Question Period Note: Columbia River Treaty

Negotiations to modernize the treaty are paused. We wait for a signal from the U.S. to resume. Interim measures are in place to help serve as a bridge until a modernized treaty is brought into force.

• Canada is committed to reaching a modernized Columbia River Treaty, based on the Agreement in Principle reached in July 2024, that benefits both countries and the people of the Columbia River Basin.
• Work continues with British Columbia and the Basin's First Nations, to achieve a modernized treaty that provides fair compensation for flood control, hydropower and that protects ecosystem health as well as takes into account Indigenous cultural values.
• Interim measures with the U.S. are currently in place to help serve as a bridge until a modernized treaty is finalized and brought into force.

· The Columbia River Treaty is an international transboundary water management agreement between Canada and the U.S. that was agreed to in 1961 and came into force in 1964. Between these dates the Canada-BC Agreement was reached (1963). The Canada -BC Agreement allocates most rights, benefits and obligations of the Canada-US Treaty to BC and requires Canada to obtain BC's concurrence before terminating, amending, or making certain elections under the Treaty. Given this Agreement, BC plays a very large role in modernization negotiations.
· Under the terms of the Treaty, three reservoirs were built in Canada (Duncan Dam, Hugh Keenleyside Dam and Mica Dam. In return, Canada (BC) received a payment for providing assured flood control for the U.S. and one-half of the potential incremental electricity generated in the U.S.
· The Canadian delegation is made up of federal, provincial and First Nation representatives from the Ktunaxa, the Syilx-Okanagan and the Secwépemc Nations who are united in its approach to a modernized CRT.
· Canada's negotiation objectives for a modernized Treaty included gaining increased flexibility for operation of the three Canadian dams. In terms of domestic priorities, including ecosystem improvements to the Basin and Indigenous cultural values; a similar-to-current hydropower generation arrangement; and salmon reintroduction.?
· An Agreement-in-Principle was reached in July 2024, which provides a framework for Canada and the U.S. to continue working towards the next steps of the modernization process.
· Negotiations and the drafting of the modernized treaty have paused as part of the State Department's broad review of its foreign policy.
· Interim measures with the are in place to help serve as a bridge until a modernized treaty can be brought into force. In the meantime, the Department continues to focus on domestic discussions with BC and the First Nations to ensure continued unity within the Canadian delegation. Domestic discussions are centred on redress, benefit-sharing and governance with the aim of obtaining the free, prior and informed consent from the First Nations in advance of the ratification of a modernized Treaty.

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