Squamish Nation embarks on ambitious plan to become one of largest developers in Canada
The Squamish Nation announced Wednesday it intends to undertake comprehensive developments on 350-acres of land spread on several parcels in North and West Vancouver, Squamish and on the Sunshine Coast.
Over the next 12 months the nation and Nch’ḵay̓, its development corporation, will complete a comprehensive evaluation of the various sites to come up with plans for the best possible use at each specific location.
Those uses could include residential, commercial and industrial and some sites could be mixed-use.
“For a long time, the fight was to get a seat at the table but where we are going now is that we’re actually going to be the ones creating the table and inviting others to sit at our table,” said Khelsilem, elected chairperson of the Squamish Nation.
“All of these things require partnerships. We won’t be able to do it alone. They all require municipal service agreements, they require financing, they require all kinds of business partnerships for procurement and contracting and other things.”
The announcement comes as excavation and early phases of construction continue at Sen̓áḵw, the development on Squamish reserve land at the south end of the Burrard Bridge.
Eventually Sen̓áḵw, which is billed as the largest First Nations economic development project in Canadian history, will feature more than 6,000 rental homes in 11 towers.
Mindy Wight, CEO of Nch’ḵay̓ says the process undertaken over the next year will provide insight into how dense development could be at some of the future projects.
“We are keenly aware of the housing shortage and the crisis that’s facing the Lower Mainland and this forms part of the solution,” Wight said. “It will be addressed as part of the work that we are going to undertake.”
For projects on reserve lands, the Squamish are not obligated to conform to the local land use planning process of municipal governments.
Those lands fall outside of municipal jurisdiction and their use is at the sole discretion of the Squamish Nation and its development corporation – although it will need to develop service agreements with adjacent municipalities as it did with Vancouver as part of the Sen̓áḵw development.
Municipalities, corporations and individuals have long profited off the development of lands that fall within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Squamish Nation.
CTV News asked Khelsilem if the developments to be undertaken are part of a process of reclaiming power for the Squamish Nation.
“There’s a history of where we’ve been and the things that have happened that really denied or delayed the success of our community. The challenges, the roadblocks that were put up, the injustices that happened that really set our people back,” he said.
“We’re actually going to be in the driver’s seat to shape the future of our cities and what they look like, and what they feel like and who lives there. It’s exciting for us to be able to do that kind of work.”
The Squamish Nation and Nch’ḵay̓ say in approximately 12 months time they will publically present more comprehensive plans for the sites along with an approximate timetable for when various developments could begin and be completed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.