B.C. Environment Minister determines Jumbo not “substantially” started—certificate expired

The Jumbo Creek Project is a year-round ski resort development in the Jumbo Creek Valley, near Invermere B.C.

by Keith Powell — June 19, 2015

Development on the Jumbo Creek Resort project, near Invermere, cannot proceed until a new Environmental Assessment certificate is obtained. — Photo courtesy BC Government

Environment Minister Mary Polak has determined that the Jumbo Glacier Resort project has not been substantially started.

As a result, the environmental assessment certificate has expired and Glacier Resorts Ltd. cannot proceed with developing this project unless a new certificate is obtained.

The minister was required to make a determination because the Environmental Assessment Act requires that all approved projects must be substantially started within the time limit set out in the certificate or the certificate expires. Documentation related to the minister’s decision can be found at:http://tinyurl.com/q93nzon.

Substantially started decisions are considered on a case-by-case basis. In making her decision, the minister focused on the physical activities that had taken place at the project site. In this case, the minister determined that the physical activities undertaken on the various components did not meet the threshold of a substantially started project.

In making her determination, the minister considered:

submissions from Glacier Resorts Ltd., the Ktunaxa Nation Council and the Shuswap Indian Band;
guidance from the court decision in Taku River Tlingit First Nation v. British Columbia;
the Environmental Assessment Office’s substantially started determination report; and her own observations from a visit to the Jumbo Glacier Resort project site on Oct. 11, 2014.

The minister considered information submitted by the Ktunaxa Nation Council and the Shuswap Indian Band because the project is located in their asserted traditional territories.

The project is a year-round ski resort development in the Jumbo Creek valley, 55 kilometres west of Invermere. The Province issued an environmental assessment certificate for the project on Oct. 12, 2004. As a result of an extension issued in 2009, the expiry date of the certificate was Oct. 12, 2014.

Source: BC Government