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Governance committee disbands

Lack of support for amalgamation referendum dooms Cultus process

Paul J. Henderson, The Times

Published: Friday, April 30, 2010

Cultus Lake won't become part of the City of Chilliwack any time soon as the committee tasked with addressing governance decided not to hold a referendum and was disbanded on Wendesday.

The motion to disband the committee was passed by a vote of four to three at the final meeting of the Cultus Lake Governance Committee.

The committee's task was to look at the issue of amalgamation of Cultus Lake with Chilliwack as this was the only option for future Cultus governance the provincial government would support.

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The Cultus Lake Governance Committee has disbanded despite opposition from Sacha Peter (left), Dave Lamson and Dave Clyne.

Paul J. Henderson/TIMES

But amalgamation would only have been possible if the interested parties, which include the Soowahlie band, agreed to a referendum, something Soowahlie Chief Otis Jasper said they do not support given ongoing land claims.

The city's position was that amalgamation would only be possible if the province provided funding for a number of expenses that would have to be incurred. Some included: upgrades to sewer and water systems; closure of the landfill at Cultus; funds for summer policing; and maintenance of Columbia Valley Highway.

In a letter sent to the city dated Feb. 8, deputy minister Dale Wall said no to all of the city's requests.

"I would not be entirely honest if I didn't say I was disappointed," Mayor Sharon Gaetz, who chaired Wednesday's meeting, said of the decision to disband.

But Gaetz said without provincial help, the costs of amalgamation would be too onerous to city taxpayers.

"There is no way we would be able to sell this to the people of Chilliwack," she said, in support of the motion to disband and not hold a referendum.

"It seems to me the process has kind of come to a pause," Coun. Pat Clark said.

But Cultus Lake Park Board commissioner Sacha Peter, Fraser Valley Regional District electoral Area E director Dave Lamson, and Cultus Lake Community Association representative Dave Clyne voted against the motion.

Peter said despite the costs the city cannot afford and despite Soowahlie's lack of support for a referendum, it should have been done anyway to "provide an element of certainty."

He figured if the people of Chilliwack voted against amalgamation, the issue would be put to rest, at least temporarily. If voters voted for amalgamation, that might spur the provincial government to deal with Soowahlie and come to the table regarding costs.

Lamson said he and others had been involved in this governance issue for about a decade and suggested a referendum would at least carry on some element of democracy.

Cathy Watson, director of structure and First Nation relations, the Ministry of Community and Rural Development's representative, said a referendum would likely be pointless as the minister would have a hard time accepting the outcome when both Soowahlie and the city don't want one held at all.

"I appreciate that the residents of Cultus Lake find this process disappointing," Watson said.

Soowahlie researcher Larry Commodore was invited to the meeting to give some historical context to the Cultus Lake area from a Soowahlie perspective. Jasper, a committee member, was not available to attend.

Governance committee disbands

Lack of support for amalgamation referendum dooms Cultus process

Paul J. Henderson, The Times

Published: Friday, April 30, 2010

Commodore told the committee and the public in attendance that "The land that is now Cultus Lake Park was once Soowahlie."

He talked about "government trickery" employed to take land away from Soowahlie to build the road to Cultus Lake in November 1934. He was also critical of municipal relations with the band in the past but said his people do have fond memories of the area.

After the meeting, Peter posted on his blog that he was disappointed the committee was dissolved with hope that one day there could be some closure on the governance is

"Perhaps a new [committee] later will need to be reconstituted with a different terms of reference, but the feeling I have is that the wheel will be re-invented until the Soowahlie claim with the province is resolved," he wrote.

© Chilliwack Times 2010

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