Family's business dream destroyed over property's archaeological significance

An Indigenous family's dream of running their own agri-tourism business has been shattered after they discovered the property they spent their life savings on sits on archaeologically important land. 

On the brink of financial ruin, the family is asking the province to buy them out. And they are calling on provincial and local governments to flag archaeological sites to property buyers moving forward. 

Marty and Kimberley Paul sold their home in 100 Mile House and moved to Soda Creek with their three young children last August, spending all their savings on a 79-acre property.

Since then, they say they have invested about $700,000 building infrastructure on the new property. 

Their dream was to have a vegetable farm and event venue with a commercial kitchen for weddings and banquets, serving the food they grew on the land. Marty hoped to retire from his job at a nearby mine to work on the farm. 

They were also hoping the farm could serve as a refuge for family members who struggle with addiction. 

But in December, B.C. Hydro told the family they would have to halt their plans to install electricity, stating the property has a "heritage risk." 

"We would have never committed to this project," said Kimberley. 

As they wait for word from the province, the family is living in a mobile home on the property without running water and using a generator for power. 

They have had to purchase bottled water and drive 30 kilometres into town to go to the public pool for showers. 

"Right now, we have no plan that we can tell our children, and that's really frustrating," said Kimberley.

"We've been telling the government this story for six months, and we don't have a solution in sight."

She says that even if they are granted a permit to operate on the land, they do not have the money to do the archeological work that would be required.

"We will go bankrupt very soon if we start any further development on this property."

Marty, who is from the ?Esdilagh First Nation, says the family is also devastated the work they have done so far may have damaged the site. 

"As a First Nations person, it's really troubling that sites like this are damaged," said Marty. "I'd like to know about B.C.'s history." 

They were told some artifacts found on the site were between 1,200 and 2,400 years old. Marty says sites like these should be protected and learned from. 

Slipping through the cracks 

The Paul family was failed on many different levels, including by provincial and local governments, says Kimberley.

The archeological significance of the property was not disclosed by the seller or real estate agent during the purchase. 

This information was not disclosed when they received permits from the provincial government and Interior Health to install a water well and septic tank. 

They also secured a permit from the Cariboo Regional District to move their mobile home onto the property, which shows the land is zoned as a "resource agriculture property." 

Kimberley says they had been working with B.C. Hydro for months to develop an electrical system before the organization notified them of the sensitive nature of their land. 

"You would never have suspected. . . that this is an archaeology site."

Responsibility with landowners, says province

According to the province, landowners are responsible for not disturbing an archeological site on their property. 

The Ministry of Forests says sellers are legally required to disclose defects in the property, which may include a known archaeological site.

Information about archeological sites in B.C. is not public, but a provincial database of these sites is available for local governments to monitor and notify landowners. 

Nigel Whitehead, the manager of planning services with the Cariboo Regional District, says the district does not monitor the database and was not aware of this archeological site. 

But because of what has happened to the Paul family, Whitehead said the district is working to change that. 

"As challenging as this issue is, it's really given us the opportunity to review our policies and procedures," he said.

The Ministry of Forests said in a statement archeological information is also available to B.C. Hydro and individual property owners who seek it out. 

"We understand this is a difficult situation for the Paul family, and we are in ongoing and direct communication with them as we look into the details and continue to explore solutions," it said.

The family is pushing to have provincial and local governments disclose archeological sites on a land's property title.

"This site wasn't ever protected from the damage that we did to it," Kimberley said. 

"Had we not started asking the government questions about what was going on, it would have continued to be desecrated."