Tla’amin Nation will step into a new era on April 5, 2016, the effective date of its treaty. While the agreement has been more than 20 years in the making, it represents a solid step toward reconciliation, said Roy Francis, chief treaty negotiator for Tla’amin.
Tla’amin Nation’s agreement received final federal approval in June 2014, though it will not come into effect for almost two years, giving the nation time to prepare. According to the federal government, it brings certainty to the first nation’s aboriginal rights, land title and provides economic benefits. The deal includes 8,300 hectares of land, approximately $30 million and self-government, among other provisions.
Francis said there is a deep significance watching construction of the first nation’s government house and preparing to move from its current band administration building.
“It’s very symbolic and satisfying,” said Francis. “It’s a visible change into a new world for us.”
One of the most important components of the treaty is the provision for the first nation’s self-government. While not erasing the legacy of living as a tenant of the Canadian government under the Indian Act, the agreement does give the first nation autonomy in decision making, something it has never had before.
Francis said when explaining the significance of treaty he likes to use the metaphor of moving away from home for the first time.
“It is scary and there may be some decisions that do not go well, but it’ll be a better life, one we need,” he said. “It’ll be full of challenges, life and freedom. We get to make out of life whatever we want. It will be a good change, a very good change. As a nation, that’s what we’ve done.”
Francis explained the treaty helps Tla’amin build a better future and it would not have been possible without a series of conversations about how to make that future happen, instigated by former chief Eugene Louie in the early 1990s.
“We started by making a long list,” said Francis, who has seen the treaty process through from the start. “It was a simple challenge that developed into picking a couple of priorities and tackling projects.”
That goal-oriented process, started in 1994, helped lay foundations for what would eventually become the first stages on Tla’amin’s treaty, said Francis. “We learned this work makes a difference. It changes lives.”
More than 20 years later, Francis said they did not expect the process to take as long as it has, but in some ways Tla’amin Nation is, and has been, one of a few first nations in the province at the forefront of a developing treaty process.
When Canada’s constitution was amended in 1982, section 35 was added, which provides protection for aboriginal self-government, rights and title in Canada’s highest law. In 1992, federal and provincial government, with first nations leaders, created BC Treaty Process and the BC Treaty Commission was created to oversee the six-stage process.
Only a handful of first nations, including Tsawwassen, Yale and the five Maa-Nulth first nations of Vancouver Island, have completed modern treaties through the BC process, though over 100 others are currently working through it.
The first three stages of the process are largely administrative. In stage one, the first nation submits a statement of intent, a step that requires it to identify traditional territory. In stage two, federal and provincial governments sit down with the first nation to determine if they are all ready to proceed. In stage three, they build a framework agreement to take into formal negotiations.
“We did a lot of research internally collecting map material and, more importantly, interviewing our elders. In doing that we learned how valuable that information is,” said Francis.
A consequence of the lengthy process is many of the elders Francis and his colleagues interviewed are no longer living and did not have the chance to see the agreement implemented, he said. “It’s humbling to realize how important those memories were to this.”
The elders’ stories provided researchers with enough information about the locations of the community’s hunting and fishing grounds, campsites and collection areas for traditional medicine that they were able to create a map of Tla’amin traditional territory over 600,000 hectares. From there they were able to determine what resources were held and what interests would need to be negotiated. “Knowing what’s out there is hugely important,” he said.
Once the territory had been mapped and resources inside defined, negotiations moved into stage four.
It took until June 2010 for federal, provincial and Tla’amin negotiators to reach a final agreement on the essential elements of the draft Tla’amin Final Agreement.
Stage five of the process was to settle any outstanding issues and the provincial and federal governments made final land and cash offers. Once agreement was reached, the first nation negotiators then took it back to the community for a vote. After the vote was successful, the agreement went to the BC legislature and Canadian parliament for final ratification.
While there were challenges in negotiating the details of the final agreement, one of the greatest challenges came from the federal government’s pace in signing off on the deal. Some claim the almost one-year wait was due to political interference in the federal government though that claim was never substantiated. Previous treaties negotiated through the process took less than two months for Ottawa to sign off on.
Challenges also came from inside Tla’amin. In June 2012, a group calling itself Protectors of Sliammon Sovereignty blockaded the Salish Centre to stop the community ratification vote.
“We wrestled a lot with this, but it’s the same dynamic that is present in all communities, aboriginal and non-aboriginal. There’s not a community out there that doesn’t also have an opposing view on anything,” said Francis. “It took me a while to realize that we’re as normal as everyone else.”
The dissidents had a range of concerns with the treaty, including the amount of traditional territory included in the deal, the process itself and allegations of voting irregularities. The band obtained an injunction preventing protestors from blocking a rescheduled vote the next month. The vote required a threshold of 51 per cent to pass. It received 52 per cent.
On April 9, 2014, the Government of Canada introduced legislation for ratification of the final agreement by parliament and it received royal assent, the last step in the approval process, on June 19.
Since then, Francis explained the first nation has been engaged in drafting its constitution and legislation to govern how decisions are made, money is handled and services are provided.
Though challenges were overcome during the 20-year process, Francis said the agreement is really directed at the future and provides “security we never had before with a land base we have title to.” He added this agreement will have a positive impact on the region as a whole.
“Something that’s good for Tla’amin is going to be good for Powell River,” he said. “It’s going to be good for our neighbours. Our kids go to the same schools. We go to the same grocery stores. Sliammon is going to be a bigger part of the economy and that’s going to be good for the whole area.”
TIMELINE TO TREATY
1982
Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, provides protection for aboriginal self-government, rights and title in Canada’s highest law
1992
Six-stage BC Treaty Process created and BC Treaty Commission established to oversee progress in negotiations
1994
Tla’amin Nation enters into stage one of BC treaty process
2010
June 9: Federal, provincial and Tla’amin Nation negotiators reach agreement on essential elements of the draft Tla’amin Final Agreement
2012
June 16: Protestors block Tla’amin ratification vote at Salish Centre. Vote postponed
July 10: Tla’amin members approve final agreement with majority community vote
2013
March 14: Tla’amin Final Agreement Act ratified in BC legislature
2014
March 15: Tla’amin and BC sign final agreement at old village site in Tees Kwat (Townsite)
April 9: Federal government introduces legislation for ratification of agreement by Parliament
April 11: Federal and provincial governments sign Tla’amin Final Agreement
June 19: Federal government legislation receives royal assent and becomes law
2016
April 5: Tla’amin Nation Treaty will officially take effect
