Once the B.C. government91裸聊视频檚 meetings with Indigenous leaders are over, the details of North America91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频渁ll chiefs91裸聊视频� meeting with Indigenous leaders Nov. 5, Premier John Horgan pointed the province91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淔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,91裸聊视频� Horgan told hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered in Vancouver. 91裸聊视频淭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.91裸聊视频�
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B.C.91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淭his legislation is enabling, so we won91裸聊视频檛 see the world change overnight once it is passed,91裸聊视频� Fraser said, adding that 91裸聊视频渢he business community is ahead of government on this.91裸聊视频� Addressing the most contentious part of the legislation, he said there are 91裸聊视频渃ountless experts91裸聊视频� who have concluded that the UN declaration of 91裸聊视频渇ree, prior and informed consent91裸聊视频� is is not a veto over land use and resource projects.
91裸聊视频淔or example, James Anaya, the former special rapporteur for the rights of Indigenous peoples, has explained that free, prior and informed consent 91裸聊视频� that standard 91裸聊视频� 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,91裸聊视频� Fraser said. 91裸聊视频淭his is quite different than veto.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淲ell, I91裸聊视频檓 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,91裸聊视频� Rustad told the legislature.
On the contested issue of what defines 91裸聊视频渃onsent,91裸聊视频� Rustad described the issue of overlapping territories in his own northwest B.C. constituency, involving the Yekooche First Nation.
91裸聊视频淵ekooche came out of one of the other nations and has kind of been settled in the middle of a number of nations,91裸聊视频� Rustad said. 91裸聊视频淲ell, they have overlaps in every direction. As a matter of fact, the Nadleh Whut91裸聊视频檈n want to be able to sign the pipeline benefits agreement and be able to advance their work with the Coastal Gaslink. They91裸聊视频檙e waiting for government to help resolve an overlap issue they have with Yekooche.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淪ome voices in this House would have us believe the UNDRIP is imposed on us by the United Nations,91裸聊视频� Olsen said. 91裸聊视频淭hey undermine it. They91裸聊视频檙e ignorant of it. I believe it91裸聊视频檚 intentional.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淚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 Hudson91裸聊视频檚 Bay Company,91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淚 went to Ottawa. I came to Victoria, to lobby the government for programs and money,91裸聊视频� Ross told the legislature. 91裸聊视频淲hen I realized that all I91裸聊视频檓 doing is asking for more dependency, I refused to go on any more lobbying trips for more money.91裸聊视频�
Ross said his years of work towards the Kitimat liquefied natural gas export facility have produced jobs and tangible economic benefits.
Ross said the 91裸聊视频渇ree, prior and informed consent91裸聊视频� in UNDRIP already exists in case law.
91裸聊视频淚t has already been in practice for many, many years,91裸聊视频� Ross told the legislature. 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 why we have LNG. That91裸聊视频檚 why we have peace in the woods.91裸聊视频�
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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