Once the B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 meetings with Indigenous leaders are over, the details of North AmericaB次元官网网址檚 first embrace of the United Nations Indigenous land rights law still have to be hammered out in the legislature by the end of November.
In his opening speech at the annual B次元官网网址渁ll chiefsB次元官网网址� meeting with Indigenous leaders Nov. 5, Premier John Horgan pointed the provinceB次元官网网址檚 agreement to shut down salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago as a model for implementing the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) in B.C.
B次元官网网址淔ive farms closed already, five more farms closing in the future, and the last seven farms to be there subject to relationships between Indigenous peoples and industry,B次元官网网址� Horgan told hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered in Vancouver. B次元官网网址淭hat is what reconciliation is about. That is what free, prior and informed consent is about. If you want to do business in British Columbia, come and talk to the owners of the land, come and talk to those who have inherent rights, and we will find a way forward.B次元官网网址�
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B.C.B次元官网网址檚 legislation is the first attempt in North America to formally impose UNDRIP on an existing jurisdiction. In opening debate on Bill 41 in the B.C. legislature, Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser said adoption of the framework bill is only the beginning.
B次元官网网址淭his legislation is enabling, so we wonB次元官网网址檛 see the world change overnight once it is passed,B次元官网网址� Fraser said, adding that B次元官网网址渢he business community is ahead of government on this.B次元官网网址� Addressing the most contentious part of the legislation, he said there are B次元官网网址渃ountless expertsB次元官网网址� who have concluded that the UN declaration of B次元官网网址渇ree, prior and informed consentB次元官网网址� is is not a veto over land use and resource projects.
B次元官网网址淔or example, James Anaya, the former special rapporteur for the rights of Indigenous peoples, has explained that free, prior and informed consent B次元官网网址� that standard B次元官网网址� is meant to ensure that all parties work together in good faith, that they make every effort to achieve mutually acceptable arrangements and that a focus should be on building consensus,B次元官网网址� Fraser said. B次元官网网址淭his is quite different than veto.B次元官网网址�
Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad recalled his time as Indigenous relations minister, starting in 2013. The B.C. Liberal government had 18 non-treaty agreements, later called reconciliation agreements, sharing forest and other land resources, and then-premier Christy Clark gave him a mandate to sign 10 more.
B次元官网网址淲ell, IB次元官网网址檓 pretty proud of the fact that by the time 2017 came around and I was in there for just over four years, we had signed 435 of those agreements, over and above what was done before,B次元官网网址� Rustad told the legislature.
On the contested issue of what defines B次元官网网址渃onsent,B次元官网网址� Rustad described the issue of overlapping territories in his own northwest B.C. constituency, involving the Yekooche First Nation.
B次元官网网址淵ekooche came out of one of the other nations and has kind of been settled in the middle of a number of nations,B次元官网网址� Rustad said. B次元官网网址淲ell, they have overlaps in every direction. As a matter of fact, the Nadleh WhutB次元官网网址檈n want to be able to sign the pipeline benefits agreement and be able to advance their work with the Coastal Gaslink. TheyB次元官网网址檙e waiting for government to help resolve an overlap issue they have with Yekooche.B次元官网网址�
Saanich North and the Islands MLA Adam Olsen, a member of the Tsartlip First Nation and one of three B.C. Green Party MLAs, recounted colonial injustices he wants ended, and was combative about critics of UNDRIP.
B次元官网网址淪ome voices in this House would have us believe the UNDRIP is imposed on us by the United Nations,B次元官网网址� Olsen said. B次元官网网址淭hey undermine it. TheyB次元官网网址檙e ignorant of it. I believe itB次元官网网址檚 intentional.B次元官网网址�
Olsen was also defiant about energy projects, including the Trans Mountain oil expansion project and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline for LNG exports that is supported by the NDP and B.C. Liberals, and opposed by the Greens.
B次元官网网址淚t is clearly time for us to move beyond the resource colony mentality, the desperate attempt to liquidate the resources from these lands and waters that were enabled by the convenient doctrine of discovery and terra nullis for the benefit of multinational corporations, starting with the HudsonB次元官网网址檚 Bay Company,B次元官网网址� Olsen told the legislature.
Skeena B.C. Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, a former elected councillor and chief of the Haisla Nation at Kitimat, is hopeful but skeptical about UNDRIP. Ross described his 15 years on Haisla council, dealing with the B.C. treaty process and other government commitments, with no change in poverty conditions on his reserve.
B次元官网网址淚 went to Ottawa. I came to Victoria, to lobby the government for programs and money,B次元官网网址� Ross told the legislature. B次元官网网址淲hen I realized that all IB次元官网网址檓 doing is asking for more dependency, I refused to go on any more lobbying trips for more money.B次元官网网址�
Ross said his years of work towards the Kitimat liquefied natural gas export facility have produced jobs and tangible economic benefits.
Ross said the B次元官网网址渇ree, prior and informed consentB次元官网网址� in UNDRIP already exists in case law.
B次元官网网址淚t has already been in practice for many, many years,B次元官网网址� Ross told the legislature. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 why we have LNG. ThatB次元官网网址檚 why we have peace in the woods.B次元官网网址�
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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