A small first nation before the new era, leading an epic BC. The Supreme Court’s battle for Aboriginal land ownership says the province is ignoring its own newly drafted directives on how to deal with indigenous lawsuits.
Members of the Nuchatlaht First Nation launched a fierce attack on Crown Friday to maintain a steadfast approach to the 200-square-mile title fight off Vancouver Island – even as the British Attorney General issued new directives on civil cases aimed at promoting reconciliation and reducing of the conflict.
“It infuriates me to read and listen to the Attorney General’s directives on the case of our land ownership case and to see how there is no follow-up,” Nuchatlaht Koun said. Robert John said in a statement.
“The good words ‘better future’ and ‘true and lasting reconciliation’ are only used to meet their advertising needs. Come on BC, shake your head and show us real reconciliation!
“What will change in this trial?”
Nuchatlaht is seeking the Aboriginal title on an area of crown land 300 kilometers northwest of Victoria, consisting mainly of Nutka Island and much of the surrounding coast.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has hung over the case from the beginning – as British Columbia passed legislation in 2019 to bring its laws into line with a document that states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally possessed, inhabited or used or otherwise acquired. “
The Prime Minister of British Columbia John Horgan received a blanket during a ceremony at the Assembly of Special Leaders of the First Nations in 2019. Horgan says the new provincial civil affairs directives are not intended to end all litigation with the first nations. (Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press)
Legal experts have long wondered what this would mean for litigation, and British Columbia Attorney General David Abby provided an answer Thursday with a list of 20 directives.
The directives call on the Crown to “vigorously pursue all alternative forms of resolution during litigation”, reminding lawyers of their “obligation to respect Aboriginal rights, treaty rights and indigenous human rights”.
Nuchatlaht’s lawyer, Jack Woodward, raised the new directives in court on Thursday, pointing to the judge supervising the case, focusing on reconciliation, negotiation and “minimizing costs and complexity”.
“It’s a very political issue. “This directive, which came out today, is widely reported in the media right now as we speak, and what the media is asking is that they call me and say, ‘Well, what’s changing?'” Woodward said.
“What will change in this lawsuit as a result of this directive?” And of course, it’s not for me to answer. “
Crown lawyer Jeff Echols said the directives were taken seriously and would be kept under review, but that “the province has considered its pleas in the context of the directives and we do not intend to amend them at this time”.
“I just don’t want to be left with the assumption that we will suddenly be looking for new instructions and there will be a change in what we plan to do in the process,” Ecols said.
“Not what the minister announced”
BC Prime Minister John Horgan was asked about the Nuchatlaht case on Thursday.
He said the Attorney General’s directives on civil cases with indigenous peoples do not run counter to the Crown’s courtroom approach in a democratic society, where some conflicts inevitably lead to judges.
“He does not say in himself that from now on there will be no more litigation between the Crown and the indigenous people of rights and titles. This will continue. We want to reduce this. We want to make sure that the commitment to the court is made in a way that can reduce the impact, “Horgan said.
This map depicts the traditional lands claimed by the first nation of Nuchatlaht on the west coast of Vancouver as part of an Aboriginal title case. (CBC News)
“But we cannot and will not eliminate litigation completely. That was not the goal and that is not what the minister announced. “
The first nation, Nuchatlaht, is the first to sue under the terms of a groundbreaking three-part test set by Canada’s Supreme Court in 2014 to establish an aboriginal title.
To meet this standard, the Nuchatlaht must prove that they occupied the land exclusively in 1846 – when the British claimed sovereignty through a treaty that led to today’s border between Canada and the United States.
The province disputed the lawsuit, claiming in its court documents that before the arrival of the British, Nuchatlaht was a “relatively small and relatively weak association of groups” that had been “displaced from areas outside the area of the claim by other indigenous peoples”. “
In a written statement, Nuchatlaht said that “these and similar oppressive arguments are not allowed under UNDRIP.”
“Prime Minister Horgan credits BC for the transformative change that UNDRIP will bring, but they have taken us even further from reconciliation and show no signs of good faith,” said Nuchatlaht Ty Howilt (chief) Jordan Michael.
“There was no act of good faith. The hypocrisy of the provincial government is very obvious and needs to be addressed.”
The crown began calling witnesses on Friday. The case is expected to end in the coming weeks.
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