By Adam Donnelly

City and TTeS meet at Community-to-Community Forum

Mar 26, 2018 | 5:24 PM

KAMLOOPS — There’s plenty of shared history between the City of Kamloops and the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc governments, and through the Community to Community forums those governments collaborate on a couple of times a year, they’re working on trying to build upon that shared history to ensure the future holds the very best for city residents and TTS band members moving forwards

It’s an opportunity for the two local governments to meet and discuss shared interests and concern. The Community to Community forum took place today, with members of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and the City of Kamloops meeting at the Sandman Centre this morning.

“Mayor Peter Milobar and Chief Shane Gottfriedson took the C2C very seriously,” Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian explained. “Kukpi7 Fred Seymour and I are just trying to take it to the next level.”

The discussion today involved a number of topics, including the future fate of Stuart Wood Elementary and the possibility of a cultural heritage centre on the site. Chief Seymour says he’d like to see the site recognize the diverse cultural history which has shaped this region.

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“Not just for First Nations, but for other… nations involved, I guess,” Seymour said. “Just to get a better understanding of TTS and Kamloops working together. Another step to educating all.”

For Mayor Christian, there are some key steps which need to occur before the city can move ahead with the site.

“First of all we need to do some extensive consultation with stakeholders,” Christian said. “We also need to look to the federal government for some grant opportunities, because this is the kind of thing they really encourage municipalities and first nations communities to do.”

A more timely collaboration between the City and Tk’emlups te Secwepemc will be the expansion of Kamloops Transit services onto TTTSlands, expected to go into effect late this summer, and will service a number of points on TTeS land.

“It will be about a half an hour route, and the agreement is based on hours,” Tk’emlups te Sepwepemc Community Services Coordinator Sarah Candido explained. “It’s looking like[busses] are going to run from about 7:00 am until 7:00 pm.”

According to Candido, the service will allow much better access to amenities for those who live on the north side of the South Thompson River.

It means that our population on-reserve will be able to get more easily off-reserve,” Candido said. “It’ll be much easier to get to the hospital, to doctor’s appointments, to the bank.”

Seymour, who’s been part of the TTS Council since the early 2000’s, says he’s happy to see the relationship between the city and his government continue to grow and believes improved cooperation will open up plenty of opportunities for both sides in the years to come

“It’s my first term as chief, but I’ve been a council member since 2000,” Seymour said. “I think we’ve come a long way. We [can’t] be second-guessing. We’re here to help each other. we can go a long ways with this Community to Community form, now and into the future.”