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Ferry Island Road Closure | Chronology of Events
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Chronology of Events

The following is a chronology of the events to date

-In 1953 a letter was sent from Chief and Council to the Province of British Columbia.

-In the 1970s Council requested the immediate transfer of Ferry Island through the Department of Indian Affairs.

-In the mid 1970s Chief and Council met with Parks and Recreation.

-In the mid 1980s the Province of British Columbia redesignated Ferry Island as one of the islands with a numerical land description. Official claims were pursued on this piece of land.

-In August 1996 the Lower Mainland Protected Areas Regional Public Advisory Committee presented its recommendations to the Province of British Columbia on the establishment of protected areas, minor boundary adjustments, designation of forested lands as forest land reserve, mitigation, resource management, forest related employment and future study. The Province accepted the recommendations and implemented the study.

-In May 1998 the Lower Mainland Inter-Agency Management Committee initiated the Study.

-On June 15, 2000[editor's note- this date is incorrect]Chief June Quipp received a copy of the Chilliwack Times press release.

-On March 31, 2000 Michael Coon, Director of the Land Use Coordination Office (Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations) hand delivered a copy of the study to Cheam Chief June Quipp.

-April 3, 2000 Cheam General Band Meeting motion to take direct action.

-Boyd Piper from the ministry of Aboriginal Affairs set up a schedule of meetings with Chief Quipp.

-April 6, 2000 Cheam community met with senior representatives of British Columbia and presented our concerns.


-April 10, 2000 Cheam exchanged information with the Ministry of Forests.

-April 13, 2000 Senior negotiators, Ministry of Education representatives and Land Use Coordination Office representatives met with the band with a mandate to deal with "pragmatic issues" which they would not define for us. Chief Quipp asked for a commitment from the Province to deal with the simple administrative matters on the table. Senior negotiators were not given a mandate to make any resolve with us on these, and were sent back with our request with a deadline to respond by noon the next day.

-April 14, 2000 Without regard for the timeframe, Catherine Panter, Senior Negotiator called late to say she could not commit to any resolution. Ministry of Education response was unsatisfactory.

-April 14, 2000 Response to this inaction was to close Ferry Island Road.

-April 15, 2000 Catherine Panter made a token call to the Chief. We do not consider this "consultation".

-April 15, 2000 Premier Ujjal Dosanjh expressed unwillingness to negotiate in the Vancouver Sun.