Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver – First Nations Summit (FNS) leaders were in Victoria today for the release of the 2013 BC Treaty Commission (BCTC) Annual Report.
In the report, the BCTC expresses concerns regarding both Canada’s and BC’s commitment to negotiations and implementation of treaty agreements. In particular, they express concern about: the readiness and capacity of Canada and BC to meet the requirements of a number of tables simultaneously going into final agreement and implementation stages of the negotiations process, as well as concern about BC’s movement away from long term solutions achievable through the negotiation of treaty agreements in favour of short term economic opportunities such as bilateral Interim Treaty Agreements (ITA’s).
“First Nations currently engaged in negotiations have always been committed to advancing the good faith negotiation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. However, we share the BCTC’s concern that while bilateral agreements and other such constructive arrangements are valuable steps towards self-sufficiency, we must be mindful and careful not to view these opportunities as a replacement for the benefits that a final treaty agreement can bring”, said Cheryl Casimer of the First Nations Summit political executive.