1
st
Special National Conference on Delgamuukw
February 24, 25 & 26, 1999.
Hosted by Interior Alliance andthe Assembly of First Nations
COMMON GROUND
____________________________________________________
TOWARD RECONCILIATION OFABORIGINAL & CROWN TITLE
ADISCUSSION PAPERONIMPLEMENTING THE
DELGAMUUKW
DECISIONFebruary 1999
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................iPART 1 - OVERVIEW OF ISSUES................................................1Background.............................................................1Policy Barriers...........................................................1Process Barriers..........................................................1Summary...............................................................1Response: Strategy Based on Shared Interests....................................2Considerations...........................................................3Elements of a Strategy......................................................4Coordinated Action and Political Commitment. ............................4Legal Dimensions...................................................4Community Dimensions...............................................5Economic Dimensions................................................5Media & Public Relations Dimensions....................................5Other Dimensions...................................................5PART 2 - DETAILS AND BACKGROUND.........................................6Introduction.............................................................6Evolution of the Comprehensive Claims Policy....................................6Previous Failure to Obtain Policy Change.......................................7Chretien Government is Unyielding............................................9Delgamuukw Framework for Negotiations......................................11Differing Interests Among First Nations........................................12Rationale for Inter-Tribal Coordination........................................13Potential Themes for Communications Strategy..................................14
-i-
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Despite the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on December 11, 1997, in the
Delgamuukw
decision,the federal government is pressing ahead with its Comprehensive Land Claims Policy which is based onextinguishment of Aboriginal title. This is evidenced by the recent Nisga’a Final Agreement and theSechelt Agreement-In-Principle, the Government of Canada is merely finessing the legal language byreferring to “extinguishment” as “certainty”. However, this is merely a clever legal technique by thefederal and provincial governments.By “exhaustively defining”, in other words, “limiting and restricting”, the scope and content of existingsection 35 Aboriginal rights to what is contained in Canada’s Comprehensive Claims Final Agreements,the legal effect is the same, it empties out existing section 35 rights (which has now been clarified toinclude Aboriginal title as per
Delgamuukw
) and replaces it with the reduced, restrictive “treaty’rights”, as evidenced by the terms of the Nisga’a Final Agreement and the Sechelt AIP.This is clearly a continuation of the 230 year old settler objective of eliminating Aboriginal title.The primary purpose of this discussion paper and the Kamloops Meeting of February 24, 25, 26,1999, is to determine if there is sufficient interest among the Nations represented from uncededAboriginal title territories to coordinate actions to replace the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy witha policy and process which is consistent with the legal principles and negotiating framework set out inthe
Delgamuukw
decision.Our reading of the
Delgamuukw
decision acknowledges that the Court has set out a process fornegotiation. There are four main elements to the process, briefly described as follows:
Step 1 - Establish the Facts Related to Aboriginal Title:
This involves assembling and assessing the factual evidence required to prove the Aboriginal title. Ineastern Canada, the federal government still provides financial support to First Nations so that they cangather and organize their evidence. In British Columbia, since the advent of the B.C. TreatyCommission process, this step has been eliminated.
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BC Interior Alliance Discussion Paper - Common Ground 1999
This discussion paper was prepared after the SCC Delgamuukw decision of1997.
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