First Nations Relations & Agreements

Some of the most important relationships a municipality holds are with the First Nations whose territory it operates within. These relationships carry history, and in many communities, that history includes real tension, unresolved grievances and broken trust. Rebuilding that trust, and turning it into real, lasting agreements, takes time, consistency and a genuine commitment to the relationship, not just the outcome.

This is work Guillermo has done directly, as CAO, in two municipalities with very different starting points.

A Track Record Built Through Real, Difficult Relationships

City of White Rock and Semiahmoo First Nation. For years, the relationship between the City of White Rock and the Semiahmoo First Nation around water and sewer servicing was strained, marked by public disputes over infrastructure access and service terms. During Guillermo's tenure as CAO, the City and the Semiahmoo First Nation moved from that history to a very different place, signing three utility service agreements covering water supply and sewer services, followed by a Drainage Memorandum of Understanding, with the City and Nation now meeting regularly as Councils on matters of mutual interest.

Town of Ladysmith and Stz'uminus First Nation. Ladysmith's waterfront held decades of complicated history tied to industrial contamination and past relations between the Town and the Stz'uminus First Nation. During Guillermo's tenure as CAO, the Town and the Nation continued to build on earlier Community Accords, working together through an extensive public and Nation-led engagement process to shape a shared vision for the Ladysmith Waterfront Area Plan, a partnership described by Stz'uminus leadership as being built on relationship and trust, and one that helped lay the groundwork for the Nation's later reconciliation agreement with the Province and its own vision for the harbour's future.

In both cases, the path forward wasn't found through a single negotiation. It was built through consistent, genuine relationship-building, showing up, listening, following through on commitments, and treating the Nation as a true governing partner, not a stakeholder to be managed.

Why This Work Is Different

Agreements between municipalities and First Nations aren't ordinary contracts. They sit at the intersection of history, jurisdiction, culture and trust, and they can't be rushed or templated. Progress often depends less on the specific legal terms and more on whether the relationship underneath those terms is genuine.

We understand this because we've lived it, including the hard parts. Real progress sometimes follows years of difficulty, and the willingness to keep showing up, in good faith, is often what ultimately makes the difference.

What This Service Offers

• Relationship Assessment: understanding the history, current state and key priorities on both sides of a municipal–First Nations relationship
• Servicing & Utility Agreements: practical experience negotiating water, sewer and other municipal service agreements with First Nations communities
• Memoranda of Understanding & Community Accords: structuring agreements that establish ongoing dialogue, shared priorities and a framework for working together over time
• Joint Planning Processes: supporting collaborative planning initiatives, such as waterfront or land-use plans, developed together with a Nation rather than around it
• Council-to-Council Relationship Building: practical guidance for elected officials and senior staff on building durable, respectful working relationships with Nation leadership
• Long-Term Relationship Strategy: helping municipalities move from a transactional or reactive posture to a genuine, ongoing partnership

Our Approach

We don't treat this as a one-time negotiation to close. We treat it the way we experienced it ourselves: as a relationship to build, one that requires patience, consistency and a real willingness to understand the Nation's history, priorities and perspective. The agreements come later. They're the result of the relationship, not a substitute for it.

Our Process

• Understand the history and current state of the relationship, including past sources of tension
• Meet with municipal leadership and, where appropriate, support introductions and relationship-building with Nation leadership
• Identify shared priorities and practical near-term opportunities to build trust
• Support negotiation of servicing agreements, MOUs or Accords as relationships mature
• Guide joint planning processes that genuinely reflect shared priorities
• Provide ongoing support as the relationship, and the agreements built on it, continue to develop over time

Why Ferrero Forward?

This isn't theoretical guidance. It's grounded in two real municipal relationships that moved from genuine difficulty to genuine partnership, not overnight, and not without real effort, but through consistent, honest relationship-building over time. We understand what that work actually takes, because we've done it.