Treaty Negotiations still provide a path to reconciliation: FNS on BCTC Report

Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver – First Nations Summit (FNS) leaders were in Victoria today for the release of the 2014 BC Treaty Commission (BCTC) Annual Report.

In the report, the BCTC recognizes the importance of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Tsilhqot’in case as a confirmation of the foundation for treaty negotiations in BC: that First Nations have title and rights to lands in British Columbia and that negotiations, rather than litigation, will be a faster path towards reconciliation.

“The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) strongly confirms what First Nations in BC have known since time immemorial, BC First Nations have, and will continue to have, title and rights throughout the unceded lands of BC”, said Cheryl Casimer of the FNS political executive. “As we have always believed and as the SCC recognized in the Tsilhqot’in decision, the most efficient means for BC First Nations and governments to achieve reconciliation and certainty will be through the negotiation and fulsome implementation of fair, just and honourable treaty agreements”.