Current Problems: Treaties and Land Claims
Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of British Columbia"
Updates on this page: 61
April 12, 2024
Cree lawyer says cows and plows settlements don’t reflect spirit of treaty clause
‘It didn’t just mean cows, plows, agriculture. It meant livelihood,’ says Deanne Kasokeo CBC Indigenous: A Saskatchewan-based lawyer says “cows and plows” settlements do not reflect the spirit and intent of treaties from an Indigenous perspective. Under treaties 4,5,6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits — livestock and farming equipment — to the First Nations that signed. That promise...
April 9, 2024
Report finds climate gaps in proposed B.C. LNG project
By Matteo Cimellaro | News, Urban Indigenous Communities in Ottawa | April 9th 2024 Eva Clayton, president of the Nisga’a Lisims Government, speaks during a homecoming celebration for the House of Ni’isjoohl memorial totem at the Nisga’a Nation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: A First Nation in northern British Columbia has released a report that pokes holes...
March 27, 2024
‘The Gold Rush is over’: First Nations chiefs celebrate mining exploration court decision
APTN News: Leaders from the Gitxaała and Gitanyow First Nations are celebrating a historic victory after the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled the province’s laws on mining stakes did not meet the Crown’s duty of consultation. The court challenge opposed the laws that let exploration companies stake claims without prior consent, often for as...
March 25, 2024
Chief Na’Moks: The RCMP’s specialized C-IRG unit exists to crush Indigenous resistance
One year since a system review was launched, the hostile situation between Indigenous communities and RCMP has only got worse Nation Talk: Ricochet – This month marks one year since the RCMP’s civilian watchdog, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, launched an investigation into C-IRG. The RCMP’s Community Industry Response Unit (C-IRG) was created to police Indigenous peoples like...
February 28, 2024
First Nations praise ruling ‘forcing’ Crown to protect interests
Chief says partial win at top court could change dynamic in relationship with resource industries CBC Indigenous: For decades, Stellat’en Chief Robert Michell says his First Nation has been caught in a loop of frustration when demanding change to deal with problems caused by the Kenney Dam. The company which operates both the dam and an associated reservoir...
January 17, 2024
Dogs, Snipers and Axes: Inside the RCMP’s Actions in Wet’suwet’en Territory
RCMP officers testify in BC Supreme Court hearing about potential Charter rights violations. The Tyee: RCMP officers considered shooting a security camera and sending a police dog to pull people out of a small structure as they moved to make arrests on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021, according to testimony in a B.C. Supreme Court...
January 8, 2024
Trial of prominent Wet’suwet’en leader and land defenders begins
Three accused are charged with criminal contempt over Coastal GasLink pipeline blockades CBC News: The trial is underway for three people charged with criminal contempt for breaking a court order forbidding them from blocking access to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Among the accused is Sleydo’, also known as Molly Wickham, who has been the public face of...
December 17, 2023
Ktunaxa First Nation responds to lawsuit
(Adobe stock photo) First Peoples Law Report: Last month Ktunaxa First Nation responded to Taranis Resources Inc’s lawsuit regarding the Thor copper project near Trout Lake in Ktunaxa’s traditional territory northeast of Nakusp. “The best way for British Columbia to ensure Ktunaxa rights are protected is to receive our free prior and informed consent, which,...
December 15, 2023
Breaking into TMX: Secwépemc allies, wrapped in chains, drop tobacco into borehole
While some of the last of the pipeline expansion tears through Pípsell in Secwepemcúl’ecw, a last-ditch effort is made to defend the sacred site First Peoples Law Report: IndigiNews.com – Over the course of two trips in the past month, a team of journalists on joint assignment for Ricochet, IndigiNews and The Real News Network...
December 12, 2023
Amnesty International Says CGL and the RCMP Violated Indigenous Rights
The human rights group is calling for the company to cease operations in Wet’suwet’en territory. The Tyee: An investigation by human rights organization Amnesty International has found that Coastal GasLink, its private security firm, the RCMP and Canadian and B.C. governments all violated the Indigenous rights of Wet’suwet’en who oppose the pipeline project. “What emerges...
November 22, 2023
Indigenous rights collide with $35B Western Canada pipeline expansion
NationTalk: Global News – Trans Mountain, the company that’s building the federal government-owned pipeline expansion from Alberta through B.C., says its project, which is billions of dollars over budget, is now 95 per cent complete. The company hopes oil will start flowing within weeks. Except there’s a problem. Some residents of an Indigenous community are...
November 8, 2023
Disagreement among Treaty 8 nations create more uncertainty for B.C. natural gas industry
Blueberry River First Nation Chief Judy Desjarlais at signing ceremony for the Blueberry River Implementation Agreement in January. | BC Government First Peoples Law Report: BIV – Business Intelligence for BC: A legal challenge by Treaty 8 First Nations to an agreement the B.C. government struck with the Blueberry River First Nation is adding to...
September 26, 2023
B.C. Supreme Court rules province’s mining claims system violates Indigenous rights
Province ordered to replace system with one that ensures consultation with Indigenous communities CBC News: The B.C. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the province’s mining permit system is unconstitutional. The province’s current system, at issue in the case, automatically grants mineral claims to industry applicants who submit a request through a government website. Tuesday’s ruling found that process...
August 29, 2023
Better dialogue with First Nations could have avoided Joffre Lakes closure, critics say
Closing of park by two First Nations can be traced to B.C. government’s failure to negotiate treaties with Indigenous communities, Indigenous lawyer says NationTalk: Times-Colonist – The closing of a popular provincial park by two First Nations is a consequence of the B.C. government’s failure to negotiate treaties with Indigenous communities, says a prominent Indigenous...
August 16, 2023
First Nations Coalition Supports Minister’s Decision to Close Open Net-Pen Fish Farms in the Discovery Islands
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh) /Vancouver, B.C.) — The Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, ‘Namgis First Nation, St’át’imc Chiefs Council, Stó꞉lō Tribal Council, Musqueam Indian Band, and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (together the “First Nations Coalition”) have jointly applied together to the Federal Court for leave to intervene in...
August 6, 2023
Whose Sovereignty? A BC Court Decision Exposes Holes in Colonial Logic
The Nuchatlaht sought to claim title to traditional territory. A ruling dealt a blow to coastal First Nations. The Tyee: First Peoples Law Report – In June, the B.C. Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia. The court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal...
July 27, 2023
RECONCILIATION AND ABORIGINAL TITLE: CASE COMMENT ON THE NUCHATLAHT V BRITISH COLUMBIA
By Kate Gunn and Nico McKay Last month, the BC Supreme Court issued its decision in The Nuchatlaht v British Columbia. The Court held that the Nuchatlaht failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish their claim to Aboriginal title on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The decision represents a setback both for the Nuchatlaht and for the...
July 21, 2023
Tahltan Nation Opposes Doubleview Gold Corporation’s Operations in Tahltan Territory
NationTalk: DEASE LAKE, BC, JULY 21, 2023 – The Tahltan Central Government has provided notice to Doubleview Gold Corporation (“Doubleview”) that the Tahltan Nation opposes Doubleview’s continued operations at the company’s Hat Property located to the northwest of Telegraph Creek within an area of Tahltan Territory that has been identified as being a highly sensitive...
May 21, 2023
B.C. company denies misleading Bonaparte First Nation about rail terminal expansion plans
The Globe and Mail: Canadian Press – The owner of a rail terminal in British Columbia’s Interior says a lawsuit launched by the Bonaparte First Nation is a “collateral attack” on the company’s “numerous” grants, permits, and licenses to operate the expanding facility. The nation’s claim filed last month alleges the facility operated by Ashcroft...
May 19, 2023
‘It needs to be a day of reckoning:’ Parliamentary committee studying land back
‘I think this study will really explore the connection of Indigenous people to land in a way that people don’t naturally equate to property.’ A school bus rests on the road at 1492 Land Back Lane Blockade in Caledonia, Ont. Photo: APTN file APTN News: The standing committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs is undertaking...
May 18, 2023
‘When is it going to stop?’ Claims made on First Nations’ territories even as they fight century-old mining laws
In the B.C. Supreme Court, Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation argue the mineral rights process sidesteps the duty to consult The Narwhal: A new mineral claim was made in the heart of Gitxaała territory this month in a sacred area the First Nation is trying to protect. For Gitxaała Hereditary Chief Sm’ooygit Nees Hiwaas,...
May 17, 2023
Trial Begins for a Hereditary Chief Charged in the CGL Pipeline Conflict
Chief Dsta’hyl says he was acting as an enforcement officer for the Likhts’amisyu Clan when he seized construction equipment. The Tyee: Security was unusually tight at the courthouse in Smithers on Monday, with sheriffs using metal detectors and searching the bags of those who attended the first day of the trial of a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary...
May 15, 2023
Challenging colonial mining laws: First Nations fight for Indigenous consent
NationTalk: Canada’s National Observer – Over most of the past month, the B.C. Supreme Court has heard a challenge brought by the Gitxaała and Ehattesaht First Nations against the province’s decision to award multiple mineral claims in their unceded territories. This judicial review is essential to reforming the colonial-era Mineral Tenure Act (MTA), which permits mineral claims...
May 12, 2023
Nuchatlaht First Nation has 14 days to decide how to proceed with landmark claim
CBC News: : A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruling on a First Nations land title lawsuit says it did not prove it had rights to its entire claim area, although he suggested it may be time for the provincial government to rethink its current test for such titles. The Nuchatlaht First Nation, a community...
May 3, 2023
Dozens of mineral claims made in First Nation territory as it fights to stop them in court
Two companies named in a B.C. Supreme Court case have made claims to Ehattesaht land — while the First Nation argues the province should stop automatically giving away mineral rights to its territory The Narwhal: Mining exploration companies continue to make claims in Ehattesaht First Nation territory, even as the First Nation fights in the B.C. Supreme Court...
April 21, 2023
Coastal GasLink faces new fines for filing ‘false and misleading’ information
When B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office reviewed reports filed by the pipeline it found discrepancies; now it says the company should pay up for misleading the government The Narwhal: Coastal GasLink is facing a new fine for allegedly misleading enforcement officers and sending them false information about the company’s efforts to protect an area around the...
April 12, 2023
Trudeau says premiers’ claims about natural resources power grab have ‘no grounding in truth’
Premiers criticized justice minister for saying Ottawa will look at resource agreement CBC News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba of misinterpreting remarks by a federal minister on whether Ottawa might review agreements that give those provinces control of natural resources. “Let me be very clear. The minister of...
April 11, 2023
Intervenors join Gitxaała in court to argue against BC’s mineral claim regime
NationTalk: Hearings in Gitxaała Nation’s landmark legal case began last week. Gitxaała hereditary and elected leaders, elders, and supporters walked into the courthouse on April 3, united “with one voice and in the Spirit of being of one heart,” as elected Chief Councillor Linda Innes described. “We owe it to our children, to those yet...
April 11, 2023
Western premiers blast Lametti for suggesting Ottawa might ‘look at’ provinces’ power over natural resources
Lametti told an AFN meeting he would examine calls to rescind Natural Resources Transfer Act CBC News: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by his justice minister — who promised last week to “look at” a decades-old law that...
April 10, 2023
When anarchists attack
How police say a peaceful, Indigenous-led protest over a B.C. pipeline was hijacked by violent outsiders CBC News: A security guard was swarmed in a truck near a worksite by a group of people in masks and camouflage firing flare guns. He was then forced to flee into the dead of night, while the assailants...
April 8, 2023
Canada is sitting on a critical minerals motherlode. But is it ready for the new gold rush?
Proponents say Canada must do more to turn aspiration into action CBC News: Drive two hours north of Ottawa, put on a hard hat and bright orange vest, descend into a pit — and you find yourself on the frontline in the fight to be part of the new, green economy. A mining project might not...
April 4, 2023
‘We owe it to our children, those yet unborn within the Gitxaała Nation’
Coastal First Nations; Brett Bear Initiative: The Gitxaała Nation is standing up to protect future generations by challenging BC’s process for granting mineral claims in their territories — a process originating in the gold rush era that leaders say breaks both Gitxaała and Canadian laws. The case will address the province’s “duty to consult” the...
April 3, 2023
This court case could change the future of mining in B.C.
The Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation want the province to change how it gives out mineral titles — and they’re taking their fight to the B.C. Supreme Court The Narwhal: Imagine finding someone you’ve never met digging through your backyard, looking for gold. You tell them it’s your property, but they don’t leave. Instead,...
April 3, 2023
First Nations’ court challenge to B.C.’s mineral rights system begins today
Province says it is committed to modernizing the system in consultation with Indigenous people CBC News: A challenge by two First Nations against the way British Columbia grants mineral claims begins in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday morning, marking the first legal test of the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The Gitxaałan and Ehattesaht First...
March 9, 2023
Chiefs ban RCMP’s ‘militarized’ squadron from Gitxsan lands in northern B.C.
Community-Industry Response Group not welcome on Gitxsan lands, say chiefs First Peoples Law Report: Clearwater Times – Gitxsan hereditary chiefs issued a notice this week prohibiting the RCMP’s ‘militarized squadron’ called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from Gitxsan lands centred in the Hazelton area, effective immediately. “While we embrace safety measures for our community, the...
March 2, 2023
Land Defenders Call on Courts to Dismiss Criminal Contempt Charges
Charter violations and use of excessive force by RCMP are alleged by Wet’suwet’en members and supporters in their application. The Tyee: A dozen Wet’suwet’en members and their supporters who currently face criminal contempt charges in connection with the Coastal GasLink pipeline dispute have applied to the B.C. Supreme Court to have the charges stayed, according to...
February 16, 2023
In the Courts: First Nation takes B.C. government to court over Brucejack mine
Petition stems from halted negotiations amid acquisition deal NationTalk: BIV – The Tsetsaut/Skii km Lax Ha Nation is taking the province to court claiming the government failed in its duty to consult with the First Nation regarding a mining company’s acquisition of a mine in its territory, and has failed to work with the mine’s new owners...
February 10, 2023
A First Nation Sued BC. Then Came a Gas Drilling Frenzy
Now that the Blueberry River First Nations have won a historic agreement, they face thousands of wells greenlit by the regulator. NationTalk: The Tyee: When the Blueberry River First Nations took the provincial government to court in March 2015, arguing that cumulative industrial developments had robbed them of their ability to hunt and fish, oil...
January 23, 2023
British Columbia First Nations Strike Landmark Deals Governing Development on Their Ancestral Lands – Yale E360
NationTalk: YaleEnvironment360 Two First Nations in Canada have forged historic agreements governing industrial development on their ancestral lands. The Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ‘it, also known as the Tobacco Plains Indian Band, have signed an agreement with NWP Coal Canada giving the First Nation veto power over a proposed mining project on their ancestral lands near Sparwood,...
January 11, 2023
RCMP, Coastal GasLink deny conspiring to intimidate, harass Wet’suwet’en members
Mounties acted ‘reasonably’ while enforcing injunction, B.C. legal defence says CBC News: The RCMP denies it conspired with a natural gas pipeline builder and a private security firm in a campaign designed to harass Wet’suwet’en people off their unceded territory in northern British Columbia, court filings say. The RCMP, Coastal GasLink and Forsythe Security, named...
January 9, 2023
Indigenous land defenders criminalized, surveilled and harassed as pipeline construction continues on Wet’suwet’en territory: Amnesty International
NationTalk: Four years on from the first large-scale police raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Indigenous land defenders in Canada are still experiencing serious human rights violations as the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline continues on their unceded, ancestral and traditional territories, said Amnesty International today. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs – the authorities of the...
December 9, 2022
Coastal GasLink protesters sentenced after pleading guilty to criminal contempt
3 protesters receive $500 fines; 25 hours of community service for 2 others CBC News: A B.C. Supreme Court judge sentenced five protesters Monday who pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court for ignoring a court order forbidding them from blocking access to a controversial northern B.C. pipeline. Justice Michael Tammen accepted a joint submission...
October 6, 2022
The complicated truth about pipelines crossing Wet’suwet’en territory
Alberta-based energy giant TC Energy frequently points to its agreements with 20 First Nations along the route of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. This is true, but look a little deeper and it’s a lot more complex The Narwhal: Three years after starting construction on a gas pipeline in northern B.C., Calgary-based energy giant TC Energy...
June 28, 2022
‘They beat us into submission’: West Moberly’s decades-long fight against Site C dam is over
West Moberly First Nations reluctantly signed a settlement seven years into construction on the beleaguered hydroelectric project on the Peace River in northeastern B.C. The Narwhal: After a decades-long fight against the Site C dam, Monday was a bittersweet day for West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Willson. The Nation and the province announced a partial settlement...
March 8, 2022
Nuchatlaht Nation Aboriginal Title case with BC Supreme Court
Windspeaker.com – The Nuchatlaht Nation began its legal battle in 2017 fighting BC and the federal government to get their land back. Their territory includes a large part of Nootka Island off the west coast of Vancouver Island. It has been impacted by industrial logging and fishing for almost a century since Nuchatlaht was displaced...
February 8, 2022
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
Canada’s National Observer – Gidimt’en land defenders are calling for the United Nations to visit Wet’suwet’en unceded territory to witness the alleged violation of Indigenous rights. On Monday, the land defenders filed a formal submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s expert mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous People arguing Canada is violating several articles...
December 11, 2021
Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision,
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – UBCIC marks the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ground-breaking Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, which confirmed the continuing existence of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Title and Rights, contrary to provincial claims that their Title, if it had existed, had been extinguished. On December 11, 1997 the six members of...
November 24, 2021
Coastal First Nations vs Government of Alberta and 2 Métis organizations
Coastal First Nations – In the wake of the news that two Métis groups received funding from the Alberta Government to legally challenge the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Coastal First Nations (CFN) will continue to fight to protect our waters, lands and resources from potential oil spills. “We will do whatever it takes to protect...
November 24, 2021
Coastal First Nations vs Government of Alberta and 2 Métis organizations
Coastal First Nations – In the wake of the news that two Métis groups received funding from the Alberta Government to legally challenge the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Coastal First Nations (CFN) will continue to fight to protect our waters, lands and resources from potential oil spills. “We will do whatever it takes to protect...
November 18, 2021
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
“Toronto Star – Fifteen people, including Indigenous elders, media and legal observers, had been arrested by the afternoon, according to Jennifer Wickham, a spokesperson for the hereditary chiefs and their supporters. Wickham stressed they had been acting peacefully. Wickham said armed RCMP officers in tactical gear with canine units and heavy machinery moved into the...
June 7, 2021
Hišuk ma c̕awak Declaration
Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht First Nations – have been stewards of the forest, fisheries, and all resources within their ḥahahuułi (traditional territories). On June 4, 2021, the three Nations signed the Hišuk ma c̕awak Declaration to take back their power over their ḥahahuułi. For more than 150 years they have watched as others decided what...
March 3, 2021
Treaty 8 and Site C Dam
First People’s Law – The Site C dam, downstream of the WAC Bennett Dam, capitalizes on the destruction of Treaty 8 territory and the ongoing infringement of treaty rights. It will also cause additional, irreversible impacts on the lands and rights of Indigenous Peoples in Treaty 8 on both sides of the Alberta-BC border. In...
October 15, 2020
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Vancouver, B.C. – On Oct. 13, Coastal GasLink called in the RCMP to remove a group of Wet’suwet’en women and community members who are holding ceremony at a proposed drill site for Coastal Gaslink’s pipeline. Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) – UBCIC stands in solidarity with the...
July 15, 2020
Bill 17 ignores Duty to Consult
NationTalk -The Tŝilhqot’in Nation has been actively involved in the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources’ Comprehensive Review of BC Hydro, which contains many progressive ideas which, if intelligently implemented, would have positive impacts on energy policy benefiting all British Columbians. The changes contained in Bill 17 have never been raised during these engagements...
July 2, 2020
Trans Mountain Pipeline Appeal
Vancouver (Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory- The Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Coldwater Indian Band – have been denied leave to appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada. “We are extremely disappointed by today’s decision by the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Chief Leah George-Wilson. It reduces consultation to a purely procedural requirement that will...
April 7, 2020
Trans Mountain Pipeline Appeal
The Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribes and Coldwater Indian Band – announce they are seeking leave for appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. These four First Nations have fought and challenged the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) Project through every Federal court. They now intend to seek a challenge at the Supreme Court...
March 26, 2020
Site C Dam and COVID-19
Open Letter from Union of BC Indian Chiefs to Premier John Horgan and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health – to halt construction of Site C Dam due to concerns around COVID-19. Through UBCIC Resolution 2011-25, UBCIC highlighted the environmental dangers of the Site C Dam and pointed to the devastating effects it will have on...
February 6, 2020
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
Union of BC Indian Chiefs – RCMP began aggressively raiding Wet’suwet’en traditional and unceded territories under the watch of the Provincial and Federal Governments. Chief Don Tom, Vice-President of the UBCIC concluded “Using armed force to take Indigenous peoples off their unceded and traditional territories against their will is not reconciliation, it is colonialism in...
January 6, 2020
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
Unist’ot’en Camp – Hereditary Chiefs of all five Wet’suwet’en clans have rejected BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church’s decision granting an interlocutory injunction, which criminalizes Anuk ‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law), and have issued and enforced an eviction of CGL’s workers from the territory. “Canada and the B.C. government have both pledged to implement the UN Declaration...
May 24, 2019
Heitsuk Nation arguments ignored by Appeal Court
Heiltsuk Nation – the B.C. Court of Appeal handed down a decision that reduces the power of provinces to protect lands and waters from inter-provincial infrastructural projects and that fails to recognize the role of Indigenous peoples in protecting the environment. Heiltsuk and Haida made arguments related to their inherent Indigenous title and rights and...
January 10, 2019
Wet’suwet’en protests against Coastal GasLink
“What happens when you engage Hereditary Chiefs in the Process vs excluding them? Union of BC Indian Chiefs – “There are not a lot of similarities between the Broughton and the Unist’ot’en engagement with the Province (as stated by Premier John Horgan). In June, government-to-government work between our three Nations and the Province was confirmed...
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