1 June 2010

Band Hosts Meeting on KVR

Penticton British Columbia - The Penticton Indian Band is hosting a public information session tonight on the return of a portion of former Kettle Valley Railway lands to reserve status.
 
The meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the West Bench Elementary School gym, will be attended by representatives from the PIB and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to answer questions about the federal addition to reserve policy and its impact on non-native lands bordering the former KVR Trail right-of-way.
 
The PIB is requesting that six parcels of land, roughly 139 acres that were expropriated under the Indian Act from the band in the early 1900s and eventually sold to Canadian Pacific Railway, be returned. In 1985 the B.C. Supreme Court ordered the land returned to the PIB as the railway was no longer used. Discussions with the PIB to maintain access to utility, vehicle, and pedestrian routes that currently run through the lands are ongoing.
 
About 100 people showed up for a town hall meeting at West Bench Elementary School in April where Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Area F director Michael Brydon spoke and fielded questions.
 
For more information, contact the Penticton Indian Band at 250-493-0048 or visit their website at www.pib.ca or contact the RDOS by calling 250-492-0237 or via email at info@rdos.bc.ca.