Of 700 referrals on natural gas permits received by the Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) since October 2023, the First Nation has disagreed with only nine, the First Nation says.
A cloud of uncertainty has hung over much of B.C.’s richest natural gas play – the Montney formation in northeastern B.C. – ever since a 2021 court ruling that found the B.C. government had breached the BRFN’s treaty rights in the form of cumulative impacts from decades of industrial activity, including oil and gas exploration, extraction and production.
The Blueberry River First Nation’s traditional territory covers much of the Montney formation, and the court ruling put a chill, if not a freeze, on oil and gas activities in the region.
In 2023, the B.C. government negotiated an agreement aimed at addressing the First Nation’s concerns over resource development in the BRFN’s traditional territory covered by Treaty 8. It gives the First Nation more control over land use activities in certain “high value” areas.
More recently, the BRFN has been roiled by internal politics, which may add to some of the uncertainty for oil and gas activities.
In September this year, Judy Desjarlais was removed as chief – a move she is challenging in court through a judicial review – and in November, BRFN’s council terminated without cause the CEO of Blueberry River Resources (BRR), the First Nation’s economic development arm, resulting in the BRR board of directors resolving to terminate BRR staff and wind down its operations, according BRR board meeting minutes.
Earlier this month the BRFN announced it would take measures to “regain” control of BRR.
To address concerns that it has been holding up or denying permits for the oil and gas sector, the BRFN recently issued a press release pointing out that it has approved roughly 700 referrals from the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) since October 2023.
“The rumours that Blueberry is holding up oil and gas activity are categorically false,” BRFN Councillor Wayne Yahey said in a press release. “Blueberry has not wavered from its position on balancing the protection of our treaty rights with sustainable industrial development. Our Lands department has been, and continues to, review permit referrals in a timely manner.”
Of the 700 referrals, the BRFN “disagreed” with nine, the release states.
Four of the denied permits were in HV1 Gundy Complex. This is one of several “landscape-level high-value plans” in an implementation agreement signed by the B.C. government and BRFN in 2023.
The Gundy plan “establishes and implements actions to support the restoration and ongoing practice of Blueberry River First Nations' Treaty Rights and essential elements of their way of life like hunting, fishing, trapping and sacred site preservation, while enabling limited petroleum and natural gas (PNG) development under new rules and conditions,” implementation agreement states.
“The permit referrals Blueberry has disagreed with represent a very small proportion of the total permit referrals that the Lands department has reviewed since Blueberry and B.C. entered into the Implementation Agreement,” Yahey said.
“As this clearly demonstrates, Blueberry has taken a collaborative approach to reviewing permit referrals with the province to ensure as much efficiency as possible with the new permit referral review processes.”
(This story has been updated)
