There’s more than $1 billion worth of commercial, industrial and residential development planned for Tsawwassen First Nation land, including two major mall projects valued at $650 million.
But the developments will require some major public works upgrades for new sewers, road improvements and street lighting, and for that the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) will need access to low-cost municipal government loans – something it doesn’t have.
“These projects are all so close to closing, but we really need this financing solution to move this stuff forward,” Tom McCarthy, TFN’s director of public services, told Business in Vancouver.
As a self-governing First Nation that is no longer under the aegis of the Indian Act, the TFN now has the powers and responsibilities of a municipal government, including the ability to levy taxes and development cost charges. It’s also a member of the Metro Vancouver regional district and Greater Vancouver Water District.
But, unlike other municipal and regional governments, it doesn’t have access to low-cost loans from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA).
Nor can it borrow from the First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA) – which provides low-cost loans to First Nations – because it is no longer under the Indian Act.
“It’s very crucial to the development and growth of any small community to be able to access low-cost borrowing,” said Tsawwassen chief Bryce Williams.
The Sliammon First Nation near Powell River could soon be in a similar bind. The Sliammon are still under the Indian Act, but not for long.
Sliammon narrowly approved a treaty last year, and it’s now awaiting federal approval, with implementation expected in 2015. Like Tsawwassen, the Sliammon have infrastructure upgrades that are long overdue.
“Our sewage and water systems are currently maxed,” said Sliammon chief Clint Williams.
He estimates the upgrades would cost roughly $10 million. The band has applied for financing through the FNFA, but by the time its application might get approved, the Sliammon may well be out of the Indian Act and in limbo, like the TFN.
“We’re trapped in no man’s land,” Williams said. “Because of our switch to treaty, we would no longer have access to the First Nations Finance Authority. And because we’re a First Nation, we wouldn’t have access to the MFA.”
Tsawwassen, Sliammon and five other B.C. First Nations that are moving toward self-government say they just want the same access to low-cost financing that any other municipality in B.C. has, and they don’t much care if it comes from being admitted to the MFA or the FNFA.
If forced to borrow at prime rates through banks, it could add millions to public works projects. McCarthy estimates the TFN will need to invest $150 million to $200 million in public works over the next decade.
“Indian and Northern Affairs has left the TFN and every other First Nation with a massive infrastructure deficit,” McCarthy said.
The federal government created FNFA to give First Nations access to low-cost financing for public works. A mechanism in the act gives treaty nations access to FNFA financing, but that requires federal and provincial government approvals.
Admission to the MFA requires approval from the province and MFA members. The TFN has asked the province for its support in getting access to either the MFA or FNFA, but it appears to be low on the province’s priority list.
“We just have had no movement,” McCarthy said. “All we’re asking is we just get this thing dealt with. Certainly the province is generally very supportive of treaty First Nations. It’s just this one thing we’ve got to get resolved.”
Major commercial and industrial development planned by TFN
•Tsawwassen Mills (Ivanhoe Cambridge): a 1.2 million-square-foot high-end outlet concept shopping mall
•Tsawwassen Commons (Property Development Group), a 570,000-square-foot shopping mall
•Tsawwassen Gateway Logistics Park, a 300-acre industrial park, including warehousing, to support planned expansion of Deltaport
How the TFN treaty works – and how it doesn’t
Under the treaty it signed, the TFN got a one-time cash payment of $33.6 million, self-government funding of $2.9 million annually for first five years after implementation and 724 hectares of land – 290 hectares of which was Indian reserve land.
Starting in 2017, the Tsawwassen will begin collecting a consumption tax, and property and income taxes by 2021. The TFN will also collect a form of development cost charges – called offsite levies – from developers.
Tsawwassen Shores, a new housing development being built by Aquilini Development and Construction Inc., is the first major post-treaty residential development to get underway on Tsawwassen lands.
But offsite levies won’t nearly cover the full cost of new public infrastructure and amenities.
“The development of a sustainable economy at Tsawwassen is going to be based on land development,” McCarthy said. “It’s not resources, it’s not forestry. Land development requires services.
“Our road system is lacking, our sewer plant is very near its current capacity, we desperately need a new recreation centre, Tsawwassen youth really need a full-sized sports field, we desperately need a new elders’ centre, and – critical – we need street lights.”
