Marine Harvest Canada (Mowi) plays hard at basketball in Pacific Coast's Klemtu Village

Each year, Marine Harvest Canada (Mowi Canada West) challenges the local Klemtu men’s team to a game of basketball. Ian Roberts, MHC's communications director says, "It is an opportunity to raise funds to help defray the costs of transportation to the annual Prince Rupert All Native Tournament." This year it was the Marine Harvest Pylons vs the Klemtu Mixed Nuts.

    

The salmon farmers have taken a beating at the hands of the Klemtu locals for years, "so this year Marine Harvest invited some 'ringers'," Ian says, slyly. "Marine Harvest is a part sponsor of the University of BC Womens Basketball Program so we contacted the coach, Deb Huband, to ask for some assistance." Two players, Zara Huntley and Devan Lisson made the trip to Klemtu to partake in this extraordinary event. 
    

This year the exhibition game was the opener for the Stewart Wallis Memorial Basketball Tournament held in Klemtu from April 2-4, 2010, and saw over 200 people come out to watch the game, "quite impressive for a village of 450." A Roberto Luongo signed Canucks jersey was raffled off as part of the fun and over $1000 was raised for Prince Rupert travel.
    

"The girls were amazing basketball players and helped the salmon farmers make it a lot closer than in prior years. That's right, 100-55 is a lot closer than past games," he says. The tournament opened with a feast during which the UBC girls, Kitasoo members, and Marine Harvest staff were joined together. 
    

They were embraced by the basketball-happy community of Klemtu. The ball players, Zara and Devon, had time to visit a nearby salmon farm at Jackson Pass. Chief Archie Robinson is now discussing the possibility of a relationship between Klemtu and the UBC Thunderbirds Womens Basketball program with Coach Deb Huband, and having a basketball clinic set up in Klemtu and put on by the Thunderbirds.
    

Marine Harvest Canada and the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation have been partners in growing and processing BC farm-raised salmon for over 10 years now. Over 10 million pounds of salmon is produced and processed in Klemtu each year. Salmon farming, harvesting and processing now employs 60 people in the village and has reduced their unemployment from 90% to about 40%.

Transportation careers forthcoming for First Nations

Transportation careers are at the centre of the industrial age and these careers involve moving the economy on rails, roads, ships and through the air. TransCDA is, “a conduit between industry and the the government,” says Russ Robertson, CEO of the association that establishes training standards for the transportation sector.
     

“We are promoting transportation careers and putting people into apprenticeship as heavy duty mechanics, aircraft maintenance technicians, machine technicians, deck hands on tugs, and professional truck drivers,” practically any of the 26 trades in the transportation sector.
     

TranCDA is based in British Columbia, and, “We engage other sectors and bring them into the training picture,” and the association works to accommodate national mobility of the labour force.
     

“We maintain the alignment of the regulatory environment in job qualifications, and make job recognition a priority in our policy discussions,” says Robertson. “We believe in the mobility of workers and fully support the Red Seal program that governs the national qualifications of trades people,” and Robertson notes the CCDA recently approved the Heavy Equipment Operator program as a Red Seal career.
     

TransCDA is relatively new as an organization, “We're a year old now, but we hit the ground running,” and they worked to develop a first-rate website to distribute up-to-the-minute career information. “The website is in phase one of the TransCDA communication strategy. Phase 2 will be complete later in 2010 and it will provide high performance management tools to put training and career development on a fast track in a company or industry.”
     

Robertson was hired from the ITA to bring a training culture to the organization, and the culture is growing, “We are reaching out to school students to make transportation careers an opportunity. We have developed program standards that secondary schools can deliver to provide 470 hours of training credit in Level 1 apprenticeship.” Rita Gunkel at TranCDA is developing the youth initiatives that deliver advancement toward transportation careers in the school system.
    

 Robertson has other personnel working on recognition of foreign workers who come to Canada with operational qualifications. The goal is for the website to answer questions about transportation careers and qualifications from around the world, and provide assessment tools to evaluate people in their qualifications.”

Strategy is there but WFCA wonders if regulations are disappearing

The Western Silviculture Contractors Association (WSCA) is delivering tree-planting training this year through the federally funded and provincially administered Community Development Trust Fund. John Betts, WSCA Executive Director, says, "First Nations are training in driving on resource roads, operating brush saws, running all-terrain-vehicles, and driving crew buses," on highways and resource roads.
     

"We delivered training last year in the Chilcotin and Blue Collar Silviculture's Mark Courtney instructed a class in the field. It was an opportunity for the First Nation trainees to experience the life of a tree planter in a forestry bush camp," says Betts. He believes training in these close quarters produces an excellent outcome for silviculture contractors. 
     

"The trainees get the inside track on the 'stocking' standards in B.C. forestry," which species of trees are used, and the spacing and placement requirements of the seedlings. Betts notes that the province of B.C. has been depending on nature to take it's course in regeneration of forests. 
     

"We have seen a lower priority given to stocking the forests with seedlings. We went from planting 250 million seedlings a couple years ago to planting 160 million this year," and even fewer next year. He says that 40 percent of the MPB ravaged landscape is not growing any new trees. 
     

"We have 18 million hectares of MPB degraded forests in B.C. alone," including forests eaten by the spruce bud worm. "We have many areas with bug kill, other blights, and forest fire burned areas where restoration is being ignored." Betts notes that arguments made by Keith Atkinson, CEO of the First Nation Forestry Council, correctly identify the problems in a sketchy funding regime.
     

"The FNFC recognizes that we have crushing regeneration issues and huge demands for landscape level replanting operations," including transmission line corridors, highways, and watersheds. Electrical grid failure is just one of the threats in the forest fire (inferno) scenario. Destruction of watersheds also demands more attention."
     

Meanwhile the province is overrun by environment lobbies that want to lock-down forestry operations, "They are not recognizing the problem. Leaving forests alone is perilous when fires are increasing in number and severity." Betts notes that historically First Nations used a lot of fire to manage forests and make them produce specific plants, trees, and ecologies.
     
"The so-called natural fires have been eliminated by suppression and fire is gone as a forestry management tool. In place of managed fires the unnatural fires we see are non-renewing events." The intensity of these unnatural fires wipes out water resources, aquatic plants included, and all the grasses and trees in an ecology disappear. 
     

Worst of all, the soil gets super-heated and destroyed as an eco-system. Unfortunately, says Betts, "We see no real strategy and the demand is growing to get involved with biomass reclamation and refurbishing of these provincial forests.
     

"Nature won't be fooled. Interior forests are being left behind, whereas these landscapes require a change in strategy." First Nations are blazing the trail in the pursuit of a biomass economy from these decadent forests. "They see perpetual employment and management requirements for the eco-systems in their territories."
     

Betts believes the existing proposals for use of biomass are too large, and should be made smaller than those seen in the BC HYDRO call for power scenarios, like the 40 MWh cogeneration plant in Gitxsan and the 60 MWh plant in T'silcotin. "Go smaller, scale back the size of the projects to 1 to 5 MWh and make more of them," because smaller plants make more efficient use of biomass to create electricity."
     

While restoration strategies are in place the regulations behind it are being deleted left and right, and, Betts adds, "The premier may say, 'Well I'm not getting any calls on this,' but it appears that overall he's not paying attention to a degrading public resource."

Increasing the management capacity of First Nations forestry stewards

Secwepemc communities in B.C. have state-of-the-art land-use management systems designed by First Nations for their own use. Chief Judy Wilson, Neskonlith Indian Band, learned about information management at the En’owkin Centre in the 1980s. En’owkin is a First Nations advanced learning arts and publishing institute in the Okanagan Nation.
     

"I have a librarian background," said Wilson, "I first learned about archives and how to store and retrieve research material." Later Wilson worked with Chief Atahm School to create a digital Secwepemc language and culture centre on Little Shuswap Lake operated by Adams Lake Indian Band.  Chief Atham School is western Canada’s only First Nation language immersion school.
     

These avenues of experience exposed Wilson to different systems and processes and ensuing projects with archivist Leona Lampreau led to an advanced career in archives management specifically designed around policy development. By that pathway Wilson came to apply information management to First Nation land use management.
     

"I come from a land claims background within my family," she said,  and learned important lessons from people like Jeanne Joseph, a Haida/Nisga'a woman who teaches information access and retrieval systems to bands for territorial claims. "Jeanne Joseph works with a lot of different data collections."
     

Neskonlith Indian Band, Adams Lake Indian Band, and Little Shuswap Indian Band own a collective history and share knowledge streams about land use within their traditional territory. To manage this knowledge is the purpose of entering high end media, growing the capacity to answer data demands. "Replies to Crown referrals can be delivered immediately."
     

She notes,  "Court decisions in northwest B.C. place the burden to directly on First Nations respond to Crown oriented land use referrals, "that are slapped together with mis-coordinated maps and no standards of reference to the maze of contents." It takes a Rosetta Stone to interpret or understand the Crown's referral demands.
     

Worse, the priority of reports includes no reference to First Nations; neither their importance nor depth of concern about their land issues is referenced. The level of Aboriginal interest must come from First Nations.  Yet financing is non-existent for First Nations to respond to Crown referrals for land use and very few industry or government agencies are willing to provide referral payments to First Nations.
     

Wilson partnered with D.R. Systems Inc to design, "an automated Referral Tracking System (RTS) which has been distributed via workshops at regional communities," she said, "The intent is to provide an forestry/land use management process, then we are adding capacity for multiple levels of response to Crown referrals."
     

Neskonlith Indian Band and Adams Lake Indian Band and D.R. Systems Inc have put the RTS on the market to enable First Nation communities responding to land use referrals, and dozens of Bands are using it around the province. Wilson said, "We outsource RTS software under license to First Nations depending on their own level of land-use management concerns, from Band office, to tribal council, to nation."
     

Wilson notes Secwepemc communities are, "innovators and leaders in many areas and a key concern for many Bands is land use management within their traditional territories." She said, "It really works because our land use planning focuses on community growth," and continuous reflection upon stewardship, "as the ancestors expect. We have the ability to monitor project encroachment in the nation down to the effects on a particular stand of trees."
     

"It is software that will also provide a wide array of other  service to community especially basic services like health, water management, emergency call centres etc," she said. A Comprehensive Community Planning Process is part what the communities are undertaking. The software is timely for this process and it will assist in making strategies to reconstitute stewardship of traditional territories.
     

"We know where we feel at home, in connection with the land and water that has been our identity. We keep turning to the Elders for teaching. We don't have the land base we used to, and it cut us off from spiritual from knowing our territory." The software fits the Tools for Success program offered by INAC and StatsCan.
     

"In future territorial demands upon data will add to the capacity for First Nation governance. We seek enhancement of stewardship over natural resources, our own health, and the technical capacity to stay in our roles as stewards of these lands."

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

Fire reduction strategy was high priority in 2010

B.C.'s forests are becoming an international concern when the release of carbon continues from the MPB ravaged timber and decadent forests are standing without producing much (if any) oxygen. Chris Akehurst of Akehurst and Giltrap Reforestation says, "The Western Silviculture Contractors Association has the numbers, but B.C. exported more carbon from forests last year than lumber."

Huge issues confront the citizens of B.C. with regards to the condition of the Crown's forests in 2010, 95 percent of B.C. forests. There are increasing numbers of interface fires, decadent forests that are mismanaged, and decreasing numbers of seedlings being planted.

"Fuel reduction programs are very important now," says Chris, "and the purpose is to remove biomass fuel from areas surrounding communities." The biomass offers too much fuel for prospective infernos. "We also need to perform prescribed burns after the clean-up to further reduce fire hazard."

Failure to do fire reduction will cause increasing incidence of city and town evacuations and losses of infrastructure, including housing.

"As these MPB destroyed trees fall it happens in a criss-cross manner and the maze of fuel is laid out to burn intensely hot. The fires travel fast and run right up to cities and towns. The fire behavior becomes so powerful that it is overwhelming."

Fire fighters have told Chris that when it gets to that stage all they can do is watch, aghast. Furthermore, as interface fires spread the problem of fire-fighting jurisdictions starts to affect tactical operations of fighting the problem.

He cites one fire near Princeton that burned away while the local fire department was restricted from entering the field. "A fire department was called in from the Merritt area instead but it was too late for the Friday Mountain fire. The fire took off into the Simillkameen." Princeton was spared but the destruction of forest was greatly magnified.

One resident of Glenrosa in Westbank, Okanagan, described on-line what he was witnessing in  2004 interface fire: "There's a shitload of wind blowing from the south, which means the fire is heading into Westbank/Glenrosa. There have been at least 3 or 4 houses that have burned down, and the neighborhood of Glenrosa (around 8000 people) is completely shut down."

Chris does a lot of work in reducing the risk of fire in these interface scenarios around the southern interior of B.C.. One recent project in Manning Park included removing coniferous trees and replanting with deciduous trees near campgrounds and other public facilities.

"The fire reduction projects don't always involve reforestation. Often it's a process of fuel removal and reduction." Meanwhile silviculture in the province is being reduced because the number of trees harvested has been shrinking in a down-turned economy.

The forests that are filled with dead trees create new priorities in forestry management. Twenty to 30 percent of the untouched MPB forests filled with dead pine trees will not come back naturally. It requires silviculture on a massive scale to restore these forests that are being written off and ignored.

Further delays will make problems worse, and Chris believes the federal and provincial governments must take responsibility for the damage ensuing from the pestilence. "Back in the 1980s and 90s we took on silviculture projects to restore the 'silviculture slums' left from the 1960s and 70s."

Chris notes that when Prime Minister Harper got off the plane in Prince George some years ago he promised $1 billion to work on the restoration of B.C. forests, with dispersals at $100 million a year. The industry is standing around wondering what happened to that money.

Foresters are grappling with the issues and growing cynical. "There is a moral obligation to do the work in these forests. The funding mechanisms aren't going to magically appear." He is aware that fire reduction programs are underway and funding is flowing to the problem. The MPB issues are magically ignored.

His own business saw a 44 percent reduction in volume last year, and this year it will fall another 10 percent. Chris works with the Upper Similkameen First Nations. Elsewhere he sees openings for forestry workers in fire reduction plans. It may be good prospects for First Nation forestry personnel, he says, because they seem to prefer working with chain saws rather than seedlings.

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."

Looking for the way forward in a Mountain Pine Beetle devastated forestry industry

First Nations Forestry Council is an organization formed from a specific mandate, says Keith Atkinson, Chief Executive Officer, "The Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) is the main reason why the FNFC was formed in the early 2000s." With $300 million flowing to bio-energy development out of the forestry disaster in Canada the FNFC is actively promoting bio-energy development, "First Nations need to be involved."

Atkinson believes First Nation communities are fighting for their lives in the face of the MPB, "We cannot abandon our communities." Foremost, the MPB creates huge potential for biomass development, "The beetle may have peaked in its destructive force in B.C.," says Atkinson, "but enormous killing of trees continues."

Atkinson explains, "The FNFC began out of the MPB crisis. Millions of dollars were initially committed and the First Nations were included in the $100 million a year funding scheme, with $20 million a year earmarked for First Nations." Twenty percent of the federal commitment was designated to First Nation communities.

When the federal government first transferred $100 million to the province, "First Nations saw $8.4 million." Forestry is a multi-billion dollar industry in Canada. Rather than meeting the commitment, "In four years we saw $20 million for First Nations to do assessments and identify the impact of the MPB, and list the First Nation priorities to deal with it."

Atkinson notes that 50 percent of the 200 First Nation communities in B.C. are directly affected by the MPB blight, yet the federal government changed course in the middle of the funding program. From then on the federal government began diverting funding to national organizations for distribution through Natural Resources Canada and Western Diversification.

"Our agreement with the province of B.C. broke down. We continued to try and monitor the funding situation through working groups, to share and coordinate what money we received. The dollars started to flow and then it changed."

It's about the money because, "The number one issue is forest fuel management," which, Atkinson notes, "is fuel created by the MPB. Then comes the risk of forest fires. We have to make an urgent effort to mitigate against the forest fire hazard. These fires are increasing in severity and so is the incidence of interface fires," where cities like Kelowna and towns like Lillooet face  devastating infernos.

Indian Reserve communities are always in peril in spring, summer and fall today. "We have a lot of work to do on reserves because the biomass fuel is constantly interfacing with these communities. The cost of treatment to reduce fire risk increases every year," and Atkinson estimates it is currently $135 million a year. "We've submitted funding proposals over and over and they always get culled down."

He says the First Nations require $20 million a year in B.C. over the next three years, $60 million, to reduce the threat to communities. Instead of funding, FNFC continues a four year battle to find a place in funding schemes that would reduce the threat to communities. "We are down to $2 million a year and we have the local rural First Nations willing to do the work but the money isn't there."

It's a difficult situation for an organization that was established for the purpose of fighting a pestilence that threatens the safety and existence of Canada's first people. "Our industry is facing a new kind of forestry. Restoration is the goal and we want communities to be running their own programs. It includes cultural and social sustainability of these communities. We also need to participate in the research of climate change."

Atkinson says the communities are structured for biomass fuel management and proper funding would enable economic development. The FNFC worked diligently from the outset to design a strategy based on $20 million a year for ten years. "The present Prime Minister says he will supply $1 billion to fix the problem, but he fails to recognize the 20 percent agreed for First Nations."

The federal government put the money into existing federal departments effectively bypassing First Nations. Furthermore the money available causes competition between First Nations for available funds. This unexpected diversion has shattered the organization of support. "Most people recognize First Nation issues today," says Atkinson, "and they know a few things about our plight."

It's a fact, "When you give money to First Nation communities it ends up in the hands of non-Natives, but when you give it to non-Native communities it never ends up in First Nation hands. And we're not trying to do this alone. We have a protocol agreement with the BC Bioenrgy Network to showcase 'best practices' and show the way to replicate success."

In short, the FNFC is working toward a governance model that works with industry and business and which could ultimately lead to solid government-to-government relations and increased certainty for economic progress. "Everybody needs First Nations full participation to support the forestry strategy.

National housing management certification in the works for Aboriginal Housing in Canada

Sylvia Olsen is developing curricula for housing managers to become certified in First Nation housing. “The key goal is establishment of an accredited course in housing management,” says Olsen. The over-arching accreditation will ensue from the First Nation National Housing Managers Association  (FNNHMA).

Olsen comes by her experience in First Nation housing from more than three decades living on Tsarlip Indian Reserve near Victoria, B.C., “I met my husband and moved there when I was 17 years old and I raised my family there,” she says. “It's a very nice place to live. I worked in housing at Tsarlip beginning in the early 1990s.”
     

Olsen is a founding member of the board of FNNHMA in 2006. She worked in provincial and national Aboriginal housing committees over the years. She is doing a Ph.D. in First Nation housing based on the history of Aboriginal housing development in Canada. She has other interests as a storyteller at heart, as a writer-in-residence at Carson Graham School in North Vancouver, B.C.. “I am a member of the Victoria Storytellers Guild.”
     

Olsen works with Mike King at FNNHMA (Housing Manager of Beausoliel First Nation in southern Ontario since 2000), and Nancy Hamilton at Vancouver Island University's Distance Education Department. Mike King describes a bit of FNNHMA history, “We work-shopped the idea of a housing managers certificate program with CMHC when we started the organization in 2006. We received funding from CMHC to visit housing trade shows and conferences, get a website established, and start developing a proper job description for  housing management.”
     

Mike says, “It's really all about property management on-reserve. Property management comes into it because the area of responsibility grows when you consider the tens of millions of dollars in property management we are discussing. It involves rents, mortgages, and asset management. A lot of these administrative functions are being done on a part-time basis. Much more needs to be done.”
     

Success is in the wind, says Olsen, “We have developed the Housing Managers Certificate Program 101.” The first module of FNNHMA certification has been delivered. It was piloted in three locations around B.C. in 2008/09. Fifteen students took the course in Nanaimo, and other classes were held in Terrace and Kamloops.
     

She was the initial facilitator teaching the course. Now the graduates are chomping at the bit to get the rest of the certification, “A complete curricula will include finance, administration, communications, and construction management,” she says. “Once it is all put together, VIU will work-up the details on national certification.”
     

The Atlantic provinces  also received pilot programs from FNNHMA, “We delivered pilot courses in Moncton and Halifax. We are now shore-to-shore with the program. There is strong interest in Quebec and Ontario Aboriginal housing, and we are working out the language questions for FNNHMA to certify in Quebec. We feel the urgency to get the whole thing going on a national basis.”
     

The curricula should be complete by the end of this year, she says. The way it stands VIU is now ready to deliver Housing Administration course one and two, and the course on finance is well underway. The course on communications is at hand, and Olsen will commence writing the last module on construction before the end of winter.
     

“We will be done in 2010,” she says, “VIU is really dedicated to developing this program. They are applying for extra funds and showing themselves to be an exceptional school. At the same time they recognize it is FNNHMA's initiative.” The FNNHMA certificate will be delivered at other universities like the Aboriginal department of a college in Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
     

One of the main battles for FNNHMA is to establish appropriate financial remuneration for these certified housing managers. “Finding the wage for certified housing managers is one of the challenges. You have precedents out there but a great deal depends on the financial state of the Band.” Even so, “Across Canada we have some of the most amazing people working in housing management on reserve,” and she notes, “The force of their expertise and a certification process will help make housing management certification a national reality."
     

Housing on-reserve is changing. “Lots of people are working to resolve the structural issues in First Nation housing. Poverty remains the main problem in housing.  Another problem is that housing remains entirely government-run,” whereas other social activities like health and education have been taken over by the First Nations. “Aboriginal housing will eventually be,” sooner rather than later, she says, “under the direct control of  First Nation leadership.”
     

FNNHMA is composed primarily of a board of directors at present. “We took a run at creating membership when we started the organization. Now we have the foothold to started a second membership drive. It has been a huge project to get a certified housing managers program and we have worked hard to get this production done. To roll it out nationally is cumbersome but it will become part of the whole group of housing organizations in this country.”

Huu Ay Aht constructing new administration and community facility

The Huu Ay Aht administration building is under construction in the First Nation community in Bamfield, B.C.. Charlie Clappis is project coordinator for Huu Ay Aht, "They poured the footings on the site Jan. 16, 2010," says Clappis. "It's 1,352 sq. m. (14,500 sq.ft.) on two floors. The building is heated by geothermal. It's going to have nice warm floors."
     

The facility is the difference between night and day for the community. Island West Coast Developments is the general contractor, Cobalt Engineering is the designer, and Ground Source Drilling is drilling the geothermal array. Clappis says, "Geothermal is definitely the way to go. We had a $4 million contribution ffrom INAC to the energy side."
     

Clappis says, "It's going to have a great location on a high point," affording a view of the Pacific Ocean, "and enough altitude to survive a tsunami," he jokes. The Huu Ay Aht Long House is on the site. It holds community events for 150 residents. The new admin-building also overlooks picturesque Pachena Bay Campground, the busy seasonal facility owned by Huu Ay Aht.
     

Clappis says the facility will hold a number of important community offices, administration, health and dental facilities, and offices for fisheries, forestry, aggregate mining, economic development, youth, Elders, education, and housing. "We started digging in November. The construction involves employment for Huu Ay Aht and skills development will be delivered."
     

Reid Longstaffe is the Island West Coast Development project manager on the project, "It's a beautiful location set up on a hill looking over the ocean. Construction began in November, and it's a bit of slow going with the winter weather conditions," says Longstaffe. "We poured concrete on the weekend. It was sunny, and the sun is still hanging in through the early part of the week."
     

The building contains two floors and a basement for the utility services. "It's a geothermal project with a lot of energy efficiencies," says Longstaffe. "We are doing some nice wood beams and using Douglas Fir doors, with full-length glazing on the back-side (facing the ocean)."  Longstaffe says the building should be done by the end of 2010.
     

INAC and Health Canada put money into project. The design phase goes back a couple of years, done by David Nairne and Associates. IWCD recently finished their own building in Nanaimo with geothermal installed in a horizontal loop.
     

Goran Ostojic is the engineer from Cobalt Engineering that is designing the building and geothermal array. "It's a sustainable project that came in reasonably priced with a few nice features in Douglas Fir, beams, and glazing. It is designed to have specialized health and dental services delivered in the building. It started in November and has proceeded below the initial budget projections."
     

Ostojic says he started to work on Huu Ay Aht's building design about 18 months ago. "It has design features like windows to use solar heat in winter and deflect heat in the summer. The whole build is designed for sustainable use." Cobalt has done the design work on a number of First Nation projects, "We encounter specific requirements from each First Nation tribe from different historical and cultural aspects."
    

 Cobalt will be working start to finish on the Huu Ay Aht facility that should be open in the spring of 2011 at the latest.

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.” 

Geothermal utility delivering energy community-wide in Tofino First Nation

GeoTility Geothermal Installations and TerraSource Geothermal Utility Services are the brain-child of Jim Leask of Kelowna, B.C., who envisioned natural gas and other non-renewable energy sources becoming less-affordable as time goes by. The energy options to burning fossil fuel were practically non-existent in North America when he started a mechanical company in the Okanagan Valley of B.C. in the early 1990s.
     

Rick Nelson, General Manager for GeoTility in their Kelowna office, "Jim was a visionary in setting up a geothermal utility company in B.C.. Running a geothermal utility is not that difficult in this province but different provinces have different rules." In the province of B.C., meanwhile, GeoTility has found a lot of success by working with First Nations. "They are leaders in the green energy debate in this province."
     

GeoTility has installed systems at Sun Rivers in Kamloops, a housing development that resides on land belonging to Kamloops Indian Band, installed a community geothermal system for the Hesquiaht School, Autma-Squilx-W Cultural School, Blue Berry Community Centre and recently GeoTility broke ground on a centralized geothermal utility service for a brand new housing development for the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, in Tofino, B.C., on Vancouver Island. "It's all geothermal in Tofino at the new the Esowista housing development of the Tla-o-qui-aht community."
     

Nelson says of the company he works for, "We're passionate about delivering geothermal services. What started as a mechanical company under Jim Leask and Sons has become a complete geothermal company," he says, "including all the services involved, from drilling to mechanical installations to heat distribution, billing and maintenance."
     

Nelson says, "Basically Jim saw the day 20 years ago when natural gas distribution would become more and more expensive and he began looking at the options. As a mechanical contractor Jim saw geothermal as the next step in energy services and geothermal was a perfect fit for mechanical company," so, Seven years ago GeoTility was launched to pave the way for the geothermal industry to operate at the same level as other utility services.
    

 Today GeoTility even owns the drills (manufactured by Multi-Power Products in Kelowna). GeoTility worked with Tom Ulm, Sr., of Multi-Power Products to design a drill to fit inside an underground parkade, and as a result, GeoTility is able to retro-fit buildings in the core of a city's downtown with geothermal heating systems. They are also able to get on the job-site after construction has commenced, thus avoiding the delay of  the actual tower construction. Drilling is underway directly beneath existing buildings like the Georgia Hotel in Vancouver, and the Hudson's Bay Building in downtown Victoria, "We have also modified two drills with shorter masts for GeoTility that can operate in all ground conditions and be converted back to standard length for conventional projects.
     

At Multi-Power Products they call them 'low headroom' drills, says Tom Sr., "Geotility approached us to make a drill that could work under those confined spaces, and it had to be both diesel and electric to perform in enclosed areas." The low-mast drills run on rubber tracks to save concrete, and are transported to work-sites on trailers. They are flexible in terms of the ground conditions, says Tom Sr, "They work in hard rock or overburden, with what we call mud rotary or air rotary methods."
     

The short-mast drill is a fast machine, "It has shorter drill rods that have to be added more often so it has a faster tripping (rod pulling) rate that helps make up the lost time. Multi-Power Products has been manufacturing drills for 25 years, initially for the mining exploration industry. "Geothermal was a good match because it fills in the voids when mining drops off in the economy. We don't sell as many but the drills are always working," says Tom Sr.. They sell drills across Canada and the USA. Custom-order drills are also manufactured.
     

Meanwhile GeoTility designs the utility systems that run heat through whole communities. "We drill 700,000 feet per year and fill the holes with geothermal pipe. For example since the ground was laid out for new housing on Esowista property, in Tofino, drilling is commencing to supply heat to the entire community of 160 new houses plus other facilities, including a new Long House and community facilities."
     

Jordan Parrot is one of the engineers at GeoTilitynin charge of the Esowista drilling program in Tofino starting January 2010. "Its one large geothermal field with centralized distribution of the hot water," says Parrot. "We are doing the field engineering and mechanical design on this project. We are producing hot water for the geothermal array from hundreds of ground-loop drill holes."
    

 Parrot says the Esowista field is a large one, "It's a substantial size field, hundreds of holes. The drilling program will take three or four months to complete, depending on the weather. "The company is hiring some of their required labour from the Tla-o-qui-aht community.
     

Moses Martin is housing manager for Esowista Housing, the department belonging to the Tla-o-qui-aht community based in Tofino. "Construction is underway," says Martin, "the roads are roughed in and a new bridge was built to join this project to the existing Esowista community." Sixty-eight is the number of new houses slated for immediate construction and another 100 houses will be built within the next five years.
     

He notes that funding for the new housing development ($17 million )was obtained under the Canada Economic Action Plan, and Martin says $3 million of that was earmarked for geothermal heating. "With the overall size of the project we anticipate the return of Tla-o-qui-aht families to Tofino from places like Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Victoria, and Seattle, Washington."
     

Martin adds, It's a well-rounded housing plan that includes the geothermal heating for the new Long House and an eventual school for the new community. The bridge connects this subdivision, called Ty'Tan'Us, to the existing Esowista community and the the new community will have three access points, says Martin.
    

 Tla-o-qui-aht members will be active in the building of all phases. "We are ramping up the workforce as we speak. We will have a team of labourers working throughout the project, and phase one alone will supply jobs and paycheques for at least two years. Some training and apprenticeship will ensue."
     

The skilled labour will be learning new aspects of construction, says Martin, "We are looking for better quality housing construction being put into these homes. We want these homes to last at least 50 years. We are looking hard at the quality of the houses and we're going for the LEED Gold Standard of green and sustainable housing construction."

Thermomax takes solar-heat gathering to historic highs

When people hear Solar Panels they think electricity.  After all, the photo-voltaic electrical system that gets all the rave reviews and major marketing in the news is space age technology. But with all the hype, Photo Voltaic (PV) efficiency is actually only about 18% at most.
     

But there is another Solar – Thermal Solar in the form of solar panels and solar evacuated tubes. This technology is for heating your hot water, your radiant floor, your swimming pool. This form of solar energy can be up to 80% efficient. It’s completely renewable and return on investment can be as much as 15% a year – so in 8 - 10 years (depending on location) it could have paid for itself. Imagine paying off your hot water bill in 10 years and never paying again!
     

There are two main types of solar hot water heaters – flat plates, which are popular in warmer climates, and evacuated tubes. The tubes were developed in Europe in the 1970s and the first Thermomax evacuated tube factory was established in the UK. 
     

Patrick Spearing first became associated with Thermomax in 1979. When he moved to Canada in 1989 with his young family, he brought along the evacuated tube system and has never looked back. He became the representative for Canada, and, for a while, all of the US, out of his base in Victoria. Now, besides running his company Thermomax Industries Ltd., he has an excellent educational website www.solarThermal.com, and does trainings around the country for installers, architects, engineers and the general public. 
      

“The vacuum tube solar collectors absorb radiant energy from the sun in all weather conditions. The tubes are a perfect fit for areas such as our rainy west coast and our latitude." Spearing explains. “And in bright, cold areas such as Alberta, the reflection from the snow can increase the performance even further.  The light being collected within a vacuum means that we don’t lose the heat to the air – just like a thermos bottle.” 
     

A 1994 study commissioned by BC Hydro’s Power Smart Technical Services for Atlin BC states: “The evacuated tube technology is particularly suited for high collector to ambient temperature differential applications and for the collection of energy under partial sunlight conditions”.  This means it can reach high water temperatures even when it is cold and cloudy.  
     

The study goes on to say: “Note that the evacuated tube collector is approximately 1.6 to 4 times more effective than a flat plate collector. The higher efficiency results in the evacuated system needing a frontal collector area of only 3 square meters compared to a flat plate collector area of 5.96 square meters”. So a smaller collector is needed for the same annual performance.
     

The www.solarthermal.com website has performance graphs calculated from Environment Canada data at locations around the country, and you can look up the average performance in your area under “Regional Performance” on the website.
     

The Thermomax system is easy to install (it is much lighter than a flat plate collector and the wind can pass through between the tubes) and in appearance, looks lean and elegant, like a modern-day sculpture rather than a grey box sitting on a roof.  The tubes do not reflect sunlight and they discreetly blend into the roof. Pre-assembled, packaged components also make for straightforward and timely installation. The pump station contains all the fittings and safety devices for safe operation of the system, including valves to prevent heat leaving the hot water tank. The system is controlled by a differential controller. These can range from a simple one to a sophisticated one that can connect to the internet and log the performance of the system from a distance, an excellent tool for research and development.  
     

First Nations have been on the forefront of proving the Thermomax technology.  Municipal District of Opportunity of Wabasca in north-central Alberta began construction on the Wabasca Water World and Fitness Centre in 2002. At that time the planners researched solar power to offset some of the operating expenses. They sent a representative to Europe to search for the best technology and concluded that Thermomax had both the quality and track record needed for large jobs. The facility includes a 25 m swimming pool, whirl pool, sauna, steam room, and 2200 square foot weight training area. 
     

The Centre then installed the largest vacuum tube system in Canada in August of 2004. To provide a sense of scale, usually on a house one collector could be expected to provide domestic hot water for a family. 47 collectors were installed on that recreation centre! This system heats the main pool and whirl pool, the in-floor heating (deck, change rooms, lobby, and viewing area), and domestic water. Backed up with natural gas, the facility has saved approximately $10,000.00 per year with very little maintenance. Not only has the Municipal District of Opportunity saved money, it has raised significant interest in green technology and created a well-respected landmark in the community of Wabasca. 
     

"It's a matter of education and talking about this across Canada.” Spearing continues. “There is a lot of misinformation out there. We can operate solar heat generation in far lower temperature and sunlight conditions than most people believe possible. Proper design of the system is essential. Capital investment dollars are available for making these installations possible. And it truly is an investment: imagine putting a steel roof on your house. You know that roof is going to be trouble-free for a very long time.”
     

A lot of history bears out Spearing’s claims. Maintenance is low. Efficiency remains high over time. Replacing tubes is rare. "We have eight 25 year old systems operating in Seattle, Washington as we speak. I doubt you will find another vacuum tube system that can make such a claim.”
     

Okay, so this all may seem like rocket science....and then again, it might be as simple as feeling the sun warming your face.

Geothermal utility delivering new housing energy community-wide in B.C.

Geotility is a geothermal utility service that is the brain-child of Jim Leask of Kelowna, B.C., who envisioned natural gas and other non-renewable energy sources becoming less-affordable as time goes by. The energy options to burning fossil fuel were practically non-existent in North America when he started a mechanical company in the Okanagan Valley of B.C. in the early 1990s.

Rick Nelson works for Geotility in their Kelowna office, “Jim was a visionary in setting up a geothermal utility company in B.C.,” says Rick. “Running a geothermal utility is not that difficult in this province but different provinces have different rules.” In the province of B.C., meanwhile, Geotility has  found a lot of success by working with First Nations. “They are leaders in the green energy debate in this province.”

 

Geotility runs the Sun Rivers geothermal utility in Kamloops, a housing development that resides on land belonging to Kamloops Indian Band, and recently Geotility broke ground on a centralized geothermal utility service for a  brand new  housing development for the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, in Tofino, B.C., on Vancouver Island. “It's all geothermal in Tofino at the new the Esowista housing development of the Tla-o-qui-aht community.”

 

Rick says of the company he works for, “We're passionate about delivering geothermal services. What started as a mechanical company under Jim Leask and Sons has become a complete geothermal company,” he says, including all the services involved, from drilling to mechanical installations to heat distribution, billing and maintenance.

 

Rick says, “Basically Jim Leask saw the day 20 years ago when natural gas distribution would become more and more expensive and he began looking at the options.” As a mechanical engineer Jim Leask saw geothermal as the next step in energy services and geothermal was a perfect fit for mechanical company, so, “Seven years ago Geotility was launched to pave the way for the geothermal industry to operate at the same level as other utility services.”

 

Today Geotility even owns the drills (manufactured by Multi-Power Products in Kelowna). Geotility worked with Tom Ulm, Sr., of Multi-Power Products to design a drill to fit inside an underground parkade, and as a result, Geotility is able to retro-fit buildings in the core of a city's downtown with geothermal heating systems.  Drilling is underway directly beneath existing buildings like the Georgia Hotel in Vancouver, and the Hudson's Bay Building in downtown Victoria, “We have two modified drills with short masts that can operate in all ground conditions.”

 

Geotility designs the utility systems that run heat through whole communities. “We drill 700,000 feet per year and fill the holes with geothermal pipe.” For example since the ground was laid out for new housing on Esowista property, in Tofino, drilling is commencing to supply heat to the entire community of 160 new houses plus other facilities, including a new Long House and community facilities.

 

Jordan Parrot is one of the engineers at Geotility, and Jordan is in charge of the Esowista drilling program in Tofino starting this January. “It's one large geothermal field with centralized distribution of the hot water,” says Jordan. “We are doing the field engineering and mechanical design on this project. We are producing hot water for the geothermal array from hundreds of ground-loop drill holes.”

 

Jordan says the Esowista field is a large one, “It's a substantial size field, hundreds of holes. The drilling program will take three or four months to complete, depending on  the weather.” The company is hiring some of their required labour from the Tla-o-qui-aht community.

 

Moses Martin is housing manager for Esowista Housing, the department belonging to the Tla-o-qui-aht community based in Tofino. “Construction is underway,” says Moses, “the roads are roughed in and a new bridge was built to join this project to the existing Esowista community.” Sixty-eight is the number of new houses slated for immediate construction and another 100 houses will be built within the next five years.

 

Funding for the new housing development ($17 million )was obtained under the Canada Economic Action Plan and Moses says $3 million of that was earmarked for geothermal heating. “With the overall size of the project we anticipate the return of Tla-o-qui-aht families to Tofino from places like Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Victoria, and Seattle, Washington.”

 

Moses adds, “It's a well-rounded housing plan that includes the geothermal heating for the new Long House and an eventual school for the new community.” The bridge connects this subdivision, called Ty'Tan'Us, to the existing Esowista community and the nhe new community will have three access points, says Moses.

 

Tla-o-qui-aht members will be active in the building of all phases. “We are ramping up the workforce as we speak. We will have a team of labourers working throughout the phase, and phase one alone will supply jobs and paycheques for at least two years.” Some training and apprenticeship will ensue.

 

The skilled labour will be learning new aspects of construction, says Moses, “We are looking for better quality housing construction being put into these homes. We want these homes to last at least 50 years. We are looking hard at the quality of the houses and we're going for the LEED Gold Standard of green and sustainable housing construction.”

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.