Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

Transportation Assessment of the Central & North Coast of BC
Census year. 7 The First Nations that inhabit or and/or have territorial claims on
the Central Coast are the following:
• Kitasoo/Xai’xai – live in Klemtu;
• Heiltsuk – principal community is Waglisla (Bella Bella);
• Nuxalk – main village near Bella Coola;
• Wuikinuxv – at Rivers Inlet; and,
• Gwa’Sala-Nakwaxda’xw - located in Port Hardy with territorial claims on Mid
Coast.
Bella Coola, situated at the head of the North Bentinck Arm of Burke Channel, has
a single road link to the rest of the province (Highway 20), and is served by both
air and ferry transportation. Ferry service is curtailed during winter months, and
poor weather during the winter often makes the Central Coast difficult to reach by
air.
Bella Bella is the major outer island transportation hub on the Central Coast,
located on Campbell Island beside Seaforth Channel. It is linked to Vancouver
Island and the Lower Mainland by year-round ferry service (both Route 40 and
Route 10) and scheduled airline service from Vancouver and Port Hardy.
Klemtu, Denny Island/Shearwater (a non-native community situated across from
Campbell Island) and Ocean Falls (at the head of cousins Inlet) are all served at
least once per week by BC Ferries’ Route 40 Discovery Coast service during the
summer months, but have curtailed ferry service on Route 10 (Inside Passage
service) during the winter months. There is no road access to any of these
communities, although Pacific Coastal provides scheduled flights to these smaller
communities out of its secondary hub in Port Hardy.
NORTH COAST
The North Coast includes the Tsimshian Nation communities of Lax Kw’alaams,
Metlakatla, Kitkatla and Hartley Bay and the incorporated municipalities of City of
Prince Rupert and District of Port Edward. The area’s total population is
approximately 15,900, and an estimated 6,300, 40%, are either First Nation
members or self-identify as Aboriginal persons.
Prince Rupert’s population peaked in the mid 90s and slipped by approximately
22% over the 1996-2006 decade. Port Edwards population has tumbled by about
15% during the same period. The population trends for both municipalities are
presented in the following table.
7 Statistics Canada. Census 2006.
Chisholm Consulting 6