Benefits from natural resource development

[Benefits Agreements]

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

March 18, 2008

Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs

AGREEMENT PROVIDES BENEFITS, IMPROVED CO-OPERATION

FORT ST. JOHN - Today, on Treaty 8 territory, the Province and chiefs of
four Treaty 8 First Nations signed an economic benefits agreement that
will provide a share of financial benefits from natural resource
development on part of the First Nations' territory to their communities
and enhance land-use collaboration in B.C.'s northeast region,
Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Michael de Jong and the
chiefs announced.

"This agreement signifies an important step forward in the partnership
between Treaty 8 First Nations and government," said de Jong. "It
establishes the foundation for members of these Treaty 8 First Nations
to share in the benefits of resource activity, and contributes to an
improved climate of co-operation."

The agreement confirms the obligations for meaningful consultation by
the Province with Treaty 8 First Nations.

"This agreement is about our working together with B.C. to create
certainty of process so that development can proceed in a more fair and
responsible way," said the First Nations' spokesperson, Tribal Chief Liz
Logan. "It is not about giving up our rights. The obligations to consult
and accommodate are clarified. We'll continue to look to industry to
enter into impact benefit agreements with us. We'll continue to insist
that our Treaty be respected."

"We are committed to sharing the benefits and opportunities created
through the development of oil and gas resources with First Nations,"
said Richard Neufeld, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
"This agreement increases certainty for the northeast as a whole."

The four members of the Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs that have
ratified the agreement are Doig River, Fort Nelson, Prophet River, and
West Moberly First Nations. The agreement provides for an initial equity
payment of $13.3 million and revenue-sharing payments between $3.4 and
$13.4 million per year for 15 years. Revenue-sharing payments will be
linked to the level of activity from oil and gas, mining, and forestry
development in the northeast region.

The funds provided to the Treaty 8 First Nations will be paid into a
trust for the benefit of the signatory Treaty 8 First Nations.
Additional equity payments will be made upon completion of land and
resource management agreements, which are currently under negotiation.

The four Nations are located in northeast British Columbia, an area rich
in oil, gas, mineral and forestry resources. "We have seen the natural
resources within our Treaty area depleted for over 100 years, and seen
little benefit until recently," said Logan. "This agreement with the
Province provides us with the financial means to be better stewards of
our lands, and to better take advantage of the various economic
opportunities around us. Our vision is for our member communities to
become healthy and self-sufficient."

"The agreements we're working on now are about effective resource
management. We want to ensure there's a good balance between protection
of our lands and economic opportunities so there's something left for
future generations," said Vice Tribal Chief Roland Willson. "The Elders
have told us that it's not about the money, it's about the land. We're
happy to have the economic benefits agreement signed, but our priority
is the resource management agreements."

The Province is committed to concluding the resource management
agreements before the end of 2009. The economic benefits agreement is
part of a broader process; emphasis will now shift to the other, equally
important components of building a stable framework for improved
relations with the Treaty 8 Nations.

British Columbia is building a new relationship with First Nations
founded on mutual respect, recognition and reconciliation, which will
allow Aboriginal people to participate in the province's economic and
social progress.

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1 backgrounder attached.

Media
contact:

Deborah Bowman
Communications Director
Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
250 953-3211
250 213-3489 (cell)

Richard Resener
Negotiations Coordinator
Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs
250 785-0612 250 663-8733

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the
Province's news feeds using RSS, visit the Province's website at
www.gov.bc.ca

BACKGROUNDER
2008ARR0008-000381
March 18, 2008

Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs

TREATY 8 ECONOMIC BENEFITS AGREEMENT

The Agreement

* The Economic Benefits Agreement (EBA) provides a combination of equity
payments and annual revenue-sharing payments to benefit the four First
Nations: Fort Nelson, Doig River, Prophet River and West Moberly.

* The agreement also sets out a default consultation process that will
apply in the absence of any consultation processes set out in specific
resource management agreements.

* The EBA is the first agreement in a series of nine agreements related
to government-to-government relations and resource management.
Additional equity payments will be made upon completion of the remaining
agreements. The parties will also negotiate a final agreement that will
link together the EBA and the resource management agreements and will
signify the conclusion of this particular set of negotiations with
Treaty 8 First Nations. All equity payments will go back to the Province
if the parties fail to reach agreement on all of the resource management
agreements.

* For the four Treaty 8 First Nations, revenue-sharing payments over the
15-year lifespan of the agreement have a floor of $3.4 million and a
ceiling of $13.4 million annually.

* Revenue-sharing payments will be linked to revenues from oil and gas
and the level of activity from resource development in three sectors in
the northeast region.

* Payments will be made to the Treaty 8 Heritage Trust, established by
the First Nations for their benefit. The trust will be used to pay for
the negotiation and implementation of the resource management
agreements, for Treaty land stewardship, and for the promotion of
economic development in the participating First Nation communities.

* The EBA enables Halfway River and Saulteau First Nations to opt-in to
the arrangement at any time within the next year.

Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs

* Concluded in 1899, Treaty 8 is one of 11 numbered treaties negotiated
between Canada and First Nations between 1871 and 1921.

* Treaty 8 covers 324,900 square miles and encompasses 39 First Nations
communities within four provincial and territorial administrations: 23
Alberta First Nations; three Saskatchewan First Nations; six NWT First
Nations; and eight British Columbia First Nations.

* Six of the eight B.C. Treaty 8 First Nations are members of the
Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs, and of the Treaty 8 Tribal
Association (T8TA): Doig River First Nation, Halfway River First Nation,
Prophet River First Nation, Fort Nelson First Nation, West Moberly First
Nations and Saulteau First Nations.

* The six Nations are comprised of Dene, Dunne Za (Beaver), Saulteau and
Cree ethnolinguistic groups. Many members continue to practise their
Treaty-protected traditional mode of life throughout the Treaty
territory.

* McLeod Lake Indian Band adhered to Treaty No. 8 in 2000 and is not a
member of the Council or of the T8TA. Blueberry River First Nation
formally withdrew from the Council and the T8TA in 2005, and concluded a
separate EBA with the Province in 2006.

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Media
contact:

Deborah Bowman
Communications Director
Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
250 953-3211
250 213-3489 (cell)

Richard Resener
Negotiations Coordinator
Council of Western Treaty 8 Chiefs
250 785-0612
250 663-8733 (cell)

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the
Province's news feeds using RSS, visit the Province's website at
www.gov.bc.ca