The City of Nanaimo has released a statement about the development at the former Howard Johnson hotel site, which sits on an ancestral village with historical significance to Snuneymuxw First Nation.
This after the First Nation said in a statement Friday that the city is reverting to colonial, extinguish-based approaches to working with them and that any attempt to develop the site without their consultation would be plagued with opposition.
The city say they made the nation aware of the development in March of last year, before a formal application was referred to them one month later.
“The City fully understands that this privately owned land is located within the area of a significant ancestral village site for SFN,” reads their statement. “For that reason, we shared the rezoning proposal with SFN at our Staff-to-Staff Technical Working Group in March 2022, before our formal application referral to the Nation in April 2022.”
The City say they understand the developer and the nation continue to have discussions regarding the development of this site and encourage those conversations to continue.
The statement says, “The City has followed the legislative process, as set out by the Province, for the processing and consideration of this rezoning application. There will be no further public communication on this matter at this time.”
