lost their way

The BC Supreme Court released a decision in June of 2021 (Yahey v British Columbia), ruling that the rights of the Blueberry River First Nations under Treaty 8 in northeast British Columbia had been infringed by the cumulative impacts of industrial developments within Blueberry’s traditional territory, including forestry, oil and gas, renewable energy and agriculture.

Justice Burke went looking for evidence that Blueberry’s way of life had been infringed. Her judgement includes:

I conclude that the Treaty’s promise has been infringed. I note in brief as follows:
 
1. Way of Life
 
[1118]  Blueberry’s Dane-zaa way of life is connected to and dependent on the land and wildlife. Blueberry members have, for centuries, moved throughout the territory on a seasonal basis to take advantage of the available resources. They continue this practice today. Blueberry members plan and schedule hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering activities to ensure a steady supply of game, fish and plant resources, and to allow areas to rejuvenate. Members have intimate knowledge of the areas within the territory and their resource potential.
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​Way of life is a very broad concept which changes over time. In 1899 there weren’t supermarkets, cars and kids’ sports; these things are now part of the current way of life for all. The Blueberry no longer have to kill a moose to survive the winter, although they may hunt for sport or to offset the high prices of meat at the Safeway in Ft. St. John.
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The wording of Treaty 8 includes: Her Majesty the Queen HEREBY AGREES with the said Indians that they shall have right to pursue their usual vocations of hunting, trapping and fishing throughout the tract (emphasis added) … but their usual vocations have changed, and may change again in another 100 years. A pretty good appeal could have been based on Justice Burke’s misinterpretation of treaty wording but then-Attorney General, David Eby, decided otherwise.

The plaintiff in this landmark case was Marvin Yahey who was the Blueberry Chief earning over $100,000/yr. tax-free. He also had an oilfield services company. His vocational way of life may have been dependent on the land, but only to the degree that it needed to be prepared for oil & gas exploration. Only 6 months after establishing his lawsuit, he signed an agreement with LNG pipeline builder TransCanada, as set out in a BOE report:

“We believe the pipeline project will benefit our members today and for future generations, both financially and in terms of employment for our members,” said Chief Marvin Yahey.

The next year (2016) Blueberry received $1,741,199 from TransCanada, according to their financial statements.

In 2020, amidst ongoing attempts by other Blueberry councillors and members to have him removed as Chief, Energetic City ran a story about a lawsuit against Yahey:

The plaintiffs argue that since Chief Yahey remains the President and only officer and director of Yahey Brothers Enterprises Ltd., he has not followed the Custom Code and has benefited financially from being Chief of the community.

In the lawsuit, the Councillors give one example that they believe shows the Chief benefited financially when his company, Yahey Brothers Enterprises, worked and benefited from a Gas Link contract in 2017.
 
Current Chief, Judy Desjarlais, played an active part in the attempt to overthrow Chief Yahey. She has been very pro-development:

Desjarlais explained how important the oil patch was to her community, in a December 2020 article by The Orca:

Judy says there are close to 25 Indigenous-owned businesses that provide services to the oil and natural gas industry in her community. “That's feeding their families. That's going back into their community. And it's making a living.”

Since the Treaty 8 ruling, and with the huge sums of money now heading in Blueberry’s direction, Desjarlais seems to have changed her tune. Like former Chief Yahey, she is apparently oblivious to her role in the desecration of the environment and is now a land protector. A recent story from Northern Beat sets out her unexpected alarm:

“Sites were being built, well pads being built, facilities being built, logging going on and nobody was really questioning it,” said Desjarlais.

Then, emotional that the territorial ruin is finally coming to an end:

For Blueberry Chief Desjarlais, the relief connects most poignantly to her grandmother, who witnessed the decimation of the land she loves over her lifetime.

“The heartbreak and the sadness that I’ve witnessed in my own grandmother’s eyes, about the impacts of development within our traditional territory (and) … how it was before development,” Desjarlais said.

“It was almost at the point of decimation, completely destructed.”

Poor Granny … yet, apparently with little regard for her pain, Desjarlais and her husband built up Top Notch Oilfield Contracting Ltd. from a single piece of equipment in 2014 to over 105 units today, dispatching them to previously pristine wildlife areas throughout the traditional territory. The business is still active notwithstanding the family angst.

Part of the Treaty 8 settlement from BC is a $200 million restoration fund which, in a funny twist, will put Chief Desjarlais in charge of the remediation required for the damage caused in part by her company. But Desjarlais and Top Notch are not alone. As previously mentioned there are close to 25 Blueberry businesses, in an on-reserve community of just 200 members, servicing the oil patch. This ratio is likely the same for other First Nations in the Peace region.

Logging and the oil patch have long replaced hunting, fishing and trapping as the primary means of indigenous livelihood, yet we are supposed to accept that the Blueberry and other First Nations have sustained great financial loss due to wildlife diminishment. As announced by Marc Miller, Minister of indigenous Services, and reported by CTV News: the feds will kick in $800 million as monetary compensation under the settlement, noting it's owed to the First Nations and not “free money.”

This compensation amounts to almost $850,000 per on-reserve person for the 5 First Nations involved. Sorry to disagree with the Minister, but for a family like the Desjarlais who have made an excellent living despite purportedly losing their way of life, it is indeed “free money”.

Also, beyond the dollars involved and thanks to Justice Burke, the Chief representing the small village of Blueberry River First Nations will now pretty much have veto powers regarding the issuing of oil & gas permits over the most important area (Montney play) for this resource in Canada. How is this not a conflict of interest situation many times greater than what Desjarlais and her cohort accused former Chief Yahey of?

Meanwhile, every other First Nation in BC salivates over this simmering precedent.
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