B.C. First Nation files Aboriginal title claim challenging fish farms in their territory

Dzawada’enuxw leaders outside BC Supreme Court in Vancouver. Photo courtesy Lindsey Mae Willie

by Laurie Hamelin, APTN News, June 2, 2018
The Dzawada’enuxw First Nation of Kingcome Inlet filed a claim of Aboriginal title in British Columbia’s Supreme Court that affects ten fish farms in their traditional territory that they say are operating without their consent.

How a historic court decision is driving a new wave of First Nations protests

Three hereditary chiefs of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw issued the eviction notice to a fish farm on the north end of Vancouver Island this week. (Tamo Campos/YouTube)

Native protesters moving on fish farms in wake of landmark decision recognizing First Nations land rights

By Richard Zussman, CBC News, August 27, 2016

Fish farms along British Columbia’s West Coast have been at the centre of political and environmental battles for years, but this time it’s a two-year-old legal decision that’s behind the string of recent protests by First Nations against the industry.

Tsilhqot’in land ruling was a game changer for B.C.

Chief Roger William, right, of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation is flanked by chiefs and other officials as he pauses while speaking during a news conference in Vancouver after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, granting it land title to 438,000 hectares of land. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

The Tsilhqot’in, after years of being ignored by government, now a priority for B.C.’s premier

By Duncan McCue, CBC News, Dec 23, 2014

The sun had yet to rise in British Columbia on June 26, when a group of Tsilhqot’in chiefs congregated with legal advisers to receive their copy of a long-awaited decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

By 6:01 a.m. PT, it was clear: the highest court in the land had issued B.C. quite a wake-up call.

As First Nations leaders began expressing joy and surprise on social media, myself and other groggy reporters nursing coffees hustled to a hastily called press conference, where chiefs triumphantly proclaimed the decision a “game changer.”

First Nations rights and title claims: Is it legitimate to call it class struggle?

By Brad Hornick, rabble.ca, July 10, 2014

A healthy majority of First Nations in British Columbia have joined the opposition to federal government approval of the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline, arguing that it fails to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples and violates Canada’s legal obligations under both federal and international law. In particular, the “right to exclusive use and occupation of land” and the “right to choose to what uses land can be put” — is specifically excluded from Joint Review Panel’s mandate. The federal government has failed its “duty to consult and accommodate” Indigenous peoples’ right to “free, prior and informed consent.”

An added dimension to the Northern Gateway pipeline fight was a recent landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling on aboriginal title to ancestral lands. As part of the ruling, the Supreme Court said the government of B.C. had “breached its duty to consult” when it allowed for timber harvesting licenses to forestry companies in Tsilquot’in territory in the geographic center of the province. There was no consultation and no permission granted by the Tsilquot’in for logging done on their territory, and so a lengthy court battle that began in 1983 led to a recent court decision in their favour.

Many First Nations believe the Tsilhqot’in ruling will strengthen their land claims and maritime title to the coastal waters through which bitumen-laden super tankers would navigate. The official line from the president and chief executive of Enbridge is that the ruling will have no influence on the future of the Northern Gateway pipeline. But there is some suggestion that fossil fuel companies are worried that this high-court decision broadens First Nations’ rights and title and threatens billions of dollars worth of new projects.

Northern Gateway pipeline: First Nations outline constitutional challenges

“Grand Chief” Stewart Phillips of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says at least 9 legal challenges have been launched

By Mike Laanela, CBC News, July 14, 2014

Several B.C. First Nations are launching at least nine court challenges to try to block Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, leaders revealed at a news conference this morning in Vancouver.

The First Nations leaders said they will argue the proposed pipeline and its recent approval by the federal government is a constitutional violation of their aboriginal land rights in their respective territories, particularly in light of the Supreme Court of Canada victory last month by the Tsilhqot’in First Nation.

Gitxsan First Nation evicting rail, logging, fishing interests

Members of the Gitxsan First Nation opposed to the $5.5-billion Enbridge oil pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia port of Kitimat warm themselves around a fire at a camp outside the Gitxsan Treaty Office in Hazelton, B.C., on Thursday January 12, 2012.

Other B.C. bands also making claims following Supreme Court of Canada ruling

CBC News/The Canadian Press, July 10, 2014

British Columbia First Nations are wasting no time in enforcing their claim on traditional lands in light of a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision recognizing aboriginal land title.

The hereditary chiefs of the Gitxsan First Nations served notice Thursday to CN Rail, logging companies and sport fishermen to leave their territory along the Skeena River in a dispute with the federal and provincial governments over treaty talks.

First Nations mistaken in their celebration of Supreme Court ruling

By Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, June 29, 2014

“Welcome to Colonial Courtrooms,” should have been the title of the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark aboriginal rights judgment.

While B.C. natives were busy last week celebrating the court’s affirmation of their “aboriginal title,” they should have paid closer attention to the fine print.  In spite of all the hand-wringing about threats to resource development and the land mass of B.C., this is a big victory for governments.  In the unanimous 8-0 decision, which dismissed with nary a nod the last half century of strident native assertions of sovereignty, the high court said B.C. natives are not unlike any other litigant squatter.

Pipeline prospects take a hit as Supreme Court grants land title to B.C. First Nation

Aboriginal communities’ land claims have become much more viable, making future resource development iffier

Dwight Newman, Financial Post, June 26, 2014

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released its latest take on the rules on Aboriginal title – and the first declaration of Aboriginal title in Canadian history. Its groundbreaking decision concerning the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s claims has the potential to reshape aspects of Canadian resource development more broadly. To understand why, we need to back up a bit to understand what the case has changed on Aboriginal title and why that matters.

Aboriginal title is the form of ownership Aboriginal communities hold over unceded lands that they regularly and exclusively used in the past. It is not identical to but is analogous to the fee simple title that private landowners hold, with the important difference that the courts have always considered Aboriginal title land to be collectively owned by a particular Aboriginal community.

Tsilhqot’in granted B.C. title claim in Supreme Court ruling

Tsilhqot’in protest at Taseko Mine’s annual general meeting in Vancouver, June 2010

Top court’s decision today resolves legal questions following 2012 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling

CBC News, June 26, 2014

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted declaration of aboriginal title to more than 1,700 square kilometres of land in British Columbia to the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, the first time the court has made such a ruling regarding aboriginal land.

The unanimous 8-0 decision released Thursday resolves many important legal questions, such as how to determine aboriginal title and whether provincial laws apply to those lands. It will apply wherever there are outstanding land claims.

The decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, also has implications for future economic or resource development on First Nations lands.