Lillooet-T'it'q'et Business Plan - Aboriginal Studies

LILLOOET – T’IT’Q’ET ASSESSMENT REPORT[pic 3][pic 4]

FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT INC.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

PREPARED BY:

TOBY KWAN

UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

LILLOOET – T’IT’Q’ET COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The intent of this report is to provide details of the Lillooet municipality and the T’it’q’et First Nation. This will allow the management division of Future Development Inc. to make a sound decision in regards to their business development plans. The report will introduce the two communities by providing economic and demographic information, as well as their existing relationship.

COMMUNITIES

Lillooet is a municipality located on the Fraser River in British Columbia. The mayor is Dennis Bontron1; it has a small population of 2,324 people2; and the city’s main industries are logging, mining and agriculture. The city advocates their land for commercial, industrial and residential uses. Lillooet also operates their own aerodrome, water and sewer systems. (www.lillooetbc.ca)

The T’it’q’et First Nation is part of the St’at’imc Nation. The chief of T’it’q’et is currently Kevin Whitney 3 (www.titqet.org) and the community has a population of 383 people4 (http://pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca). The main resources for the community are timber 5 (www.for.gov.bc.ca ) and fish6 (www.titqet.org). T’it’q’et is working with the B.C Government on the Clean Energy Project 7 (http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca). 

COMPARISON OF THE COMMUNITIES[pic 5]

Lillooet

DEMOGRAPHICS

The current population in Lillooet is 2,324 people. The average age of the population is 48 years old, with 85.1% of the population being over the age of 15. A majority of people have a high school education, with a substantial fraction with college and university degrees as well. More than half of the population is married/living with a common-law partner and 18% of households are made up of one-family with children.  Over half of the population is currently employed, the main occupations being: sales and service, transport and equipment operators, and finance and administration positions. The median income of the population was $22,542, with one tenth of the population considered in “low income” before tax.

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8 Lillooet - District municipality, British Columbia, Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/canada/Lillooet-Municipality.html

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

The mayor and the council run the city. The mayor is elected through an election that is held every four years, as per the Local Government Act. The mayor and council have regular meetings where council members report issues under their file and projects and amendments are discussed.

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The city regulates certain bylaws, which include, but are not limited to:

• Administration fees
• Building
• Business licenses
• Development application fee
• Subdivision procedures
• Zoning
• Tax rates

ECONOMIC INITIATIVES

Through the city’s Economic Development Assessment and Strategy Plan9 (https://slrd.civicweb.net), we can see that it plans to stimulate its economy in a multitude of ways.

• Improve and strengthen Communication and Planning by increasing community involvement and community through charrettes and visions.
• Enhance economic development services by establishing economic development and tourism committee and training local leaders on economic developments. Another part of the development plan is to create a stand-alone website: www.InvestLillooet.com, in order to reach a wider audience. In addition, the municipality will also develop supportive government policies and regulations.
• Develop an environment to maintain and encourage business growth and expansion by implementing an expansion program for businesses, creating an entrepreneurship environment, supporting mining activity and exploring the options of implementing downtown Wi-Fi.
• Support the growth of the agriculture industry by establishing a Farmer’s Institute and creating more awareness.
• Support and expand tourism by developing a tourism marketing strategy, enhance signage around the Northern Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and supporting and expanding festivals that happen around the area.
• Enhance and improve infrastructure by continuing to develop the transportation and communication infrastructure already underway. Their most recent infrastructure project funding being $1.5 million funding from the Government of Canada.
• Strengthen and expand partnerships by organizing joint meetings with First Nations and building a stronger working relationship between Lillooet and Bridge River Valley Economic Development Society.

REVENUE SOURCES

The total revenue for Lillooet in 2014 was $10,406,373. The economy is currently relying on logging as its main industry and revenues flow from there, although it is not as large as it used to be. Mining and agriculture are also prominent industries for Lillooet, although they have also decreased in size. The main components of the revenue were made up of property value taxes, grants in lieu of taxes and government transfers11 (see Appendix A).