Chief Negotiators Reach Agreement on Final Treaty

            VANCOUVER, Aug. 1 /CNW/ - Chief Negotiators for the Lheidli T'enneh Band,
Canada and the province of British Columbia have successfully concluded final
treaty negotiations to reach the first treaty agreement under the BC treaty
process.
            Terms of the agreement include self-government, $27 million in one-time
funding, $400 000 per year in revenue sharing for 50 years, 4330 hectares of
treaty lands, 107 000 cubic meters in long-term wood supply, 9000-10000
sockeye for food, social and ceremonial purposes annually (depending on run
size), and 6000 sockeye for sale annually.
            "We are very excited," says Mark Stevenson, Chief Negotiator for the
Lheidli T'enneh. "This is the first agreement reached under the BC treaty
process... , and it is an agreement that I believe is good for the Lheidli
T'enneh, good for the province of British Columbia, and good for Canada."
            "It's a great day for the three parties in the central interior to come
up with an agreement that is satisfactory to all three parties," says Wilf
Adam, Commissioner for the BC Treaty Commission.
            "This agreement is an important milestone in our BC treaty process, one
that we have been struggling towards for 13 years. Today we mark a new chapter
in the new relationship among First Nations, BC, and Canada," says Acting
Chief Commissioner Jody Wilson.
            The agreement will by initialled by all three negotiators in September
when remaining side agreements are finalized and the legal review complete.
Once initialled, the agreement will go to all three parties for ratification.
            The Lheidli T'enneh Band has 312 members and entered the BC treaty
process in 1993. The Lheidli T'enneh were the first band to conclude an
agreement-in-principal under the BC treaty process in July 2003.
 
 
 
 
-30-
 
/For further information: Mark L. Stevenson, Chief Negotiator, Lheidli
T'enneh Band, Cell: (250) 889-4397; Wilf Adam, Commissioner, BC Treaty
Commission, Cell (604) 312-1031 or (604) 482-9200/