B.C. park to close again as province continues negotiation with First Nations

Joffre Lakes in B.C. is seen in this undated image. (Shutterstock)

Joffre Lakes Park will close to the public again Tuesday, as the province and First Nations continue negotiations about how to move forward with reconciliation on the site.

On Aug. 24, the Lil'wat and N’Quatqua First Nations, who call the park Pipi7iyekw and say they have occupied and used the land since time immemorial, announced the park's closure. It was temporarily reopened for the Labour Day long weekend in what Lil'wat chief Dean Nelson described as a gesture of goodwill.

"I’d like to express my appreciation to the Lil’wat Nation for their engagement this week as we actively work with them to ensure there is space and privacy for cultural practices,” said Environment Minister George Heyman in a joint statement issued on Friday evening.

“As these conversations continue, it is our commitment to finding solutions that meet all our interests and promote reconciliation of First Nation rights and title. We are optimistic that through conversations, a solution can be met.”

The First Nations said the closure was meant to protect privacy in the popular park for traditional harvesting and spiritual activities.

Their announcement references a variety of legal grounds for asserting the nations' right to close the park, including the goals of the provincial park's Visitor Use Management Strategy and its Management Action Plan, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Supreme Court of Canada's Tsilhqot'in decision affirming Indigenous land rights.

“We will be in further conversations with the Province over the coming weeks to support reconciliation and the Nation’s long-term interests in the area,” Nelson wrote in Friday's statement.

The original statement from the First Nations said the park would be closed until Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

In Friday's statement, neither the province nor the First Nations have indicated when the next closure will come to an end, but the BC Parks website says it will remain in effect for three days.

"All parties want to thank everyone for respecting park ranger guidance and Nation members, and we appreciate people’s understanding and assistance in providing the space to seek solutions," Friday's statement concluded.

In recent years, Joffre Lakes has grown into one of B.C.'s best-known and most popular provincial parks, largely thanks to Instagram and other social media sites, where users have flocked to share photos of the lakes' turquoise-blue waters.

The park drew more than 196,000 visitors in 2019, a 222 per cent increase from the number who visited in 2010.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joffre Lakes has been one of several popular parks subject to day pass requirements aimed at avoiding overcrowding.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ian Holliday