The company points out that performance agreements are proof that there is significant support, even consent, from Indigenous communities along the route. ”When our project crosses the First Nations reserve, we received their explicit consent,” the company explains. In an interview with InvestigateWest, LeBourdais said he signed the performance agreement because he wanted the agency to participate in the project. He said his lawyers had assured him that the project would be approved regardless of the circumstances. Since returning to work in the fall of 2019, Indigenous communities along the road have seen an increase in jobs, commercial contracts, performance agreements, and training opportunities with the project, while reaching milestones in Indigenous tracking of work activities. Trans Mountain has signed agreements with 59 Indigenous groups in British Columbia and Alberta that represent more than $500 million in benefits and opportunities for Indigenous communities. Former Indian Band Chief Whispering Pines, one of the first to sign a deal with Kinder Morgan, has publicly stated that their 20-year performance contract is worth between $10 million and $20 million, according to Kamloop`s This Week. Other benefits included pensions for the elderly and support for programmes for young people. Trans Mountain`s Indigenous Procurement Policy creates the conditions for increased participation of Indigenous peoples in the economic benefits associated with the project. Our goal is to maximize economic opportunities for Indigenous communities while ensuring safety, quality, cost and timeliness. Our support for improving procurement opportunities for Indigenous businesses includes: McKenzie`s turning point came when his father, a Skeetchestn City Councillor, was pressured to sign agreements in support of Trans Mountain, which he refused. The pressure was mounting because his son, who lived there in his house, was one of the main faces of the pipeline opposition. The current pipeline and proposed expansion cross the Lower Nicola Band reserve lands in the interior of southern B.C.
The community of 1,300 people, one of 15 communities in the Nlaka`pamux Nation, is negotiating with Kinder Morgan, but has not yet decided whether or not to sign a performance agreement. ”When chiefs are forced to sign agreements to ensure environmental protection knowing that they are being denied the right to consultation and consent, it is not FPIC,” he said. ”This is a strategy to reduce damage and provide their lands and waterways with completely different protection from consent.” He said that signing a performance contract does not mean that the company has consent to cross the territory of the Nlaka`pamux Nation. Expansion to bring more than $500 million in benefits through community agreements. The agreements reaffirm Trans Mountain`s commitment to providing direct benefits through jobs, education and business opportunities, including by supporting necessary upgrades to municipal infrastructure. Nevertheless, Coastal GasLink has signed mutual benefit agreements with five of the six chiefs elected by the federally created Wet`suwet`en bands. (The company also says it has contracts worth $825 million. CAD to Indigenous and local businesses.) According to the consolidated financial statements of Tk`emlúps te Secwe̓pemc or the Kamloops Indian Band, the Band Council received just over $3 million in 2016 in exchange for signing a mutual benefit agreement with Kinder Morgan. It is not clear whether this was a one-time or annual payment. McKenzie`s spiritual connection to the land where he grew up harvesting fish and berries led him to hold rallies and candlelight vigils in Kamloops to oppose Trans Mountain.
McKenzie`s elders taught him the Secwepemc law, X7ensqt, which translates to ”the earth (and heaven) will turn against you” if you disregard the earth. The agreements are an important step forward in building strong relationships to address environmental, archaeological and cultural heritage concerns, as well as to provide jobs, training, business opportunities and other benefits to the community. A B.C. First Nation wants to renegotiate its Trans Mountain expansion performance agreements, which were signed before Ottawa bought the pipeline, according to a city councillor. .