First Nations Chiefs propose agreement with Canada for indigenous land rights News
© WikiMedia (Unist'ot'en Camp)
First Nations Chiefs propose agreement with Canada for indigenous land rights

In a joint statement released on Monday Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Woos, British Columbia Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Scott Fraser and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett discussed a draft arrangement which would require the Canadian government to recognize Wet’suwet’en rights and title to land. The Wet’suwet’en are a First Nations people in British Columbia, Canada. The statement also noted that there were discussions of the Coastal GasLink project (CGL), but admitted that differences regarding the project still remain among the parties.

The construction of the CGL sparked protests across Canada. At the height of the protests last month Bennett sent a letter to Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs urging them to meet with her to reach a “peaceful resolution.”

According to their joint statement, the Canadian government hopes that this “arrangement for the Wet’suwet’en will breathe life into the Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision so that future generations do not have to face conflicts like the one they face today.” In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court decided the Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa case recognizing oral testimony as legitimate evidence and holding that First Nations’ treaty rights to land could not be extinguished.

The agreement is pending review and ratification by Wet’suwet’en members. A tweet from Unist’ot’en Camp, an indigenous re-occupation of Wet’suwet’en land, said, “[the] tentative agreement with [Wet’suwet’en] Nation may be a milestone, but it doesn’t resolve [the CGL] pipeline fight.”