COAST SALISH TERRITORY/VANCOUVER, B.C. – The First Nations Summit is pleased by today’s release of the report, True Partners: Charting a New Deal for BC, First Nations and the Forests We Share, prepared by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“The report is a timely public policy initiative that should go a long way toward educating the public on Forest and Range Opportunities agreements between First Nations and the provincial government,” said Dave Porter, a member of the First Nations Summit’s political executive. “Moreover, it should add momentum to the provincial government’s current course of improving relations with First Nations on forestry and land use matters.”
The report examines Forest and Range Opportunities agreements, which have been signed between the provincial government and approximately 130 First Nations. It finds that the per-capita formula employed by the province to calculate timber and cash to First Nations through these agreements is “fundamentally flawed” and must be reworked to provide lasting social, economic and environmental benefit.