Province's blueprint for sharing land with First Nations

An experiment is under way in British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province: the government is rewriting its laws to share power with Indigenous nations over a land base bigger than France and Germany combined.

- Arno Kopecky

Decades in the making, this transition entered history in 2019, when BC became the first jurisdiction on Earth to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into law. This means the regional government would share decision-making power over land management matters with First Nations, potentially affecting leasing and licences for forestry, mining and construction.

The legislation is complex, involving distinct negotiations with more than 200 First Nations and the dismantling of a system built to protect industrial profits over any other interest.

"We're building a plane while flying it," said Terry Teegee, chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations and chair of BC's UNDRIP implementation committee. "It's unique to anywhere in the world."

"It's path-breaking," agreed Sheryl Lightfoot, an Anishinaabe scholar and member of the UN expert mechanism on the rights of Indigenous peoples. "What we see in BC is such a deliberate, intentional approach to implement the declaration," Lightfoot said. "We've all been calling for member states to do [similar] legislation."