Decades in the making, B.C. signs agreement handing over title to Haida Gwaii
CTV
The B.C. government and the Council of Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii's Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition.
The B.C. government and the Council of Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii's Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition.
The province announced last month that it had reached a proposed deal with the Haida, which Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin called a “foundational step in the reconciliation pathway of Haida Nation and B.C.”
At the signing ceremony Sunday, Rankin said the agreement is “really, really important,” pledging to do whatever he can to “breath life into this historic agreement.”
“We could have been facing each other in a courtroom. We could have been fighting for years and years, but we chose a different path,” Rankin told those gathered for the ceremony. “We chose a path that requires creativity and courage and we got there together.”
The deal recognizes the First Nation's title throughout Haida Gwaii, but does not impact private property or government jurisdictions, and Rankin said at the time that litigation would've created “uncertainty for residents and businesses.”
Council of the Haida Nation President Jason Alsop said the agreement is about “honouring and recognizing the truth of our Haida history, and our relationship with Haida Gwaii that goes back to ancient times.”
“It's an acknowledgement of past denials and harms, and fully embracing the truth that Haida Gwaii is Haida land, always has been, always will be,” Alsop said. “We've never surrendered, ceded, in any way given up title to our land.”
