Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

First Nations Treaties, Revenue Sharing Top Priorities With B.C. NDP Government

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Jul, 2017 11:21 AM
    VICTORIA — British Columbia's new premier has placed First Nations issues near the top of his government's to-do list, committing his cabinet to transforming stalled treaty talks and negotiating revenue-sharing agreements.
     
     
    The priority shift prompted a "hallelujah" Tuesday from one Indigenous leader.
     
     
    John Horgan issued letters to each of his 22 cabinet ministers Monday, reminding them of his government's promise to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the calls to action of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
     
     
    "As minister, you are responsible for moving forward on the calls to action and reviewing policies, programs, and legislation to determine how to bring the principles of the declaration into action in British Columbia," said Horgan's mandate letter to each minister.
     
     
    One First Nations leader said he's eagerly anticipating working with the New Democrats following years of road blocks under the former Liberal government.
     
     
    "When I became aware of this matter in terms of the ministerial letters, my first reaction was hallelujah," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. "Personally, I'm very excited, which is something that doesn't happen to me very often."
     
     
     
     
    Phillip said he welcomes change after seeing the priorities set out in Horgan's letters.
     
     
    "Clearly, the B.C. NDP and the B.C. Green party government is absolutely everything the former B.C. Liberal government was not," he said.
     
     
    The premier has tasked Scott Fraser, the new minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, with transforming the treaty process to respect case law such as the Tsilhqot'in decision.
     
     
    In June 2014, a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court of Canada granted the Tsilhqot'in title to more than 1,750 square kilometres of land in the remote Nemiah Valley in B.C.'s Chilcotin region. The ruling made them the first aboriginal band in Canada to win title to their territory.
     
     
    Fraser must also negotiate opportunities for First Nations to share revenues from B.C.'s gaming industry, pegged at almost $3 billion in 2014.
     
     
     
     
    Cheryl Casimer, a spokeswoman for the First Nations Summit, said the former Liberal government flatly rejected past attempts by First Nations to negotiate a share of gaming dollars.
     
     
    "It's high time," she said. "Every province in the country does that but not B.C. That was one of the issues we continually brought forward with the (former) premier."
     
     
    Fraser, who spent 12 years as the New Democrats' critic for Indigenous issues, said he wants to implement a modern treaty process that adheres to recent court decisions on Indigenous issues.
     
     
    "It needs to evolve," Fraser said. "It hasn't kept up with court cases and land-mark decisions."
     
     
    The B.C. treaty negotiation process has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and achieved five final treaty agreements since the early 1990s. There are more than 200 First Nations in B.C., and most do not have treaties.
     
     
     
     
    Michael Prince, a social policy expert at the University of Victoria, said Fraser has built deep relations with First Nations leaders and communities over the years and he is capable of bringing people together.
     
     
    "He gets this," said Prince. "This is a man who brings a quiet strength and wisdom to this."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    A Look At What B.C.'s New NDP Government Is Promising, With Help From The Greens

    A Look At What B.C.'s New NDP Government Is Promising, With Help From The Greens
     Some of the key elements of a deal between the NDP and Green party on a minority government in British Columbia:

    A Look At What B.C.'s New NDP Government Is Promising, With Help From The Greens

    PM Trudeau Says He Looks Forward To Working Closely With John Horgan

    PM Trudeau Says He Looks Forward To Working Closely With John Horgan
    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley have welcomed British Columbia's new premier-designate John Horgan despite simmering tensions over the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

    PM Trudeau Says He Looks Forward To Working Closely With John Horgan

    B.C.'s New NDP Premier John Horgan Wasn't Always On The Path To Becoming A Political Leader

    B.C.'s New NDP Premier John Horgan Wasn't Always On The Path To Becoming A Political Leader
    British Columbia's next premier said in an interview earlier this year those personal struggles opened his heart.

    B.C.'s New NDP Premier John Horgan Wasn't Always On The Path To Becoming A Political Leader

    Burnaby Construction Zone Flagger Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run Caught On Video, Driver Arrested

    Burnaby Construction Zone Flagger Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run Caught On Video, Driver Arrested
    Video posted on the Internet showed the flag woman directing traffic on Wednesday when she tried to stop a vehicle, but the driver kept going, running into the flagger.

    Burnaby Construction Zone Flagger Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run Caught On Video, Driver Arrested

    Homicide Team Investigates Sudden Death Of Four-Month-Old Baby Girl In Maple Ridge

    Homicide Team Investigates Sudden Death Of Four-Month-Old Baby Girl In Maple Ridge
    Cpl. Amanda Harnett of Ridge Meadows RCMP says the detachment was notified of the death on Wednesday afternoon.

    Homicide Team Investigates Sudden Death Of Four-Month-Old Baby Girl In Maple Ridge

    Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon Asks NDP Leader John Horgan To Form Government And Become Premier

    Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon Asks NDP Leader John Horgan To Form Government And Become Premier
    Announcement comes after passing of Horgan's non-confidence vote ended 16 years of B.C. Liberal rule

    Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon Asks NDP Leader John Horgan To Form Government And Become Premier