One of the last people to put his hat in the ring for the vacant position on Squamish council wants to bring the Squamish Nation and the District of Squamish closer together.
Randy Lewis, who works as Environmental Co-ordinator/Projects Manager for the First Nation, filed his nomination for the June 24 byelection to council Friday (May 19).
"There's more communication, I think, required not only for the Squamish Nation chief and council, but for Squamish municipal council," he said Tuesday (May 23). "I think there are more opportunities we can explore meaningfully with someone like me on council.
"We call ourselves SQ2 - the Squamish Nation and the District of Squamish. There are doors the municipality can't get into at higher governmental tables but we in the Squamish Nation we invite them in because of rights and title."
Lewis cited projects like the Squamish Estuary Management Plan [SEMP] as examples of how Squamish Nation influence brought benefits to the District.
"We brought about 1,500 per cent more benefit to the District of Squamish than they would have as a result of us signing off on it," he said.
Lewis was born and raised in Squamish and started out working in the forest industry as a helicopter logger faller. He went to work for the federal government in the early 1980s, then returned to heli-logging and took a degree at BCIT before joining the Squamish Nation staff in 1992.
Lewis is currently president of the Squamish River Watershed Society and a director of the Squamish Environmental Conservation.
"There's a lot of volunteer work I've put into this community over a number of years,' he said. "You've got to know the people at the grassroots level."
As the Squamish Nation's environmental co-ordinator, Lewis negotiates protocols with provincial and federal governments dealing with the band's traditional territory, which stretches from Vancouver to north of Pemberton.
Lewis pointed out that the Squamish Nation has become one of the major industrial employers in the area with its acquisition of Tree Farm Licence 38.
Also within Lewis's responsibilities are independent power projects (IPPs). The Squamish Nation is supporting a proposal by Ledcor for a controversial IPP on the Ashlu River which is being opposed by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District as well as Squamish council.
"There's more, I think, direct dialogue required for IPPs within our territory," Lewis said. "We've done a lot of due diligence in the pastbut we want to develop some certainty with regards to these green projects, not just for the Squamish Nation.
Lewis noted that opponents of the Ashlu project have raised concerns that the power from the project and eventually the whole IPP could be sold to an American company in the future. He noted that the covenant on the project states not only that the power generated must stay local, but also that the Squamish Nation has first right of refusal to buy the company.
"It's not going to be sold to foreign interests."
Lewis has also been involved with the Nexen Lands cleanup and acts as a liaison between the Squamish Nation and the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation.
"I think they're on track," he said of the development process which has attracted some criticism from other developers and industrial representatives. "Everybody's not going to be happy at the end of the day, but you get that in every community."
