General Manager of Eshknam Cultural Management Services (Four First Nations JV).  2015-2021.  

Based on my extensive experience working with First Nations in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, I was invited to take on the role of General Manager of the Cultural Referrals business owned by Cooks Ferry Indian Band, Siska Indian Band, Nooaitch Indian Band and Coldwater Indian Band. 

My mandate was to review the organisation and its performance, and either close, maintain or expand the scale and scope of the organisation – I chose the last approach and turned around the financial and operational performance and obtained six straight clear opinions of the audited annual statements.

I increased training opportunities and increased hiring for the organisation.  The work saw extensive involvement in ongoing Cultural and Environmental Referral work related to:

• Mining – exploration and operational applications and permits
• Forestry – harvesting, silviculture and road building
• Transmission Lines – Multiple Traditional Use Studies.
• Oil and gas lines – Traditional Use Studies.
• MOTI and roads – road repair and construction
• BC Hydro – transmission lines, pole repair and replacement
• Telus – tower placement

Led multiple Traditional Land Use and Knowledge studies related to mining, transmission lines and oil pipeline projects.  The largest of these projects had a budget approaching $750K.

I wrote and obtained $500K and then facilitated the Cultural Survival Area Project that involved eight Indigenous Communities from two separate Nations working together to draw up forestry management practices to protect Cultural Survival Areas which represent some of the most sensitive cultural and spiritual aspects of the Indigenous Communities involved.  Cultural Survival Areas involve three types of cultural features:

• Living Beings (Sasquatch and Little People)
• Things or places (Pit Houses, Sweat Houses, Pictographs, Gravesites
• Activities/Spiritual (some examples are Xa?Xa?, Ghosted, Spirted, Heal One Self, Puberty, Birth, Forbidden)

Key aspects of this land use planning included:

• Extensive cultural research and interviews with elders and knowledge keepers
• Learning and appreciating the cultural landscape context of all the CSAs
• Approaching the management of the CSA areas to facilitate contemporary Traditional Use and other activities – activity in the land is essential to monitor and manage
• Facilitating non-impacting or acceptably impacting forestry activities in the area
• Realizing that traditional/contemporary use would overlap with Sasquatch and Little People activities and planning accordingly.
• Focusing on forest practices that are operational, and able to involve a joint management approach by Indigenous Communities/FLNRO/Industry.

LNG Canada EPCC Bid

• LNG Canada Project EPCC Bid – working on Technip/KBR EPCC team and leading all First Nations,  Public Consultation and local contractor consultation and engagement.

While working as a consultant with large firms, some representative projects for which I led the socioeconomic and engagement/consultation teams,

Amec Foster Wheeler, Human Environment Group Lead, Vancouver, Canada.  2011-2015

Leading a team of Land Use, Socio-economic, Traditional Use/Traditional Knowledge and Public and Aboriginal Outreach and Consultation specialists in supporting Environmental Assessments and Socioeconomic Planning and Management for the following projects:

• Pacific Northwest LNG Project EPCC Bid – working on the West Coast LNG Partnership team and leading all First Nations, Public Consultation and local contractor consultation and engagement.
• Casino Mine, Yukon Territory.  Copper, gold, molybdenum, Western Copper Corporation.  Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting First Nations and public consultation and outreach.
• Blackwater Mine, British Columbia.  Gold, New Gold Corporation.  Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, Part C of the Environmental Assessment, supporting First Nations and public consultation and outreach.
• Raven Mine, British Columbia.  Gold, Compliance Energy.  Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, Part C of the Environmental Assessment, supporting First Nations and public consultation and outreach.
• AJAX Mine, British Columbia.  Gold, KGHM International.  Part C of the Environmental Assessment, supporting First Nations and public consultation and outreach.
• Meikle Wind Farm, Pattern Energy Corp LP. First Nations Consultation support.

Rescan Environmental Services Ltd., Manager of Social and Economic Sciences, Vancouver, Canada.  2009-2011

Leading a team of Land Use, Socio-economic, Traditional Use/Traditional Knowledge and Public and Aboriginal Outreach and Consultation specialists in supporting Environmental Assessments and Socioeconomic Planning and Management for the following projects:

• Graymont Limited.  Washington, Wisconsin.  Lime Plants.  Social License to Operate.
• Northwest Transmission Line, NW British Columbia.  British Columbia Transmission Corporation.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• KSM Mine, NW British Columbia.  Copper, gold.   Seabridge Gold.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• Schaft Creek, Mine.  NW British Columbia.  Copper, gold.  Copper Fox Metals Inc. Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study.
• Kitsault, NW British Columbia.  Molybdenum. Avanti Mining Corp.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• Murray River.  British Columbia.  Coal.  Canadian Dehua.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• Bingay.  British Columbia.  Coal.  Centerpoint Mining Ltd.  Socioeconomic Study.
• Hope Bay, Nunavut.  Gold.  Newmont Mining Company.  Socio-economic Study, Land use Study.
• Pine Point, Northwest Territories.  Zinc.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• Courageous Lake, Northwest Territories, Gold.  Seabridge Gold.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.
• Casino Mine, Yukon Territory.  Copper, gold, molybdenum, Western Copper Corporation.  Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting First Nations and public consultation and outreach.
• Yukon Government.  Mine closure and remediation.  Socioeconomic services.
• Jansen, Boulder, and Young Potash Mine Projects.  BHP Billiton.  Traditional Use Studies, Socio-economic Study, Land use Study, supporting public consultation and outreach.

Islands Community Stability Initiative (ICSI).  Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). 1995-1996

The Islands Community Stability Imitative (ICSI) involved the two Haida Nation communities of Old Massett and Skidegate and four non-Indigenous communities of Sandspit, Queen Charlotte City, Port Clements and Masset.  The intent was to come to an agreement among the communities about setting aside land management areas for the Haida, establishing a more sustainable economy and increasing the level of control and decision making on the island for the communities.

In 1995, based on my research on community forestry and experience working with Indigenous communities, I was invited by the Gowgaia Institute to fly up Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) to carry out six Community Forestry Seminars and a workshop on Community forestry.  Two seminars were carried out on Old Massett and Skidegate Reserves, and the workshop was carried out on the Skidegate Reserve.

In 1996, I was invited by the Gowgaia Institute to return again and was retained for three months to assist in ICSI, where I supported the negotiations table, undertook policy research and advisory work, and wrote articles that were published about land and resource management and planning and the challenges to achieve socioeconomic sustainability for the archipelago.

The ISCI declaration was signed off on by the six communities in March of 1996 and I returned to Thompson Nicola Region shortly after that to take on the role of Forest Renewal BC (FRBC) Tribal Forestry Coordinator for the Nicola Valley Tribal Council.

Sechelt Indian Band.  1991-1992  

The Sechelt Indian Band were my client while I was a banker.  To protest a racially motivated credit decision that impacted the Sechelt, I resigned from banking.  I was Invited by the Sechelt Indian Band to travel back to the province midway through my Masters of Science in Planning Degree at U of T and:

• Undertook the economic and Environmental Land Use planning for all 33 reserves across their Traditional Territory
• Created a project proposal process for proponents and project review process by Sechelt Staff and leadership.

This project led to my doing a Major Project for my Planning Masters that focussed on Marine Fisheries co-management by the Sechelt and Federal governments.