Tell BC: Stop opposing Nuchatlaht title
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Denying First Nations title is unacceptable
Hi Paov,
In a few weeks, lawyers for the Nuchatlaht First Nation will be back in the Supreme Court, facing off against British Columbia, whose lawyers will continue to deny the Nation’s title to its territory on Nootka Island.
This shameful stance, which flies in the face of B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and is inconsistent with reconciliation. And the BC NDP government could put a stop to it any time.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma could direct the province’s lawyers to stop denying the fact the Nuchatlaht have title to Nootka Island. It’s time for Sharma, Premier David Eby, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin and the entire BC NDP government to do the right thing.
Last spring, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the Nuchatlaht are a title-holding Nation. Next month, their lawyers will be back in court to argue this title extends to their territory on Nootka Island.
After decades of exploitation of their lands and waters due to industrial resource extraction like logging and fishing, the Nuchatlaht are seeking the recognition of their right to take care of their territory as they have for millennia. But despite passing the DRIPA in 2019 to align B.C.’s laws with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the BC NDP government has spent years in court fighting the Nuchatlaht tooth and nail and denying their title to their territory on Nootka Island.
It’s time for this to end and it’s not too late for the province to change course.
Join the call to Premier Eby, Attorney General Sharma and the entire government to do the right thing, respect the Nuchatlaht and recognize their territorial title.
For a better future,
Torrance Coste Associate Director
Wilderness Committee
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