B.C. treaty negotiation process looks to speed up agreements, set deadlines
VICTORIA — The slow pace of land-claim treaty talks in British Columbia is about to get a kickstart with a series of reforms to speed up negotiations and produce more deals.
Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister John Rustad said Tuesday that an agreement between B.C., the federal government and the First Nations Summit, which represents most B.C. First Nations, sets the groundwork for smoother methods to negotiate more treaties in less time.
Rustad said new approaches to reach more deals quicker were needed to reinvigorate modern-day treaty talks that have yielded only seven final agreements in B.C. in 23 years.
“If we were to carry on at this pace of one treaty every three years, it would be 600 years of negotiations, which is just completely unacceptable,” he said. “These recommendations will help, and I’m hopeful they will spark some innovation.”