In what chief negotiator Robert Morales is calling a 鈥渟ignificant step鈥� the Hul鈥檘umi鈥檔um Treaty Group (HTG) on Vancouver Island announced Wednesday that the documents have been signed to move to Stage 5 鈥� the 鈥渇inal agreement鈥� step of BC Treaty Negotiations.

The move comes after nearly 20 years stalled at Stage 4. The Treaty Group represents the First Nations of the Cowichan Valley area.

鈥淭he B.C. Treaty process, when it was established in 鈥�93, developed six stages and the first three stages were fairly quick, but Stage 4 was the 鈥榓greement in principal鈥� stage and that鈥檚 where we鈥檝e been stuck for 20 years now,鈥� explained Morales. 鈥淢oving into a 鈥榝inal agreement鈥� stage means that we鈥檙e able to negotiate to enter into what I would term 鈥榬eal鈥� negotiation. We鈥檙e no longer talking about what might be, we鈥檙e now developing the final agreement, final treaty language and dealing with a lot of the issues we鈥檝e had in the past. It鈥檚 a significant step in the overall treaty process to be able to enter into the final treaty discussions and negotiations.鈥�

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Though it鈥檚 taken two decades to arrive at this point, Morales believes the process will now move forward more swiftly.

鈥淲e set a goal of four years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the transition document itself there are a number of commitments that are made by the two levels of government [federal and provincial] and the HTG and their member nations.鈥�

Also, the set of guiding principals created for moving forward 鈥渋s a vast improvement鈥� over the way negotiations have been conducted up to this point, Morales noted.

鈥淭he new policy is a very significant improvement and a policy agreed to by both Canada and B.C.,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he transition document makes reference to a number of different commitments by Canada and B.C. that really set the stage for the final agreement negotiations. If we鈥檙e able to implement all of that, I think it speaks to being able to move much more quickly.鈥�

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Morales credits the willingness of both the federal and provincial governments to work with the HTG for being able to escape Stage 4.

鈥淲e have for the first time some fairly congruent positions between the federal Liberal party and the (B.C.) NDP party so that made it a lot easier in terms of both levels of government being more agreeable to moving forward,鈥� he said.

As well, the member nations of the HTG (Cowichan Tribes, Halalt First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, Lyackson First Nation and the Ts鈥檜ubaa-asatx (Lake Cowichan First Nations) are all in support of moving forward so the time that would have been spent on community votes was saved.

The communities will have to vote on ratification of the final agreement eventually.

Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett said 鈥渢his new relationship is based on a recognition of rights. A rights recognition approach explicitly recognizes that Aboriginal rights are inherent and will not be extinguished or surrendered, and seeks to build a collaborative government-to-government relationship that is flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances over time.鈥�

Cowichan Tribes is the largest band in B.C. with more than 5,000 members.

鈥淎fter being in the treaty negotiation since 1993, this is a major step forward for our Hul鈥檘umi鈥檔um Nations,鈥� said Cowichan Chief William Seymour.

Other member First Nations chiefs agreed.

Chief Georgina Livingstone (Ts鈥檜ubaa-asatx [Lake Cowichan] First Nation) stated that she looks forward to continuing the work.

Chief Joan Brown of Penelakut Tribe said 鈥淭his signing represents an important step in the reconciliation process and hopes it is the beginning of a strong, respectful relationship in the future.鈥�

Chief Richard Thomas (Lyackson First Nation) said he 鈥渨as overwhelmed by the length of time it has taken to get here.鈥�

Chief Robert Thomas (Halalt First Nation) said 鈥淲e never relinquished our title to the land and that this treaty is for our future generations of children and grandchildren.鈥�

Morales, too, is pleased with the milestone and looks forward to the work ahead.

鈥淚t all speaks to a very much improved relationship between Canada, B.C., and First Nations.鈥�

sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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