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Who will pay?

It is time to clarify whether Ottawa or BC will have to pick up the total tab for compensation. When BC came into Confederation in 1871, Term 13 of the Agreement provided that the "charge" of the Indians was a federal responsibility. Term 13 went on to say that the province, for its part, would continue to establish Indian reserves as it had begun to do in colonial times. This the province has done, so that today, out of a total of 2,323 reserves in Canada, over 1,600 of them are located in British Columbia.

We dealt with the native people in the early days differently than did Central Canada. Central Canada entered into treaties, the end result of which was to establish reserves, and to provide for some nominal annuities. What’s the difference? British Columbia established a great many reserves, but we are being castigated because we didn’t enter into treaties.

BC’s history is different from that of the rest of Canada, but the Supreme Court of Canada has totally ignored the historical context in this case. This is unfortunate, as Chief Justice McEachern and the Court of Appeal spent many, many scores of pages dealing with history in this case.

That BC performed its side of the bargain was acknowledged in 1924 by a federal government Order-in-Council, which stated that British Columbia had satisfied all of its obligations under Article 13 of our entry into Confederation by establishing the reserves. So if there is compensation to be paid, either on the basis of Delgamuukw, or under a legislative scheme such as the one I have proposed, I suggest that it is Ottawa’s responsibility alone. The province should seek a legal determination on the matter.

British Columbia is in a serious crisis because of the Delgamuukw decision. The land claims process is flawed. Each case cannot be settled by a separate court proceeding. It is time to seek new solutions. I have suggested the way to go about it: a statutory solution and clarification as to which government pays the bill.

Will it happen? It all depends on whether Ottawa and Victoria are prepared to show firm and courageous leadership, and whether British Columbians are prepared to demand it.

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Last Modified: August 23, 2000.