Negotiations on a new lease to allow Vernon Regional Airport to keep operating took flight yesterday. Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert told The Province he expects to have the lease signed "within a week." The old lease on 2.8 hectares of Okanagan Indian band land that stretches across the middle of the airport's runway ran out in 2006. Lippert and other officials of the city, which owns the airport, met yesterday with officials of the Okanagan Indian band and John Jack, a band member who holds a certificate of possession for the parcel. "We had a very productive meeting," said Lippert. Ken McDonald, acting regional director of land and trust services for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, described the certificate held by Jack as "the on-reserve equivalent of fee simple ... with a slightly lesser bundle of rights."
He said certificates of possession are common on Indian reserves in B.C., but rare in eastern Canada. "[Jack] is the beneficial occupant of that land and he has been allotted the land by the [band] government," said McDonald. "His family has held that land since 1955." Jack had threatened to shut down the runway on Aug. 31 if no agreement was reached yesterday.
2 comments:
How ironic that LIPPERT makes the comment "We had a very productive meeting"...WHY, weren't these meetings held two years ago?..
How much do you want to bet that there's going to be a photo Op of Lippert signing the lease with Mr and Mrs JACK.
Being anonymous gives you benefit of "A closed mouth gathers no Feet".
For your edification, if you took the time to research, you would have found that the delay was not by Mr. Jack's or the City, but in fact the delay was in the Indian Affairs department.
Chub Down
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