The agriculture of farmed salmon

 The agriculture of salmon delivers pathogen-free, genetically-consistent farm animals produced on a scientific basis, as food safe as you get from any farms in the world. 

As a matter of fact, the science of agriculture is humanity's first science, after first aid, one presumes. It would be humanity's move toward civilization. 

The agriculture of fish is no less of a move toward living in civilization than agriculture of wheat, or canola. This is a move toward food security and better health, considering the scientific standards applied to the production of these animals.

If there wasn't a hidden agenda, somewhere, this reality would not be in dispute.

How much more destruction of the ocean environment results from overfishing? Entire ecosystems will collapse if humanity over fishes the oceans.

In relation to the true nature of issues, the world's environment as impacted by agriculture is nothing compared to the plunder of resources.

The reason the salmon in pens are any issue whatsoever, is, honestly the politicians who govern Canada in a manner that says, "We know something you don't," when they don't listen to the science, the market, the labor force, and the people in communities where industry wants to invest.

They govern Canada like it's a lost cause, in so many ways, including this issue with the agriculture of salmon on the longest coast in the world. As long as Canadians allow political parties to govern this way, it's going to feel like a lost cause, and turn into a lost cause. And there is no reason on Earth for this to be the case. And no reason why Canadians in British Columbia, including Indigenous Canadians, cannot continue to farm salmon for millions of consumers.

First Nations Tribal Journeys | Standing Together 2017

Tribal Journeys to We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum 

First Nations Hosting Standing Together 2017

Geothermal dialogue regards First Nations projects in Canada

NextEnergy's Dave Weber describes geothermal energy this way, "It's not complicated, in fact it's really quite simple. A heat exchanger works the same as a refrigerator, and what it's doing is taking heat from the ground and with a heat pump it's sending heat through the house. The heat pump goes in the basement to replace the gas or oil furnace and the ground heat is extracted by pipes laid in the ground, with horizontal arrays generally excavated to about 6 feet in depth, or from holes drilled a couple hundred feet deep."
     

Weber says, "When the ground extraction is from an array of drilled holes the depth is generally about 200 feet. Making a vertical array shrinks the footprint of the ground loop array, but it's more expensive to go vertical because the drilling cost is higher than the cost of excavation." Weber maintains that the expense may be higher but the process remains feasible. "With specialization in the drilling equipment and process the cost is coming down a bit. Unlike a water well hole you only drill about 5 inches wide. The pipe goes down and there are two u-shaped bends that return the ground-heated water to the heat exchanger."
     

He adds, "In the horizontal array you go below the frost-line, sometimes as deep as eight feet, depending on the climate. Either system is returning ground heat to a NextEnergy geothermal heat pump." The heat exchange units carry a 10 year warranty on the machinery, one of the most comprehensive in the industry. NextEnergy is a strong advocate of complying with industry standards making sure all the installations are done by the right people. "NextEnergy personally hand picks our certified contractors and put them through a rigorous selection process before we sign them on. They are all trained and certified by our in-house experts."
     

Weber says, "These are all independent contractors working in a period of unbelievable growth of this technology." The company's network of installers is setting the bar. He notes that current federal and provincial incentives permit up to $9,000 to be invested in green energy solutions by householders in some provinces, although different circumstances probably apply to Indian Reserves, where the Canada Economic Action Plan is currently underway.
    

 "Geothermal is basically solar energy because the sun heats the earth and pipes are extracting the heat," says Weber. "The systems use 3/4 inch plastic pipe looped in an array that runs across an excavated area to create the energy source. Calculations are based on the size and heat loss of the house, ground conditions and climate. The flow of the loop is controlled by a flow-centre monitoring system mounted on the wall." The regulated flow applies to individual circuits and the flow conducts through the acreage or you can do a pond loop to extract heat from the water. Ground loops can also be pre-arranged in subdivisions by the developer. There are geothermal subdivisions like Sun Rivers in Kamloops, BC.
     

Ground Source Drilling Ltd. is expert in geothermal drilling  for residential and commercial purposes. "We are based in Kelowna, B.C., and serve many locations throughout both B.C. and Alberta," says Lori Faasse, general manager. They are geothermal drillers only, "Specializing in this one field allows us to be extremely competitive in our pricing. Our drillers are certified through the BC Ministry of Environment and all of our drill rigs are successful at working in many different mud and air rotary conditions. We have good working relationships with many regional heat pump installers. We can work directly with you or through your installer and if you do not have a geothermal system installer we can assist you in finding one. We want to help you meet your geothermal goals."
     

The company is a family-owned and operated business with many years of experience in the drilling business. "Drilling holes for geothermal is different depending on the area. You will have to drill to 300 feet maximum in some areas, but on average the depth of hole is about 200 feet," says Faase. "The number of holes to be drilled depends on the ground type involved and the size of the house to be heated."  Ground Source Drilling does the drilling for Sun Rivers Construction in the award winning Kamloops subdivision that leads with innovation in 'greening' their community, in part by building geothermal heating and air-conditioning systems into their house construction since 1999.
    

 "Our drilling for them is on-going and it continues to be a show-piece housing development in geothermal construction. The drilling portion of a geothermal/geo-exchange installation costs anywhere between $8,000 and $15,000 for a house, depending on the size of the house and the number and depth of holes in the array of drilled ground loops." Faase says there are a few areas in the province where you can't do a geothermal installation because the cost of drilling becomes prohibitive, but they work in B.C. and Alberta installing these ground loops and, "usually the first test holes will prove it."
     

Progressive Geothermal Ltd. is a geothermal installation company that operates out of Kitimat, B.C., "I've been installing geothermal and geo-exchange systems in the North West Coast for the past three years," says Paul Silvestre, the principle of the company that installs Nordic Canadian heat exchange systems designed and built in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick. "I trained on the installation of geothermal systems in Calgary and did residential and designer installation courses. It was a two-week course and I went into it as a journeyman heavy-duty mechanic."
    

 He liked the concept from deciding on the heating method to be installed on his own property. "Retrofits are definitely do-able. I would typically go to an engineering firm and design the system based on the heat-loss calculation of the building," says Silvestre. "I would do a site visit and check the age of the building, the walls and windows, the type of insulation, and we would determine the number of BTU's required to heat the building."
     

Silvestre says the northern reaches of B.C. where he lives and works contains many communities that are diesel dependent for their heat, and it might well be electric heat. "They need electrical energy to heat the water in their houses. Cost efficiencies would be found in extracting heat from the ground for houses instead of burning diesel to create electricity to heat houses."; while heat exchangers require electricity the electrical demand on the diesel generator would drop by a significant amount.
     

"I've done vertical systems where the pipes are laid into drilled holes, and I've done horizontal arrays in the Kitimat region." Silvestre says it takes about a day and a half to install a slinky coil horizontal loop of about 100 feet by 50 feet with a depth of about 6 to 8 feet, depending on the soil. "The loops of slinky coil use a lot less ground area and reduced excavation brings down costs." The loops contain a solution or water to extract the earth's heat which is circulated through the Nordic heat exchanger, and "You're not losing effectiveness with a properly coiled horizontal ground loop. The more expensive way comes when drilling an open loop at $40 per foot down two wells to the required depth." The depth varies depending on the availability of water whereupon one well extracts the water for the heat exchanger while the other well returns source  ground water to the aquifer.
    

 Silvestre refers next to the closed loop method of extracting heat from the earth, "It's called the closed loop of multiple wells joined at the 'header' that can be located in the basement of the building and this header has multiple valves to control circulation from the wells." The heat exchanger will generate four tonnes of 'refrigeration' power which is enough to heat or cool a 2,000 sq ft house. A Nordic unit of the required  size costs between $4,500 and $5,000. "The most expensive aspect of a geothermal installation is the excavation or drilling for heat extraction."
     

Regarding the expense of design and installation of geothermal systems, it is the rising cost of hydro and natural gas (and the cost to install natural gas lines) or burn diesel or propane that should be factored into the investment. "There is also the reduction of green house gases and the quiet way of heating the system affords." At his location on the Pacific coast there are communities that would be able to install ocean loops as the way to extract the constant heat of the ocean water. "For some communities there may be added cost because of government regulation and worries about losing the loops to an active fishery. Hartley Bay is a community right beside the ocean and they installed a horizontal ground loop system," partly because it was safer in consideration for their active fishery in immediate vicinity of their village on Hecate Strait.
     

Greenray Geothermal has been installing geothermal energy systems for the past four years  along the Sunshine Coast of B.C., doing installations from Gibsons to Pender Harbour. Joe Fleischer a Next Energy dealer who became a certified installer with Canadian GeoExchange Coalition certification. Fleischer says Canada has variety in the opportunities to employ geothermal and geo-exchange technology to heat homes and save on energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, "Ocean loops are popular forms of extracting geothermal energy on the west coast," a system of pipes that extracts the constant heat in the ocean to be used for house and hot water heating or air-conditioning in the summer.
     

He notes this form of heat extraction can also be achieved from lakes or ponds, "Ocean loops and geo-exchange arrays in lakes and ponds are very compact, 10 feet by 25 feet of coiled pipe will supply 4,000 tonnes of extractable heat energy." (1,000 tonnes of geothermal energy is the equivalent of 24,000 BTUs ant that is enough 'heat exchanged energy' to make a tonne of ice in 24 hours.)
    

The application of this energy source is becoming more common every day, "The new BC Ferry terminal at Departure Bay is heated and cooled by geothermal extracted by ocean loop." Ocean loops are unobtrusive and highly efficient both in extracting energy for minimal cost but also for the low cost of installation. An array of pipes can be arranged under a dock or pier and the energy extraction process can proceed with either water or methanol or ethanol propoline glycol flowing inside the geo-exchange array of loops. "The ocean has so much thermal mass that it efficiently pays for itself." Fleischer says ocean loops are efficient and affordable.
     

Horizontal ground loop arrays are put in the ground usually less than 8 feet deep beneath an excavation, "Sechelt First Nation put an underground geothermal array, known as a ground loop, to feed heat energy into five houses." Elsehwhere he says the method in the City of Vancouver is usually to drill from 150 feet to 300 feet to extract heat energy from the earth. "It costs about $15 a foot to drill the holes where it is a feasible ground heat source and one hole will supply 1,000 tonne of geothermal energy so it takes four holes to heat and cool a 2,000 square foot house and supply hot water." Sound proofing around the heat exchange unit makes for a quiet that surpasses air blown furnace heat.
     

Fleischer recently did a geo-exchange installation in Powell River on the Sunshine Coast, and says, "I'd like to get involved with training some people to do geothermal because the demand for installations is growing." There is presently a shortage of installers." Geothermal companies need people qualified to install it, "and it's a physical job," with excavations usually done by hired contractors, then, once the pipes are laid, there are pressure tests to conduct on pipes that are arrayed in tight concentric loops.

     

Pipes are warrantied for 50 years. They call geothermal taking heat from the lap of mother nature, "It's a pure form of heat unlike combustion furnaces that exceed 180 degrees of burning temperatures," literally frying the dust that is blown into the house, and geothermal extraction can come from creative thinking and new sources, "There is a trend in the US toward tapping municipal water systems for their geothermic mass."
    

Jim Croken has been installing geothermal and geoexhange systems in the Okanagan region of B.C. and beyond for the past ten years, and his son Nick has taken an educational pathway into mechanical engineering that will take the family business much farther than Jim might have imagined. Nick is a believer in the geothermal business, knowledgeable enough to write a scholarship-winning treatise about a unique geo-exchange project that took a different tack. Geothermal requires a heat source, water or ground, and these sources equal amazing cost efficiencies in the production of heat energy. Nick studied a geo-exchange project that took heat from the milk extracted from cows and returned it into barn heat, producing ideal conditions for milking in all seasons.
     

"I built my house ten years ago when I was an electrical contractor," says Jim,  "The gas company informed me that it would cost $10,000 to get a gas-line to my house." Jim started doing the research and discovered a business opportunity that fit nicely within his skills and business sense. Soon he was building an enterprise around what seemed like a simple solution for his own purposes. Since then he's done over 200 installations from the Okanagan to Fort St. John, including everything from residential to agricultural (dairy barns, chicken coops) and multi-family dwellings, like 30 unit condominiums. "We target our business opportunities that are off the natural gas grid and those are a lot of places in B.C., including most of the territory east of Revelstoke. 

A good first example of implementation of APSA certification

credit Mainstream Canada

A recent announcement by the Aboriginal Aquaculture Association is receiving positive feedback on the west coast where so many communities are dependent on a marine economy that has disappeared for several years, practically a couple decades or more. The Aboriginal Principles for Sustainable Aquaculture (APSA) standard of certification has been applied to Mainstream Canada, and, according to proponents, “other aquaculture companies are now inquiring about certification. What are the criteria?

“The AAA has been working with Ahousaht for a year to bring about APSA certification of Mainstream Canada operations.” APSA grew out of a strenuous academic exercise that began about half-a-decade ago, with the goal of making industry compliant with First Nations inherent interests and values. APSA certification will show the world that, “a company produced in a way that meets the needs of First Nations with a program approved by First Nations.”

Richard Harry is the president of the AAA, “We need to make the world understand and appreciate First Nations communities operating in aquaculture. It is the biggest employer in our communities. There are jobs for people which  sustains communities, and we are  partners in these endeavors.”

As a close observer of the industry over the years, Harry notes, “Fish farming is probably the most over-regulated industry in the country. To us, it`s operation standards that matter. And where the industry goes we need to be part of it. Fiirst Nations and the companies involved will   lead the APSA program. But the market place itself is probably the most important place.”

Harry says, “Since we lack resources to promote the certification, it`s the people who accept this form of certification that will do the promotion. I don`t know if it`s ever happened that a First Nation certification of an industry has occurred.”

The AAA mission statement is to support First Nation sustainable aquaculture in ways that support and respect First Nation community culture and values. It means First Nation-approved aquaculture products coming onto the market. During the years of development, “We looked at environmental issues first, then began looking deeper at the regulatory and government programs, both mandatory and voluntary, including issues like compliance to ISO 14000, environmental permitting and assessments, government and community protocols.”

The AAA designed the criteria beginning with environmental performance of these companies and industries, “a performance that has to be better understand by public. But we also realized the need for monitoring social aspects of aquaculture, that we should focus on the economic impact in communities, and cultural aspects, asking if aquaculture operators are meeting needs in local communities.”

Ahousaht is deeply engaged in the aquaculture and fish farm industry so it makes a good starting point for a certification program, and, Harry adds, “Mainstream has been working with Ahousaht for long time to develop the relationship, in fact, signing a protocol agreementl last year. They had a natural foundation for certification.” Thus fish farming received the first certification of aquaculture under APSA, but, “The whole idea is to go across all sorts of aquaculture. 

“But this is a good first example of implementation. AAA`s goal is to have APSA applied to any form of aquaculture, operator, and First Nation across the country.” APSA audits the economic, social, water and land use, personnel use, and applies to aquaculture on the ocean, or land, including hatcheries.

“It`s like any other certification program that has a set of criteria and those criteria were developed in cooperation with AAA and First Nations. You are talking about a set of criteria established by the AAA and First Nation communities done by a third party does audit process.”

The AAA has held a couple of workshops lately to inform First Nations about APSA and the benefits they should see, with a third meeting coming to Nanaimo May 25, 2011. Contact AAA at 250-286-9939 visit www.aboriginalaquaculture.com

Klahoose First Nation setting an independent economic development course for the future

A new Klahoose First Nation administration facility puts a beautiful face on the future overlooking Desolation Sound from Squirrel Cove is being built from, "our own-source revenue that is funding the buildings," explains Chief Ken Brown. James Delorme editor of the Klahoose F.N.'s daily current account of the nation, says, "From the Squirrel Cove store you can clearly see the massive beams competing with the trees in the skyline. The main rafters are in place and now the final roof is being installed. Windows are near completion and walls are being erected to finish the various rooms inside."
    

Chief Brown, says, "No federal money is being used to build these structures. We are trying to get away from the dependency on INAC for our own community development." The chief wants to break the cycle of easy-come-easy-go federal transfer payments, a dependency cycle that grew in part from the wreckage left by Residential School system.
    

The chief says, "We are looking at what delivers results to our members, and we continue to promote the process of healing within our community," regarding these issues and the Chief who grew up in the nearby Comox Valley because Klahoose people stood in exile for many years in their history, exile by poverty that is.
    

The Nations being cut-off from their territory and left with a patchwork of the Indian Reserve properties, most of which became deserted by the people, for a complexity of reasons most of which are really bad news for Indian people, including that system that ran stolen children through a tortuous gauntlet that destroyed national aspirations and personal well-being in countless numbers of lives.
    

Construction of an 8-plex housing project starts now. This will create community restoration. The 11 or so Klahoose Indian Reserves may be largely deserted, but a couple hundred people with growing families can look to the future of a place in the Cortes Island community that survived the onsluaht and now begins to thrive again.
    

It is job-one with the chief to make skill development a priority that neatly follows healing. The chief envisions the future where his able people return and reconstitute their former ways of industrious activity. It stems from healing, indeed, and the chief says, "We believe in the whole idea of Residential School healing. Workshops must continue to promote well-being and encourage our people to reach higher to a better future for themselves and the generations to come."
    

He also needs healthy and well adjusted people to steer the course, "We have a lot of balls in the air, juggling a host of opportunities to set an independent course for our community." A solid start is the Klahoose First Nation involvement with run-of-river hydro developments underway with Plutonic Power. The power projects are important, a steady stream of economic output flowing through Klahoose First Nation entities.
    

Forestry in the Toba Valley is a further keystone in their planning. "That is one source of investment and management and employment opportunities we are putting together for the members of Klahoose. We are changing the approach we take to the future as a community," says Brown.
   

 The Klahoose economic development activities include growing mussels, a mariculture industry in their native waters. It is the modern reality of First Nation communities, says Brown, "that the welfare culture has to be broken and thrown on the scrap heap. It has thrown all First Nation communities for a loop." 
     

Klahoose is a village of 80 people on Cortes Island. There does exist no less than another 200-plus members elsewhere and they would like to return to their traditional territory, still in their possession and tribal members. The community making opportunity possible by drawing people into Klahoose reserve on Cortes, beginning with new housing in the form of a six-plex housing development.
    

This will be followed by a series of building schedules on new housing. The other reserves may remain deserted for awhile, but new things are going under construction this spring and summer of 2010, and lasting into the autumn. In fact this month saw Slegg Lumber's Richard Maris delivering loads of lumber to get the process of construction started this month.
     

Brown says, "With our economic base we are bringing the blood back into the village. Klahoose has a number of uninhabited Reserve properties but the Cortes property has always contained the village." The economic foundations are laid so now there is a demand of labour and an opportunity for skill development, but it doesn't stop there. "We have big forestry development opportunities as well, including forestry that will ensue from the power developments in Toba Inlet," says the chief.
     

Klahoose are Coast Salish with close ties to Sliammon First Nation in the vicinity of Powell River. A lot of work gets done in Powell River on the forestry side in Klahoose. Late Autumn of 2009, "Chief Ken Brown signed the documents to complete the conversion of Tree Farm License 10 to Community Forest Agreement (CFA) K4C. The official licensee remains Klahoose Forestry Limited Partnership, which is operating for the sole benefit of Klahoose First Nation," says a leading forestry article on the Klahoose website (see 'Klahoose Converts Tree Farm License').
     

Editor James Delorme continues, "This was a key piece of the Incremental Treaty Agreement signed in March and a big step forward for us ensuring sustainable management of the valley and economic success for this business venture. This conversion is a first in the province and Klahoose now owns one of the largest CFAs in the province. In terms of re-branding, we may want to start referring to ourselves as Klahoose Community Forest (in Toba River valley)."
     

Chris Roddan of Qathen Xwegus Management Corporation, and a partner in Theechim Forest Management  says, "In our approved CFA Management Plan, we have committed to undertaking a timber supply review process and new AAC calculation before September 2011." The community forest planners engaged by Klahoose First Nation are proceeding after the First Nation obtained Forest Investment Account funding to begin the planning process.
     

"Along with long term timber supply planning, we have to develop strategic plans for conservation of old growth and wildlife habitat," says F. Oathen Xwegus and Theechim Management Group are the forestry management and engineering companies owned by Klahoose First Nation. A & A Trading of Vancouver is moving a lot of the timber into market for Klahoose.

Conference in Prince George looked at First Nation forestry future

Kathi Zimmerman is General Manager of Resources North in Prince George, B.C., the association hosting an important forestry conference in early March 2010. Zimmerman says, "In conjunction with FORREX, Green Heat Initiative and UNBC, we will be hosting the 'Bioenergy Solutions for Community Sustainability Workshop: Exploring Economic Diversification Options for Communities Impacted by the Mountain Pine Beetle'," and this event is running at the Prince George Civic Centre, March 2-4, 2010.

Resources North grew out of the McGregor Model Forest Network and the association has a five-year arrangement that started in 2007 for funding to assist communities transition into new opportunities. Forestry is an industry in transition and B.C. is a province in search of opportunities, says Zimmerman. "We are helping communities look at the options in all the resource sectors, with a mind to improving integration between them to reduce impacts and costs."

Topics on the workshop agenda include access to forest fibre, introduction to bio-mass conversion systems, First Nations Title and Rights implications, local case study presentations, funding opportunities, policies and regulations, emerging technologies, community readiness and partnership building.

The three-day event includes a series of field tours, presentations, displays and networking opportunities. "Options are being presented by bioenergy experts and practitioners from around the province, and participants, "will learn how biomass energy systems could provide First Nations and small rural communities with more accessible and cost-effective energy alternatives to natural gas, propane and other non-renewable energies."
     

Zimmerman remarks that a number of communities are being wooed by big industries, "Here's a pellet plant for you!" It's hard to make know what the best option is for your community so Resources North and their partners decided to host this forum to provide clarity, "We assembled an advisory group in a neutral meeting place to provide a broad range of perspectives and expertise on developing this workshop, and it has evolved to an amazing roster of speakers!"
     

Speakers will include:   Chief Geronimo Squinas, Lhtako Energy Corp., Don Gosnell, Resources Tenure Branch,  Ministry of Forest Resources, Dr. Fernando Preto, Canadian Biomass Innovation Network, Sam Kirsh, Baldy Hughes, Jim Savage, Quesnel Community Heating Project.
     

The conference is open to anyone who has an interest in learning about alternative biomass heating options. To find out more about the workshops and to register for any or all of the three days, visit the Resources North website at www.resourcesnorth.org

Zanzibar Holdings partner discusses their B.C. silviculture prospects in 2010

Tree planters are looking at 2010 with less certainty. There are 25 million less seedlings being planted in 2010 than 2009, according to Tony Harrison, Zanzibar Holdings. This is partly due to reduced funding for provincial funding called Forests for Tomorrow. The current funding of 44 million a year for the next 10 years will address about  4% of the need. Harrison says the growing carbon credits business and the new biomass proposals could help with some of the funding shortfall but there is a big gap to make up. 
     

FFT has been set up  to manage the work in Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) destroyed forests and is mandated to provide 25 percent of the work to First Nations. "First Nations could be key players in the business of carbon credits and silviculture. They have an potential role to play in negotiating carbon credits through treaty discussions." Pat Bell the BC minister of Forest recently said that he believes carbon credit sales will be funding a major source in the provincial silviculture in the near future.
     

This MPB crisis makes everybody in the forestry industry a little queasy. Harrison notes that B.C. is looking at 16 million hectares of MPB eaten forests. "There is a huge opportunity for the silviculture industry here that has been stalled for the past 5 years.
     
Zanzibar is a silviculture company with 120 employees, "For the past two years we've been working in joint ventures in the Cariboo country with members of the Shuswap nation and the Tsilhqot'in Nation Government (TNG) . Presently we are working with Western Silviculture Contractors Association (WSCA) on the issues of First Nation participation with the discussion to centre on the lack of First Nation silviculture businesses involved in the FFT program.
    

 For the past couple years Zanzibar has been planting and surveying in First Nation territory, "We've been working with them to put the Bands in profitable situations and workers are making a good living. The province has a history of Bands launching into silviculture and failing but the partnerships we have formed make the process work."
     

Harrison says the training aspect of silviculture adds 20 percent to the cost of a tree-planting operation, but is well worth the investment. FFT in the Cariboo has supported First Nations to date but there is a need to expand the program and continue to promote joint ventures between local Bands and experienced contractors. Unfortunately because of the downturn in the forest industry and Federal and Provincial governments cutting back funding there is less opportunity at a time when our forests need silviculture the most. "We should be planting 250 million seedlings a year, but this previous year the province planted 200 million. In 2010 the province will plant 175 million," and next year we may be down as low as 150 million new trees will go in the ground.
     

The Tsilhqot'in National Government and Secwepmec ( Northern Shuswap) will be gearing for tree-planting operations that are so much in demand because the MPB has been especially virulent in the heart of their traditional territory. WSCA sponsored First Nation Silviculture Safety training sessions will be available this April in Williams Lake."

New power makes Douglas First Nation feel connected

The Lower St'at'mx First Nations have a world of opportunity at hand as they become part of  energy developments that make new opportunities available. Douglas First Nation partnered with Cloudworks Energy to help bring hydro-electric power into Douglas First Nation for the first time in history. This benefits Douglas and other In-SHUCK-ch member-communities of the St'at'mx Nation.
     

There are less than a dozen villages left in the St'at'mx Nation, and four of those are known as In-SHUCK-ch, but the people of these villages and town-sites have occupied the deep valleys from Mt. Currie to Harrison Lake since time immemorial. A woman named Cinnamon from Mount Currie talked one afternoon on a mountain-top while looking down at one of the lakes, Seton Lake, east of Anderson Lake. She said her grandmother recalled the view from that mountain-top at night, that it sparkled like thousands of stars congregated around a dark void. Cities of people once surrounded these lakes, and the sparkling 'stars' were summer campfires. The pithouses were countless and the artifacts remain everywhere to be seen.
     

The St'at'mx Nation was reduced to 11 reserves, and this year hydro power will be available for the first time in history to Douglas First Nation Indian Reserves. These communities can envision the future with new optimism. Families can grow in the villages, other families can return, and business and employment opportunity will become an everyday reality.
     

Douglas First Nation is in the power business now. They generate electrical energy from five (of six) run-of-river hydro stations. The last one will be finished this year. They are partners with Cloudworks and have members with the latest construction skills working for Kiewit and Sons, general contractor on the Douglas First Nation/Cloudworks Energy series of run-of-river hydro projects. Nick Andrews is in liaison with Douglas First Nation for Cloudworks Energy, “It's a great accomplishment and great thing for the communities.” Cloudworks Energy started negotiations in 1999 toward this end. “You can see benefits already. Communities have new infrastructure and capacity for developments like new housing. They have growing communication infrastructure. They have electricity to grow with and they are starting to feel more connected,” literally and figuratively.
     

Other benefits to the power projects partnership include jobs in maintenance of the facilities. “Cloudworks is employing people in Douglas communities to help in the environmental monitoring and operations of the projects.  This means a commitment to training in areas such as mill-writing, environmental data collection, and construction.  Having people from the community working with us to bring sustainable economic development to their community is a great thing.”
     

Andrews alludes to the construction phase being a big boom in jobs that is gradually winding down, and the run-down of construction phases are passing by. The current construction program will be completed in 2010. This means Cloudworks will be moving on to new projects and they are one of the companies interested in the BC HYDRO call-for-power reportedly coming before spring. Meanwhile In-SHUCK-ch communities have built a great relationship with BC Transmission Corporation and Clare Marshal, Manager of Aboriginal Relations at BCTC is on a business development drive. One example of BCTC's Aboriginal business development initiative comes about from dialogue with the In-SHUCK-ch communities near Pemberton.
     

BC Transmission Corporation lines cross traditional territory of the In-SHUCK-ch, in fact, high-voltage BC HYDRO electrical capacity is generated in a site called Seton Portage with another reserve of the St'at'mx. BCTC entered a dialogue with In-SHUCK-ch leadership. Following dialogue Timberline Natural Resource Group joined the communities to train a team of vegetation managers for BCTC operations. The result was establishment of In-SHUCK-ch Development Corporation that works “to ensure electricity is transmitted uninterrupted while making rights-of-way and roads safer.”
     

Meanwhile Cloudworks continues to work in partnership with First Nations to bring much-needed green energy solutions to communities. “From here we work on projects in Chehalis and others with Douglas, and hopefully others up the valley in Sk't'ina and Shew'tk'wa. “Sustainable development is our guidepost. We are prudent in the use of infrastructure in remote areas. Our expertise is available for other opportunities.” One look around the province shows many places where Cloudworks can put its investments to work – one opportunity is the Highway 37 Transmission Line Proposal in Northwest B.C.. Other opportunities beckon on Vancouver Island, following the success of Hupacaseth and now Tla-o-qui-aht building run-of-river and making it their economic advantage.
     

Andrews notes, “In BC, people want their energy from clean and natural sources, and we believe that they will seize opportunities to switch from gas and diesel.  So we believe the demand for good energy projects will continue.  Working closely with First Nations is a vital part of creating projects which balance provincial goals with those of local communities.” 

Hecate Strait windpower project to power Haida Gwaii

Lucy Shaw is director of North Coast relations for NaiKun Wind Energy and this puts her in touch with Haida councils, Tsimshian councils, and Gitxsan councils in the Pacific North West of Canada. A lot of the activity involves Council of Haida Nation business arrangements, but a submarine cable that will deliver the wind power to the BC Hydro mainland puts Lucy in touch with Tsimshian in Lax W Alaams and Metlakatla, and the Gitsugulka of the Gitxsan nation.
     

“I've been working in the project since 2006,” says Lucy. “Initial discussions began in 2002 and it was four years of negotiations between our corporate heads and their leadership that began to  move the project to the ready.” She says that by 2007 the Haida and NaiKun had signed a Memorandum of Understanding that began to formalize arrangements and by 2009 the commercial partnerships had been formed.
     

Everybody can be proud of the seven year effort but the First Nations in particular find wind power to be an attractive way to build capacity for economic development. “It meets the bottom line regarding stewardship, employment and training, and equity ownership with long-term income,” says Lucy.
     

Protection of the environment is one of the primary goals of the people of these unique islands, and the Haida NaiKun Wind Operating Limited Partnership was formed around principles that flowed from the earliest discussions. The Haida Nation partnership includes equal seats on the board of directors and equal say in day-to-day operations in the operations of the wind farm.
     

“The Haida Nation's interest in the project includes the wind power generation facilities planned for the giant Hecate Strait, and equity interest in the cables that will deliver power not only to the mainland but also to Haida Nation communities. “Haida is burning diesel to create electricity,” said Lucy. “They wanted to put an end to that,” which created the need for the Haida Link, a smaller cable from the NaiKun array of turbines that will power up Haida Gwaii.
     

Wind will supply 90 percent of the power on Haida Gwaii when the project is all connected.  Diesel power generation will remain as a back-up system and will be operational for one month out of each year. “The wind power generation of electricity is going to save 26,000 tonnes of green house gas emissions.
     

Construction is awaiting the permitting process, completion of a purchasing agreement for the power with BC Hydro, and Environmental Assessment Certificates from the province, and approvals from Haida Nation when everybody’s ducks are in a row. Then they raise the money and start to build it, “over a three year seasonal construction schedule,” says Lucy. “It's a six-month building season and we hope to prepare the way with pre-construction activities.”
     

Assembly points and warehousing facilities for construction materials will be arranged, surveys and arrays of turbines will be finalized, and once permitting and procedures are finished the project construction will commence in 2012. “Foundations are constructed in the first and second years, and towers are raised in the second and third years,” says Lucy. “The electricity will be flowing by 2015.”
     

The Hecate Strait is the giant body of water between Haida Gwaii and the mainland that once was coursed by boatloads of Haida warriors and traders in the coastal Potlatch economy. "It's a great wind source with consistent winds and a shallow, relatively flat seabed," says Lucy. 
     

Meanwhile offices in Skidegate and Massett provide the connections to the Haida communities and currently as group of Haida Nation representatives are touring England where wind power is well-established.

Winton Global houses built by following the numbers and shooting the nails

Building much-needed new homes in remote locations is a challenge for many First Nation communities.  So much so that many are now pursuing the idea of using factory-built, precision-fit wood framing components to quickly erect more and better quality homes. 

     

Winton Global Homes, based in Prince George, BC, operates one of the most technologically advanced roof truss and wall-panel manufacturing facilities in Western North America.  Delivering factory-framed housing components to First Nation communities in order to help alleviate the crisis in housing has become a key focus of the company.

     

Marlene Fehr-Power, General Manager of Winton Global Homes in Prince George alludes to shifting preferences she has noticed when it comes to First Nation housing, "Over time, it is becoming more and more popular for forward-thinking First Nation communities to build multi-family dwellings as a part of their community plans."  

     

And the demand for housing is changing, says Marlene.  "First Nations have a growing number of elders in their communities and these folks often require a form of housing known as 'Visitable Housing'."  In simple terms, a Visitable Home is a home with a zero-step front entry and a bathroom on the main floor which incorporates a 3 ft. door.  "Visitable homes enhance inclusion and participation in community life," says Marlene, not to mention the advantages of easier long term care.

     

Winton Global Homes also produces floor systems, pre-built wall panel and engineered trusses for major urban projects as well.  "We have just finished building floors, walls and trusses for the Friendship House in Prince George, B.C., the new Prince George Native Friendship Centre Transition House that stands on the outer fringe of the city's downtown core. 

     

This major new facility provides a warm and safe home for many disabled and displaced people in the northern B.C. city, but the company also delivers home packages far afield as well.  "Our homes are shipped as far as Manitoba, and to the Pacific North West of the US." 

     

Marlene says, "The truth about factory-framed or panelized or packaged homes is that they shine as housing solutions in remote areas."  Many of the 700 Indian Reservations in Canada are remote and housing construction can cause difficulties when the planning isn't perfect.  But now, Winton Global Homes can deliver a new home package directly to site that requires nothing but assembly.  "It's all about controlling your costs.  With easy to assemble pre-built wall panel and engineered trusses all packaged up and delivered with windows, doors, siding and roofing, you can keep a tight reign on 'construction cost over runs' which are so common with other methods of building these days.  For people working within a budget this is the ideal solution."

     

This kind of cost control and efficiency applies to single family dwellings, multi-family projects and two-storey buildings as well.  

"We help communities build the homes they so desperately need, from design through materials selection through to complete assembly instructions and project coordination," she says.  "Our homes are basically assembled by number, and erected to 'lock-up' so finishing can occur on the inside."  

Once the basic outside portion of the home is built the inside work proceeds. The choice and design of a community's factory-framed, panelized homes for remote communities can be done via telephone and with the use of e-mail.  The factory in PG designs, builds and ships floor systems, numbered wall panels and engineered trusses directly to site for assembly.

     

"Follow the numbers and shoot the nails," says Marlene. "The personnel required to build the home only need a qualified carpenter on-site to help guide the process.  And, it goes very smoothly."  Remember, the procedure from lock-up is to install the electrical, plumbing, and heating systems that finish the new home in preparation for move-in day.  "The panel-built home is quickly erected and trades do the rest." 

     

As First Nations Drum reported previously this year, "We love a challenge in the design phase because our goal is to give the customer exactly what they want," says Marlene.  Winton Global Homes has been constructing panel-built housing for the past 30 years, previously doing business as Spruce Capital Homes.  Feel free to view a comprehensive selection of affordable new home designs at their Website by visiting www.wintonglobal.com .

Solar energy in Canada lags behind other industrial nations

First Power Canada is the brainchild of Joe Thwaites and his team from Taylor Munro Energy Systems that  brought to bear the training and skills development in the T-Sou-ke Nation Solar Demonstration Project on the south-west corner of Vancouver Island. The T'Sou-ke Nation installed an $800,000 array of solar energy in the Vancouver Island community to create passive solar electricity and solar thermal heat, light and power. "In summer," says Donna Morton, "the solar panels feed energy back into the BC HYDRO grid," making a valuable contribution to the First Nation community's economy.
    

Morton is founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Integral Economics (CIE), in Victoria, B.C.. First Power Canada is a partnership with Taylor Munro Energy Systems, Morton says, "First Power Canada is a project to creates funding, finance, training, and other community supports to First Nation communities wanting to gain energy autonomy. " The T'Sou-ke project is a prime example of the prowess for capacity building that First Power Canada intends to employ in a number of situations.
    

This kind of energy development is going to go much further in Canadian First Nations because the communities with resource bases and energy demands look to green energy solutions, and industry is making close liaisons to move projects like T'Sou-ke into the making. "Our organization," says Morton, "is geared to work with First Nation communities, Aboriginal organizations, and other groups that face significant barriers to working in the trades." The target audience includes immigrants and those who come from a background of poverty regardless of their origins. We work with people who have special gifts that may fall outside the world of book learning experience. We find the funding to do the training with partnerships in various organizations, adding value to the training and finding people in the margins of society."
    

Morton says, "We train anywhere and piggyback on existing training facilities; we train by doing. It's tactical training with a lot of hands-on building, testing, and learning to fix and maintain equipment in the real world. It's a crash course with apprenticeship qualities, but we employ variables by meeting and customizing the needs of communities. We take people where they are and use whatever skills they possess, in roofing, mechanicals, plumbing, carpentry, or electrical. Any one of these skills is a good entry and our training really works well on people who are jack-of-all-trades."
    

Morton notes that installing solar electrical and heating systems is an integrated trade. "Our training puts all those pieces together. Loggers and wood workers, unemployed mill-workers, these people have huge assets that are not being employed and no programs appear to exist for these people. There are not enough trained people in solar installation to meet the present demand and we hope to incubate the capacity for starting businesses, doing this for all kinds of reserves and bringing business to life in communities. Metis organizations and non-Status First Nation people and immigrant workers who come from a mix of ethnicities, our purpose is to cross the racial barriers."
    

Morton says North American use of solar energy is way behind developments in Europe. "They are 25 years ahead of us and have created a hundred thousand jobs. Solar installation is proceeding in Canada but 10,000 installers are needed, and solar infrastructure need these builder. First Nations can enter the industry in a way that favours the way they respect the earth, and solar harnesses the earth's resources by not taking more than is required. It is a form of natural power." 
    

 First Power Canada designed their education initiatives from a series of pilot projects including the T-Sou-ke project (reported in August 2009 First Nations Drum Dialogue on Development), "From this point we would like to install another 100 more systems this year. From the beginning we foresaw building whole systems that would reduce dependencies on burning diesel and coal to create electricity. We will solve energy problems organically and we will promote training and installation together. We will produce solutions in project financing and business development, building the capacity to own their futures, undoing dependency. It's job creation living up to the traditions of the ancestors. It will assist communities in getting past the perception of dependency and connect them to the world."

Cloudworks and Douglas First Nation in hydro developments

Nick Andrews of Cloudworks Energy Inc. was sanguine about progress on run-of-river projects underway in 2009 in the In-SHUCK-ch Nation's Douglas First Nation, “A couple of run-of-river hydro sites are going along well, three are in the works and there are more to come.”
     

Andrews is able to discuss a six-year working relationship with the Douglas Band, located about 50 km northwest of Harrison Hot Springs in southwestern British Columbia. “A Participation Agreement is in place for the proposed suite of six run-of-river projects (Douglas, Fire, Stokke, Tipella, and Lamont Creeks, and Upper Stave River) located within the Douglas traditional territories.” 
     

The Independent Power Producers of BC have been struggling to get their message out. “We are not effectively stating the case for this kind of development,” says Andrews. “The more misinformation, more confusion, more is the need to put in place the broad consensus that exists for run-of-river power generation.”
     
He says, “First Nations are the strong suit in the business mix, and their presence is working to correct social conditions because these projects directly affect these people. We are doing great just by making our own partners happy. We are not splashing across the world,” but the First Nations involved are in it from the outset. 
     “They are involved in all levels of study, environmental, engineering and site development, and they are finding skilled employment and the First Nations have ownership of the energy resources. There is capacity building underway and ancillary businesses are finding jobs and contracts,” with their new capacity.
     

Chief Don Harris is the Douglas First Nation chief, “We are active at four sites right now although the Harrison site is winding down,” as the first phases of the development near completion. “Our camp at Stave Lake is running at full capacity with 160 people working. We are in the wind-up stages on part of it, with a couple of adjustments to be made.”
     

Harris says the Douglas communities obtained a lot of jobs in machine operation and construction, “And Kiewit will be picking up a some of these guys on their other developments,” and in fact, “they will be able to make a career out of Kiewit.”
     

Douglas First Nation communities will gain new life above and beyond employment because now these communities can grow, weaned from diesel power that fails often and fails to provide the capacity for new housing development.”We're shareholders and we do maintenance on the system when it gets up and running. One of the things we key on is environmental issues and cultural issues.”
     

Harris recently attended an inter-tribal fisheries meeting in Vernon, BC and says, “We discussed the standards for power projects,” in relation to the salmon fishery, “and wildlife issues. We are setting standards for developers to deal with the issues and First Nation participation.” Douglas First Nation has been working diligently toward December 31, 2010, “when the power grid we are building joins the BC Hydro grid.”

Broadwater Industries has years of service from aluminum watercraft in Prince Rupert, B.C.

Boats are essential service vehicles in a coastal environment but in the North Pacific Coast it is a tough environment so it takes a boat that can handle the stormy and belligerent North Pacific Ocean. Broadwater Industries built their first aluminum boat in 1984 for the B.C. Dept. of Forestry, said Mike Collins, head of the boat division. “I have been building boats since 1977 and in my 32-year career I have built over 500 boats personally.”
   

 Broadwater Industries boat division has been visited by customers for many different reasons, he explained, to build boats for everything from recreation, commercial, Auxiliary Coast Guard, Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Environment, crew boats, charter Boats, to the frequently seen aluminum work boats.
    

One of the advantages of an aluminum boat is its durability, said  Collins, “And they provide many years of service with low maintenance cost. The durability of the hull allows the boat to be beached for shore work. They stand up very well with collisions with debris in the water.” He said the aluminum boat repairs are very often minor.
     

Aluminum boats retain their value over the years, and “usually the replacement power (engine) is the largest cost to keep the boat up to its origin state. I know of several boats that I have built 25 years ago that are still running around,” said  Collins. The aluminum boat construction begins with a quote, “With new sales of our boats the quoted price is always guaranteed as long as there are no significant changes after the construction has started.”
     

Broadwater sends weekly emails to the buyers with pictures showing the construction process, “and if any questions arise we are able to answer them promptly. If there are any changes during construction we work very closely with our customers to keep any added costs to the minimum.” With the finished boat Broadwater Industries gives a 10 year limited warranty on the hull.
    

“Our boats are all custom built,” said Collins, “so we don't normally have boats in our yard for sale. This I feel is a good practice, this gives us the opportunity to listen to our customer's needs and ideas of how they would like their boat constructed.” He noted, “Many of our customers are First Nations. We have sold boats to individuals for recreation, food fishing, commuting, chartering, and tourism. We have sold our boats as well to First Nation communities. Their main uses so far have been for fisheries programs, Watchman programs, and crew boats.”
     

The designs and applications at Broadwater are time-tested and unique, “Our boats have evolved into one of the best built anywhere. I have always appreciated listening to our First Nation customer's ideas because most boats that are sold to First Nation communities are used in remote regions under at times unfavorable weather conditions and usually on a daily basis.”

Learn more from Mike Collins at 1-250-624-5158 www.broadwater.bc.ca

Klemtu B-Ball Team - Visiting Nanaimo for Basketball Provincials Tournament