The chief of Tk’emlúps to Secwépemc says the band had consented to part of Stuart Wood School being temporarily leased to a daycare.

Rosanne Casimir says a letter of support had been sent, and it commended the city for finding a temporary use for the building.

“It was a timing issue between Tk’emlups and the City of Kamloops. We did provide a letter, we consented to the temporary use of a daycare at Stuart Wood School. Our council discussed the matter, and we agreed to support that. Conditional up the continued discussion about the long-term status of the property.”

After narrowly voting down the daycare’s lease request – before the letter from Tk’emlúps was in hand – council also voted to not take in any more requests to lease space at the school.

Casimir says discussions on the future of Stuart Wood School are still going on,  saying the city and Tk’emlúps will be sitting down in late March.

“I know we’ll probably have more discussions in that time frame as well. Between their technical team and our technical team, I know there’s some discussions and some work being put in place. And my hope is we come to an agreement in the very near future.”

Stuart Wood School in downtown Kamloops is now vacant, and is expected to be turned into an Indigenous cultural centre.