B.C. First Nation has draft treaty after 30 years of hard work: commissioner
![bc treaty commission Celeste Haldane B.C. Treaty Commission Chief Commissioner Celeste Haldane speaks during a news conference after the commission released its annual report, in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday September 20, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2018/7/22/bc-treaty-commission-celeste-haldane-1-4023593-1663811517977.jpg)
The newest draft treaty signed in British Columbia will allow the First Nation to “break free from the shackles of the Indian Act” and take control of their future, the head of the provincial treaty commission said Tuesday.
Chief Commissioner Celeste Haldane said the agreement represents 30-plus years of hard work and will fulfil the Kitsumkalum First Nation's vision for self-governance and control over its territory and resources.
Haldane said initialing a treaty with the federal and provincial governments is a “transformational change" that allows the nation to take control of its future.
“As a mother and a grandmother, I see the treaty as a powerful tool and what we want all First Nations people to experience is the freedom from the Indian Act,” said Haldane.
It's the second draft treaty announced in as many days after the neighbouring Kitselas First Nation said it had reached an agreement on Monday. The two treaties are the first to be signed in more than a decade.
A joint statement from the nation and the federal and provincial governments say the treaty comes amid "significant and foundational shifts in policy and approach that have re-energized the treaty negotiations process in B.C.," including the finalization of the Recognition and Reconciliation of Rights Policy for Treaty Negotiations in 2019.
"These positive shifts reflect new approaches to negotiation in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada's United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the B.C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act," the statement said.
The Kitsumkalum is a member of the Tsimshian First Nation Treaty Society in northwest B.C., and its chief negotiator Gerald Wesley said reaching the draft treaty with the federal and provincial governments has been "a long journey” that started as far back as the 1970s.
Wesley said Tuesday was a historic day for Kitsumkalum nation that will be written down in their history books.
"Hopefully our grandchildren and great-grandchildren down the road will label them, flip some pages and they'll see some of the steps and some of the efforts that have been taken,” he said.
The proposed deal for the 825 people of the nation located west of Terrace would give them more than 46,000 hectares of land, self-governing powers and control over territory and resources.
The nation's members must still ratify the agreement, and if passed, the federal and provincial governments need to create legislation to recognize the nation's rights.
Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, said if the treaty passes, the subsequent legislation will change the Constitution of Canada.
"We will create a constitutional protection for the Kitsumkalum government, and unlike older treaties, we'll have the ability to change it over time.
“It's not a last will and testament. It's a living document with the opportunity for change as change occurs because we've seen already in our life, during the journey of the B.C. treaty commission process, enormous changes in the mandates, in the court cases that have got us to this point,” said Rankin.
The modern treaties will make life better for the Kitselas and Kitsumkalum nations and will also benefit the people of the northwest, the minister said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6940448.1719339188!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Why did I have this surgery?' Ont. mother seeks answers after son's tonsil surgery
An Ontario mother said it looked like a horror movie when she flicked on the lights of her son’s bedroom to find him projectile vomiting blood after his tonsils were removed at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
No charges for driver in 2023 Manitoba bus crash that killed 17 seniors: RCMP
Manitoba RCMP and Crown prosecutors will not lay charges against the driver of a bus involved in a crash with a semi-truck in 2023.
'Deeply unserious': Vancouver councillor claims mayor turned city hall boardroom into gym
A Vancouver city councillor is calling out Mayor Ken Sim for apparently limiting access to a city hall boardroom and turning it into a makeshift gym.
Biden pardons potentially thousands of ex-service members convicted under now-repealed gay sex ban
U.S. President Joe Biden pardoned potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday that he is “righting an historic wrong" to clear the way for them to regain lost benefits.
Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first
Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.
Puppy mills now illegal in Ontario, but advocates say little will change for dogs
Puppy mills are now illegal in Ontario after the province recently passed legislation banning them, but critics say the new law will do little to curb the problem.
One of Canada's most popular vehicles recalled over transmission issue; 95,000 impacted
One of the country's most popular vehicles is being recalled in Canada due to a transmission issue that may impact tens of thousands of drivers.
Calgary feeder main repairs complete, water service could be restored sooner than expected
Repair work on Calgary’s broken water main is progressing faster than anticipated, but there are still a few more steps crews need to complete before water restrictions are lifted in the city.
Workers rescued after swing stage ropes break outside 56th floor of downtown Toronto hotel
Two workers have been rescued after some of the ropes holding up a swing stage atop a soaring downtown Toronto hotel broke.