New legislation promises to make it easier for First Nations to buy, hold and sell land under their own names as recognized legal entities.
Currently, most First Nations have to either set up corporations or make other arrangements such as using proxies, federal trusts, societies and individual members to purchase, own or transfer land. Such steps would no longer be necessary under new legislation introduced Tuesday (April 2) by Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin.
B次元官网网址淲ith these new provisions, First Nations will have the ability to purchase and hold fee simple land directly, just as individuals and corporations have long been able to do,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e are taking action to remove this long-standing and discriminatory barrier.B次元官网网址�
Rankin said the changes come exactly 150 years after the enactment of the B.C. Property Act.
B次元官网网址淚t explicitly restricted First Nations individuals from the ability to acquire land,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淓nglish common law requires a legal entity to have express legislative authority to hold land. Since thenB次元官网网址ost First Nations government could not hold land in the name of their First Nation.B次元官网网址�
Rankin said this legislation will make what he called B次元官网网址渟mall but importantB次元官网网址� changes to reflect governmentB次元官网网址檚 commitment toward reconciliation and to eliminate discriminatory barriers to land ownership.
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B次元官网网址淥ur provincial policies and laws are often based on past colonial ideas and practices, which were inherently racist and harmful,B次元官网网址� he said.
Rankin said these changes should have happened a long time to ago.
Government stresses that these changes neither affect additional governance powers of First Nations nor their relationships with local government covered in modern treaties.
