RC104 JanFeb2023 - Magazine - Page 6
FRONT
CIB INVESTS IN INDIGENOUS-OWNED
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
The plant will
be located on
shíshálh Nation lands
near Sechelt, B.C. and
will play a critical role
in enabling economic
growth, protecting the
coastal environment,
and safeguarding
public health through
improving the outfall.
THE CANADA INFRASTRUCTURE BANK (CIB) and
the shíshálh Nation Government District (sNGD)
announced financial close on an agreement, which will
see the CIB lend more than $6 million to support a new
Port Stalashen Wastewater Treatment Plant through its
Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative.
The plant will be located on shíshálh Nation lands
near Sechelt, B.C. and will play a critical role in enabling
economic growth, protecting the coastal environment,
and safeguarding public health through improving the
outfall. The investment will serve the shíshálh Nation,
which represents a population of more than 1,500
members, and lessees on shíshálh Nation Lands (Tsawcome) No. 1.
“Through our Indigenous Community Infrastructure
Initiative, we are proud to partner with the shíshálh
Nation to help close the infrastructure gap and invest in
this important project. Our investment will accelerate the
creation of a new community wastewater treatment plant,
6 RENEW CANADA — JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
providing infrastructure, economic, and environmental
benefits to the Nation. We look forward to continuing to
collaborate with First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada to enable inclusive and sustainable
infrastructure projects,” said Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada
Infrastructure Bank.
The current wastewater treatment plant, owned and
operated by sNGD for the past 26 years, has reached its
end of life and requires replacement. This new replacement plant and improved outfall will serve 91 connected
residential units and support the conversion and connection of 88 buildings, which currently rely on septic
wastewater systems.
“The agreement reminds me of why our Nation decided to go down the Self-Governing path in the first place.
It shows how issues can be meaningfully addressed
through a collaborative discussion and agreement. This
bodes well for the future,” said Chief Henry Warren
Paull, shíshálh Nation.
RENEWCANADA.NET
TREATMENT PLANT: SHÍSHÁLH NATION GOVERNMENT DISTRICT
The CIB will lend more than $6 million through its Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative
to support a new Port Stalashen Wastewater Treatment Plant.
