Letters March 4: Aboriginal title deals; how to fix addiction problems – Times Colonist
Mar 4, 2026
In his reasons for judgment in the British Columbia Court of Appeal on June 25, 1993, in the now-famous case of Delgamuukw v. The Queen, the late Mr. Justice J. Douglas Lambert commented upon the need for negotiation of Aboriginal rights and title in British Columbia.
What he said remains of striking import and continuing validity to this day:
“Political sovereignty, and its associated rights, within British Columbia and throughout Canada are in the hands of the entire British Columbian and Canadian communities, Indian and non-Indian alike. That is not disputed by the plaintiffs in this case and in my opinion could never be successfully disputed. So, in the end, the legal rights of the Indian people will have to be accommodated within our total society by political compromises and accommodations based in the first instance on negotiation and agreement and ultimately in accordance with the sovereign will of the community as a whole.”
