As a senior negotiator with the provincial Ministry of Indigenous Relations met with District of Squamish council, local climbers urged authorities to consider keeping a popular climbing area out of a proposed land deal.
The meeting on Oct. 22 was intended to provide council with a general background on how the province goes about transferring land to First Nations.
Negotiator Christie Harvie touched on the proposed land transfer to the Squamish Nation as part of a deal it made with respect to Woodfibre LNG.
As part of the deal, a popular climbing area by Murrin Park called Petrifying Wall could be transferred to the Nation. Recreationalists fear that this could limit access to climbers.
Upon learning this, climbers expressed dismay, saying they were not consulted on the matter.
While Harvie did not speak directly to those concerns during the presentation, she acknowledged generally there have been issues with looping in affected groups.
“I know internally we’re having a number of conversations on how can we better engage the public,” she said. “The feedback is definitely we need to be better.”
She also said the land transfers haven’t occurred yet and there’s still time for dialogue.
“I’m an Indigenous person. I’ve been a climber for 22 years. I’ve been in, out and around the Squamish Nation territory,” said Harvie.
“Absolutely, I want to ensure I get all the information possible and build the best relationships possible when we do the agreements.”
Later, she told The Chief that she couldn’t comment on the letters received before council, as she hadn’t seen them, but that she was working to try and create dialogue between the Nation and the Squamish Access Society, which represents climbers’ interests.
“I think there’s a lot of common ground there,” Harvie said. “I think there’s not necessarily inconsistent or incompatible interests as long as people are taking a very collaborative approach.”
There were no climbers at the meeting, but prior to its start, council received several emails, some from prominent members of that community.
“I’m absolutely astounded that climbers and climbing advocacy groups were not consulted before this took place,” wrote Marc Bourdon, an author of several popular Squamish climbing guidebooks.
“Losing Petrifying Wall would be devastating to the climbing community,” he wrote. “Climbers travel from around the world to test themselves on Squamish granite, and Petrifying Wall hosts some
of the best steep face climbs in our entire region.”
Squamish Access Society chair Toby Foord-Kelcey — writing on his behalf, not the society’s — wrote that according to climbing lore, Alex Honnold, the star of the hit documentary Free Solo, spent a summer working on climbs on that wall.
Previously Coun. Khelsilem, a spokesperson for the Nation told The Chief some of the lands that were part of the Woodfibre LNG deal were originally part of negotiations under the BC Rail agreement in the early 2000s.
“They’ve been on the books as sites identified for repatriation to the Nation for quite a long time, prior to even the Woodfibre project being considered,” he said in June when the agreement became public knowledge.
“The agreement is just concluding what had previously been identified as a priority for the Nation. And the lands have come back to the Nation.”
Harvie said concerned parties could contact the Ministry of Indigenous Relations or email her at [email protected].
***Updated Oct. 28 to clarify that Foord-Kelcey's statement about Honnold is based on climbing lore.
***Editor's note: A picture of Squamish Nation Council was removed to clarify this matter was discussed at a District of Squamish council meeting, not at a Nation meeting.
