A new 200-acre business park is taking shape in the District of Lake Country. The development will create space for new types of businesses, attract investment, support local jobs, and provide housing options close to where people work. With support from the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC), the project is helping one of BC’s fastest-growing communities prepare for the future.
2026 ETSI-BC Legislative Review
On March 27, the Board of ETSI-BC released the 2026 Report of its independent Legislative Review Committee, which recommends several important amendments to proposed changes in the Act that governs ETSI-BC. CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT.
The Committee, appointed by ETSI-BC’s Board of Directors, was made up of three leaders with deep experience in governance and public service, and strong connections to community:
- Steve Thomson (former MLA and Minister of both Agriculture and Forests),
- Roly Russell, PhD (former MLA, Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development and Chair of Kootenay Boundary Regional District), and
- Rosalie Yazzie, KC (Senior Legal Counsel to Syilx Okanagan Nation) and former vice-chair of the First Nations Justice Council.
The Committee was supported by Allan Neilson of Neilson Strategies Inc., who has extensive experience in facilitation and policy development.
The Committee was asked to review recommended changes to the ETSI-BC enabling legislation that had been made in in the 2021 ETSI-BC Legislative Review, and by ETSI-BC itself in 2023 and 2025. The Committee was also asked to examine proposed changes put forward by the Ministry of Jobs and Economic Growth in its 2026 Draft Intentions Paper, written in support of the Province’s commitment to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
Item 4.39 of the DRIPA Action Plan directs the Province to work with the three Trusts and First Nations to ensure First Nations inclusion in Trust governance. In addition to reflecting that goal, the confidential Intentions Paper also included changes that the Ministry considered helpful to modernize the legislation to better align with the current economic and legislative context.
In its work, the Committee was guided by the need for durable and self-determined First Nations representation in the Trust while also protecting the Trust’s independence and decision-making autonomy. First Nations inclusion in Trust governance is the main focus of the report’s recommendations and findings. In particular, the Committee gave careful consideration to First Nations representation on the ETSI-BC RACs and Board. The Committee also considered the approach to selecting and appointing First Nations representatives.
The Report speaks to the importance of:
- embedding inclusion in a way that strengthens, rather than weakens, the nature of the Trust as an independent statutory body, focused on and empowered to make decisions in support of regional economic development
- enduring, meaningful and self-determined First Nations representation, which allows for structural models for Board and RAC composition that do not mandate parity in numbers but rather ensure meaningful, material presence for First Nations. Parity, while useful in some instances, does not recognize the structural diversity of First Nations governance across the Trust area. This view is consistent with the findings of ETSI-BC’s 2024 and 2025 First Nations engagement.
- First Nations themselves having the authority, embedded in the Act, to determine the process for selecting and appointing First Nations representatives to the RACs
- protecting the independence of the Trust from efforts to centralize and consolidate control under the Province
- additional opportunities for affected parties to provide input on the Draft Intentions Paper, given the presence of several proposed changes unrelated to DRIPA Action Item 4.39.
ETSI-BC has been told that there will be opportunities for public consultation and input on the proposed changes to our Act. We realize that our past, current and prospective RAC members and other stakeholders will be committed to providing input to ensure that our Act is updated in a way that ensures our continued ability to serve our region most effectively. We will keep you posted on those consultation opportunities as soon as they are made public. Thanks in advance for speaking up on behalf of your region and its needs!
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