Court date

Halalt First Nation will finally get its day in BC Supreme Court later this spring. The nation filed for a judicial review in early September over the District of North Cowichan project that could see water pumped from the river’s aquifer to service the town of Chemainus. A pre-Christmas date in Duncan was delayed until January and moved to the Lower Mainland. That one was also called off as was a date in March.

Appointed to board

John Wesley of Snuneymuxw First Nation has been named to the board of directors of the First Nation E-Health Centre of Excellence. Its mandate is to serve First Nations by supplying services such as Telehealth, electronic health and medical records and e-health data. The centre was incorporated in December 2008 in partnership between Inter Tribal Health Authority and the BC First Nations Health Council.

Taking the initiative

Texada Island blogger Tom Read (www.slowcoast.ca) congratulated Sliammon First Nation for its relations with neighbours. He wrote: “Sliammon came to Texada to discuss its plans with our community. Our official community plan requires Texadans to consult with Sliammon about land use proposals on Texada… But we have no authority to compel Sliammon to reciprocate. So, I was pleased that Sliammon took the initiative and reached out to Texada. In my opinion this is a step toward better future consultation between our communities.”