B.C. takes first step in transferring title to Tsilhqot’in

The B.C. government has taken the first step in the process of transferring rights and obligations to the Tsilhqot’in on land recently recognized by the courts as belonging to the First Nation with an interim agreement on hunting.

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the Tsilhqot’in’s collective ownership of 1,750 square kilometers of Crown land southwest of Williams Lake – a land base that is about 2% of the entire territory claimed by the Tsilhqot’in.

The decision means the Tsilhqot’in have a legal say over what occurs there. But the transfer of title raises an important question over providing services like firefighting, maintaining public roads and other obligations that the province was obliged to provide.

It also raises questions about the rights of access by private landholders on land within that territory.

The Supreme Court exempted private land holdings by non-Tsilhqot'in landowners within the described area. But the B.C. government and Tsilhqot’in will still need to sort out things like who will plows the roads to provide continued access to those lands in the future.

For now, the B.C. government will continue to assume responsibility for things like snow plowing, road maintenance and firefighting.

In an interim agreement signed by the Tsilhqot’in and B.C. government, guide outfitters have had their licences to hunt on Tsilhqot’in title land extended for one year. The more complex issues will need to be addressed through ongoing negotiations.

Roger William, chief of the Gwet’in First Nation and vice chairman of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, describes the private land holdings within the Tsilhqot’in title land as “islands.”

“A lot of these people we have a history with,” he said.

He added some even were intervenors in the court case and supported the Tsilhqot’in’s claims. Some are ranchers, who have range land leases; others run tourism and hunting related operations.

The responsibility for the land surrounding these “islands” will eventually transfer from the B.C. government to the Tsilhqot’in.

“In this transition period, the government will continue to work with these local operators,” William said. “They’ll continue to get permits and operating licences from the government for the interim until B.C. and Tsilhqot’in come up with a negotiated agreement.”

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