where common interest lies.

The discussion was not about the past – we learn from but we should not linger on it if progress needs to occur. The discussion was about the future. And last night, the future was bright…and I was fortunate to be there.

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