The federal government will recognize Aboriginal title over the archipelago of Haida Gwaii off British Columbia’s northern coast in a historic agreement with the Haida First Nation.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree says this is the first time the federal government has recognized Aboriginal title through negotiations.
He says in an interview that it’s a “hugely significant” achievement that will reset the relationship in a “very meaningful way.”
The Big Tide Haida Title Lands Agreement affirms that the Haida have Aboriginal title over all of the islands’ lands, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark.
The agreement transitions the Crown-title land to the Haida people, granting them an inherent legal right to the land. The transfer of the underlying title would affect how courts interpret issues involving disputes.
Anandasangaree says this will kick off a five-year transition period and will require legislation to iron out all the individual details about how this will apply in practice.
Ottawa says it will work “respectfully and co-operatively” with the Haida Nation on matters relating to Haida Gwaii.
It says both governments have agreed the shift will be “orderly and incremental” to provide stability to residents and other interest holders.
The agreement follows similar recognition by the B.C. government last year.
It resolves a four-decade-long fight that began with a logging blockade and became an intensely fought legal battle.
The agreement comes more than two decades after the Council of the Haida Nation launched a legal challenge against Canada and the province, seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title.
The ministry says the three parties have been negotiating since 2021 to “incrementally negotiate” matters that would otherwise have to be litigated.
It says Canada provided $59 million in funding to the Haida in an “advance capital transfer” to boost the nation’s “governance capacity building.”
About 15 per cent of Haida Gwaii is owned, managed or used by the federal government, including a national park and Haida heritage site.
A further two per cent are owned by other parties.
The government says the title agreement between the Haida First Nation and B.C. was struck last April.
Haida Nation President Jason Alsop has called the new law in B.C. a “step toward peaceful coexistence” with the province.
He said in April that the nation planned on taking control of Haida Gwaii’s economy according to its values and traditions, taking a sustainable rather than exploitive approach to the land and the sea.
The provincial Opposition B.C. Conservative Party has criticized the agreement, saying it puts private land owners “at the mercy of Haida (and) future Haida Indigenous law.”
But the First Nations Leadership Council in B.C. has said the agreement does not affect private property rights.
Anandasangaree dismissed the concerns about impacts on landowners as a “lot of noise.”
“One of the key elements of this agreement is that private title will not be impacted in any way,” he said. “Your ability to get a mortgage, or ability to get the property encumbered for construction for putting on a lien — all of those will continue.”
The federal Haida Nation Recognition Act was passed last year.
The ministry says Haida lands held as reserves under the Indian Act will stay under federal jurisdiction until the Haida council, Old Massett Village and Skidegate bands and members initiate negotiations.
With files from Kyle Duggan in Ottawa.
