While the Ktunaxa Nation ponders its next steps in its ongoing fight against the Jumbo Glacier Resort, the area’s other local band says it’s pleased to see a decision finally come down on the development.
“I think after the long drawn out process that it went through, it’s probably appropriate that they’ve come to a decision,” Dean Martin, CEO of the Shuswap Band’s Kinbasket Development Corporation said in an interview Tuesday, shortly after the decision had been announced.
Martin said after more than 20 years of waiting, the band was happy to see any decision on Jumbo. That it jibes with the band’s longtime support of the project is a plus.
“In any projects that we do around the province or around our traditional territory, one of the most important factors is to have a speedy process,” he said. While that wasn’t the case here, Martin said the thoroughness of the review of jumbo shouldn’t “leave too many questions in a lot of peoples’ minds.”
The Shuswap band’s support for the Jumbo project is longstanding, with Chief Paul Sam frequently lending his name to letters of support for the project — including one that went along with a delegation promoting the resort in France in February.
“Us, Jumbo and the province will move forward as per our agreement, and we’re just happy to see the province make a decision and we’re happy to accept that in the Shuswap territory.”
