First Nations court case in BC could be Canada’s game-changer: Ken Coates in the Globe and Mail – MLI
April 27, 2022
The Nuchatlaht First Nation and Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island’s west coast, figure prominently in Canadian history. It’s where, in 1774, Spanish explorers first contacted First Nations on the West Coast. Four years later, British explorer Captain James Cook reached the area. And, ever since, the region has been a contested territory among various claimants.
This spring, in the B.C. Supreme Court, the Nuchatlaht are suing the British Columbia government for full title and ownership of about 200 square kilometres of the Nootka region that is categorized as Crown land. This legal showdown could set the standard for Indigenous land-claim rulings across Canada.
The Nuchatlaht undertook this move reluctantly, after years of hearing promises about reconciliation. The same holds for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which Canada signed in 2010, and was recognized legally by the governments of Canada and British Columbia. But governments have badly underdelivered for First Nations.
