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Port Hardy First Nation enters final treaty talks stage

Will salmon farming be addressed in treaty with Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw?
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‘We should be the ones deciding who gets licensed within our territory’ – chief Terry Walkus in video address to the prime minister. | Screengrab

The Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Nation in Port Hardy have signed an agreement with the federal and provincial governments to advance to stage 5 in treaty negotiations – the final stage in negotiations, with stage 6 being implementation.

Unlike previous agreements to enter final stage negotiations, the one with the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Nation was signed under a new protocol, the Recognition and Reconciliation of Rights Policy for Treaty Negotiations in British Columbia.

It was adopted in 2019 to align the BC Treaty process with the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The formal tripartite agreement was signed Saturday and coincided with a ground-breaking ceremony for a new bighouse. The federal government is providing $8.9 million for the Gukwdzi bighouse.

Treaties with First Nations have historically involved the surrendering of certain rights or claims to lands, in exchange for more defined rights – specified fish quotas, for example – and title to specific lands.

The new protocol provides for “the recognition and continuation of rights without those rights being modified, surrendered, or extinguished” and allows for the treaty “to adapt to changing circumstances over time.”

In 1964, the Gwa’sala and the Nakwaxda’xw were forcibly amalgamated and forced to relocate from their traditional lands. The majority now live on the Tsulquate Reserve in Port Hardy.

“Our Nations worked hard because we lost so much after relocation away from our homelands,” Chief Terry Walkus said in a news release. “We did not have much after we arrived, not even running water. For so many years, we struggled for basic needs to survive.

“The treaty and work on this memorandum of understanding have helped us focus on rebuilding as strong nations once more, with a thriving culture, education, economic development, and better health and well-being of our peoples. On our path to self-determination together in the spirit of reconciliation, working with the two levels of government, and greater flexibility of mandate, we will address and regain what was lost.” 

One point of contention in the final negotiation process could be the question of whether the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw will have control over salmon farming in their traditional territory.

The federal government’s policy, which is to phase out all open-net salmon farms in B.C., is at odds with the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw, who are actively involved in salmon farming. The Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw have agreements with Mowi Canada on salmon farms operating in their territory.

In April, in frustration with the federal government’s fisheries policies and plans to phase out open-net salmon farms in B.C., the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw announced plans to assert control of fisheries in their territory, both wild and farmed.

The Trudeau government’s policy is to have a plan in place by 2025 to “transition” all open-net salmon farms in B.C. On June 23, Joyce Murray, federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, announced she would renew 79 federal salmon farm licences – which expired June 30 – for two years.

Walkus responded to the two-year renewal by saying it should be his people’s decision whether or not to renew licences, not the federal government’s.

“Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Nation is firm: we have authority to make decisions across our own traditional territory, as do other nations,” Walkus said. “Ottawa’s decision tells us it is more concerned about virtue-signalling than actually seeking reconciliation with Indigenous Nations.”

In a direct address to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by video last month, Walkus said: “We should be the ones deciding who gets licensed within our territory. We wouldn’t want the government to take any more stuff away from our people, so we need these licences renewed within our territories.”

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