By Canadian Press

B.C. Treaty Commission says new accord offers smoother, faster road to treaties

Dec 4, 2018 | 10:32 AM

VICTORIA – The head of the British Columbia Treaty Commission says she expects a new deal between Indigenous groups and the federal and B.C. governments could help produce up to 10 new agreements within the next two years and 20 more after that.

Chief commissioner Celeste Haldane says the accord pledges to speed up and transform negotiations. She says the agreement recognizes the need for a different approach to negotiations that results in faster treaties where all sides spend less time disputing the rights and title of Indigenous Peoples.

Scott Fraser, BC’s Indigenous relations minister says a new deal with First Nation leaders will help both sides negotiate treaties that are based on flexible relationships that don’t freeze rights in time. Fraser says the treaty process was supposed to be dynamic and develop with changes that were happening in society, but it stagnated over the years.

The province announced over the weekend that it signed a new accord with Ottawa and the First Nations Summit — which represents B-C First Nations in treaty negotiations. It says the deal recognizes the need for a different approach and will result in faster treaties where all sides spend less time disputing the rights and title of Indigenous Peoples.

B.C. started a modern-day treaty negotiation process in the early 1990s, but after spending hundreds of millions of dollars in legal and other costs, only seven nations have reached final agreements.

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First Nations Summit spokeswoman Cheryl Casimer says the accord offers negotiators a smoother process that sets the stage for more deals over less time.

The province didn’t recognize the Indigenous title and saw no need for treaties in 1871 when it joined Canada, and now out of more than 200 First Nations, there are only a few dozen treaties.

(The Canadian Press)