FNS welcomes Senate Standing Committee report on BC treaty negotiations

Coast Salish Territory/ Vancouver, BC – The First Nations Summit welcomes the just released Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples report on BC treaty negotiations. The report is entitled “A Commitment Worth Preserving: Reviving the British Columbia Treaty Process“.

“We are happy that the Committee recognized that the settlement of the BC land question is an issue of importance to all British Columbians, and indeed to all Canadians,” said Dan Smith, a member of the First Nations Summit Political Executive. “The Committee noted that ‘the conclusion of treaties provides important benefits both within and outside First Nations, including a solid legal basis for future economic development’, which is an important notion for all to consider”.

The First Nations Summit is calling on the federal government to heed the Committee’s observations and recommendations which outline how a renewed commitment by the parties to engage in open, good faith and efficient treaty negotiations is essential to the effective functioning of the BC treaty process.