Thursday will be a day that rocks this country one way or the other

On Thursday, June 26^th, at 6:45 a.m. PST, the Supreme Court of Canada judgment in the Tsilhqot’in case will be handed down and the court will be deciding on aboriginal title.  Earlier cases on aboriginal title such as Calder and Delgamuukw have not ruled definitely on aboriginal title.  What is at stake is the territories of First Nations.  First Nations have always claimed title to territories.  Treaty negotiations are based on territories.  Land Use plans are based on territories.  Consultation and accommodation with the federal and provincial governments have always been based on the territories of the First Nations.  But the BC Court of Appeal said that aboriginal title can only be found in small spots, where a First Nation can prove they had a fishing area, hunting area, gathering area, or trapping area.  Like a checkerboard, the indigenous peoples only have title on the red squares and not the black.  How ridiculous is that? How could that even been managed?  Every treaty negotiated has been based on territories.  Every shared decision making model, every joint land use plan, every Strategic Engagement agreements has been based on territories. 

Can the Supreme Court of Canada now change the rules against First Nations laws? This would mean that First Nations who have not yet settled treaties would be given a new set of ground rules if treaty negotiations even continued. If the Supreme Court of Canada rules that aboriginal title is only small spots, I believe there would be a huge backlash in BC as there is no other court to go to and the choice then is defending the land. One never knows what the Supreme Court of Canada will rule but Thursday will be a day that rocks this country one way or the other.  This is a significant day and a ruling that will affect everyone in British Columbia and Canada.

There are so many pieces of legislation that both the federal and provincial governments are passing without doing proper consultation and each piece of legislation chips away at the constitutionally protected rights of indigenous peoples within Canada.

The biggest controversy in the past few months has been the First Nations Control over First Nations Education Act.  At the core of this issue is the right to self-government, the right to pass laws and recognize the jurisdiction of First Nations over education.  Bill C-33 did not do any of that, only increased the power of the Minister over schools on reserve.

In BC, the Water Sustainability Act was passed with insufficient consultation with First Nations.  The aboriginal right to water and the governance related to water management is affected by this act and BC did not do full scale consultation. The government is also working to change the Forestry Act to almost all forest in BC into tree farm licenses.  This has a significant effect on First Nations rights and title before settling treaties. It also increases the rate of harvest on the lands and in come cases, a harvest that only exists on paper and not in the forests.

First Nations are constantly battling the federal and provincial governments in courts to protect their rights.  The Canada-China FIPPA is being challenged by the Hupacasath First Nation as the increased development of resources that will inevitably happen because of the FIPPA will abrogate and derogate from our rights.

First Nations are fighting governments in the courts, in tribunals, on the streets and on the water to retain what is important to us. We are using social media, blogs, and all forms of communication to get our message out.  More and more people are relying on First Nations to stop the big projects that will affect their quality of life and impact the environment they live in. More and more people are contributing to legal challenges of First Nations for court cases that delay and in some cases stop a project from going ahead.

The culmination of the Enbridge and the Ts’ilquotin within weeks of each is an extremely interesting phenomenum. Will this be a total blow against First Nations or will the decision counter each other? In a few days we will know.

Notes from: fnbc.info – Original publication found here