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Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver - "The Secwepemc people who have returned to Skwelkwek'welt are proudly and courageously asserting their constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title to their territory. The Secwepemc are not the 'trespassers' and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs supports their decision to affirm their aboriginal title." Chief Stewart Phillip was commenting on the re-establishment of the Skwelkwek'welt Protection Center by community members from Neskonlith and their supporters. The newly established Skwelkwek'welt Protection Center is located near MacGillvery Lake.

Chief Phillip went on to state, "In spite of the opposition from the combined efforts of the Sun Peaks Resort, the provincial government, the RCMP, and the provincial court system, I must commend the Secwepemc Elders, the young people and their supporters who have once again demonstrated their courage to protect the Aboriginal Title of Secwepemc at Skwelkwek'welt."

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs believes that the issue of unresolved Aboriginal Title and non-recognition of Aboriginal Rights will be the core issues of many more land-use disputes as the effects of government policies like the accelerated reduction of the British Columbia Assets and Lands' backlog through the approval of corporate tenure applications and the pending referendum on "treaty principles" are felt at the community level.

"It is imperative to recognize that with the deep budget cuts and the slumping economy, the provincial government will aggressively pursue economic development and investment dollars to shore up their revenue-starved budget projections. The provincial government has already signalled, through their budget cuts, that they have lost faith in the treaty process and are seeking alternatives. At this point, it would seem that the only 'alternative' is to minimize the issues of unresolved Aboriginal Title and Rights through the implementation of the referendum results."

Chief Phillip concluded "There will never be economic certainty in this province as long as the provincial government ignores the core issues of such land-use disputes like Sun Peaks, Aboriginal people have unextinguished Aboriginal Title and constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights. Without that recognition, the Liberal government will be long remembered as the one who lit the match."