April 7, 2022—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 3
First Nation leaders praise UNDRIP action plan A specialized secretariat is part of the province’s plan to follow through with 89 actions listed for next five years By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Victoria, BC - Although it took more than two years to produce since the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was passed in Victoria, First Nations leaders are calling a recently released action plan “a step in the right direction”. In late November 2019 British Columbia became Canada’s first province to put the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law, with the passing of Bill 41, or DRIPA. The legislation serves as a commitment for the government to uphold basic human rights for Indigenous peoples in B.C., tasking the province to align its laws with the UN declaration, an international document that upholds the self determination and territorial authority of Aboriginal communities. DRIPA was developed by the province in consultation with the First Nations Leadership Council, a body composed representation from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Summit. More than two years later, an action plan on accomplishing this was unveiled by the province March 30, detailing 89 initiatives to be undertaken over the next five years. The document emphasizes Aboriginal rights and title over territorial lands, with an emphasis on self determination. Actions include reforming B.C.’s forestry policy to align with UNDRIP, an external review of discrimination in the education system, implementing recommendations from the In Plain Sight report
Jerry Jack on systemic racism in health care and policing reform that addresses systemic bias in law enforcement. “There’s some really good recommendations in there,” said Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Judith Sayers, after returning from the B.C. legislature, where the plan was presented. “It’s a really good starting point for us to begin the work.” “Today marks a step in the right direction,” said Mowachaht/Muchalaht Ha’wilth Jerry Jack, who spoke on behalf of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations when the plan was announced. In the wake of the colonial development of B.C. over the last century and a half, the action plan listed inequalities currently facing Indigenous people, including overrepresentation in prisons and the
foster care system, lower rates of formal education, as well as higher poverty and unemployment. Other measures detailed in the plan include “concrete measures to increase literacy and numeracy achievement levels” of Aboriginal students and the implementation of the First Nations Justice Strategy, which addresses the growing overrepresentation of Indigenous people being incarcerated. “We cannot step away from our past the joys and the sorrows - but we must, we must learn from it,” said Premier John Horgan during the announcement. “I think together we can change the trajectory or our shared history,” emphasized, Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Horgan referenced the history of First Nations being in conflict with the provincial government, something that Chief Jack mentioned as he spoke of the action plan with optimism. “I went with my dad in the ‘70s to blockades fighting for our land and our rights,” he said. “I don’t want my grandkids to grow up in the struggles I had to have our rights recognized.” “If we are to be part of the transformational change and face challenges of our generation with integrity, wisdom and love, we must all work together,” added Jack. The small group of First Nations with a modern-day treaty are highlighted in the action plan, which notes the Shared Priorities Framework signed by the premier and leaders from these eight groups this year to ensure “timely, effective and fully resourced” implementation of the formal agreements. Five of these First Nations
are part of the Maa-nulth treaty: the Huuay-aht, Toquaht, Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ, Uchucklesaht and Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’. “Modern treaty nations have a unique and distinct relationship with the province and we are pleased to see the action plan reflects this and speaks to our Shared Priorities Framework,”said Uchucklesaht Chief Councillor Charlie Cootes in a statement. Although the action plan did not include a recommendation from the NTC to prioritize clean energy opportunities for First Nations, Sayers was pleased to see language on revitalizing wild salmon populations. But it remains to be seen how exactly the province can carry out the ambitious plan over the next five years. “There’s some good intentions here. But the question is, are we going to get it done? Are we going to do it soon enough?” she asked. “I think it’s going to be up to us as First Nations to keep pushing them politically and moving things faster than they want to.” When DRIPA was passed in 2019, the province was faced with approximately 5,000 laws that needed to be realigned with the UN declaration. Rankin would not address how many of these laws have been revised so far, but noted that a secretariat is now in place to ensure the responsible adoption of UNDRIP. “The question will be how we can prioritize the existing laws. Which ones are we going to do first?” said Rankin. “Some of it will not be done, I’m sure, for a generation, but a lot of it will be done right now.”
DRIPA shows different approach than B.C. court case By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Victoria, BC - The value of working together was emphasized with a plan on how the province will adopt UNDRIP – but this might be hard to believe for members of the Nuchatlaht, as the First Nation fights for Aboriginal title in court. On March 30 an action plan was released, listing a wide variety of initiatives in the provincial government’s effort to realign laws and policy with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Among the plan’s main goals is enabling Aboriginal people to “to own, use, develop and control lands and resources within their territories in B.C.” The plan also noted the need to stop fighting First Nations in court over territorial rights. “The province recognizes the need to shift from patterns of litigation, and expensive and slow negotiations about title and rights, to cooperative implementation through effective government-to-government relationships,” reads the plan. But a “pattern of litigation” is what the Nuchatlaht currently face, as the small Nuu-chah-nulth nation is in the first weeks of a B.C. Supreme Court trial over its claim to 20,000 hectares of land on northern Nootka Island. The Nuchatlaht are not claiming compensation from the province or Western Forest Products, which currently holds provincial forestry tenure over the area – but argue that B.C.’s Forestry Act and Parks Act affected its right to use territory the First Nation has called home for countless generations. Nuchatlaht members have continually observed that the area has
Photo by Eric Plummer
A plan to integrate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into provincial policies was released during the second week of a trial in the B.C. Supreme Court, where the province is disputing the Nuchatlaht First Nation’s claim to territory on Nootka Island. Pictured are Nuchatlaht members and supporter on the court steps March 21. been heavily logged, damaging salmon habitat and other traditional uses of the remote region. When the case was directed to Premier John Horgan during a press conference on March 30, he said taking the Nuchatlaht to court was a last resort after discussions failed to resolve the issue. “It speaks to the diverse nature of British Columbia; Indigenous and non-Indigenous, we’re not always going to agree,” said Horgan. “But courts are obviously the last recourse when there’s disagreements.” The premier added that there have been other disputes with First Nations in recent years that the province would have fought in court “as a matter of course”, but these were settled through negotiation. “The case in Nuu-chah-nulth territory
that you’re referring to is one that, unfortunately, couldn’t get resolved without it ending up in a court room.” “According to Nuchatlaht, when I talked to them, that’s not true,” said Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, after attending the release of the province’s action plan. “There wasn’t any real push to settle title.” Now public recognition of UNDRIP, and the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act, hangs over the Nuchatlaht trial, which is expected to be in court for months. The First Nation’s legal team is tasked to prove the continued occupation of northern Nootka Island since 1846, which is the date the British Crown asserted sovereignty over the area. “In 1846 the Nuchatlaht were there in
an organized society, occupying the land as their forefathers had before them for centuries,” said Jack Woodward, who leads the First Nation’s legal team, in his opening statement on March 21, the first day of the trial. “You can’t say that the groups in 1846, or the date of sovereignty, were necessarily Nuchatlaht,” argued Jeff Echols, who represents the province, in his opening statement the following day. He said that the modern-day Nuchatlaht does not presumptively gain Aboriginal title from other groups who occupied northern Nootka Island over 150 years ago. “There were other local groups like Nuchatlaht in the claim area,” said Echols.
