INSIDE
NEWS
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OPINION
OKANAGAN SUN knocks off the Langley Rams to grab top spot in a battle of the best teams in the B.C. Football Conference.
A COUPLE who were eyewitnesses to a gun battle by occupants of a fleeing van and police in West Kelowna last year recount in court what they saw.
COLUMNIST Marjorie Horne explains the four rules for getting on with life and achieving success with most of the things you do..
TOM FLETCHER says the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s call for binding arbitration appears to be going nowhere.
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84 serving our community 1930 to 2013
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TUESDAY September 9, 2014 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
First Nations’ rights supersede water licences
Jennifer Smith
STAFF REPORTER
Aboriginal rights to water likely supersede those of water licence holders and municipalities need to negotiate what this means before the issue ends up in court. This was the big take away from Friday’s Okanagan Basin Water Board annual general meeting where municipal lawyer and Hakai professor in environmental law and sustainability, Deborah Curran, addressed the implications of the new Water Sustainability Act. “It is very clear that First Nations have an aboriginal right to water. For example, (they have a right to enough) water so that salmon can return to spawn. That is quite clear, whether it has been said by a court or not,” said Curran. “So, what does the modern day water allocation look like?” she asked. “Well, obviously, First Nations have aboriginal rights for domestic use. The question of further than that depends on the history of that nation and, if questioned, those rights would take precedence over all other water licences that have been issued in British Columbia.” The Act does not ad-
Deborah Curran dress aboriginal title specifically. But given the Tsilhqot’in decision, which awarded 1,700-square-kilometres of traditional lands outside the Tsilhqot’in reserve in Central B.C. to the First Nation, court precedent on land claims with sufficient evidence is now set, she said. Her talk stressed the need to jump into negotiations with First Nations locally and generally adopt a seize-the-day approach to planning for water rather than waiting for conflict with the province and court down the line. Under the new water legislation, water is a “use right” not a “property right,” she added. As such, a water licence gives the holder the right to draw a given amount until the provSee Water A5
ALISTAIR WATERS/CAPITAL NEWS
STREET FOOD…The Taste Of Downtown Kelowna brought out the crowds Saturday as hundreds lined up at the 26
participating eateries in and around Bernard Avenue to try free samples. They got special passports stamped for a chance to win what was billed as the “ultimate downtown Kelowna experience”—a night for two at the Delta Grand Okanagan Hotel, two dinners and tickets to a Kelowna Rockets game.
▼ CITY COUNCILLOR
Blanleil calls it a career...for now Kathy Michaels STAFF REPORTER
Longtime Kelowna city councillor André Blanleil announced Sunday he is walking away from the role he’s held for more than two decades,
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✔ BANKRUPT ✔ SLOW PAYER
✔ BAD CREDIT ✔ DIVORCE
✔ DISABILITY ✔ CREDIT COUNSELLING
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but that doesn’t mean he’s slammed the door on a life in politics. “It was a really hard decision, even up until Sunday morning,” he said. “I kept thinking, ‘do I stay or go—stay or go?’ In the end I decided to
go, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t come back in four years.” The impetus behind the leap away from his political role is a desire to enjoy his life when he’s healthy and able to do so—maybe even put the
work/life balance in order by adding some more significant recreational plans into his schedule. As is, Blanleil’s busy. He oversees 21 Andrés See Blanleil A2
Andre Blanleil
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