Vaughn Palmer: In refusing promised compensation, NDP likely acted our of a fear of setting precedents for its secretive plans for Crown land
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Published Jun 28, 2024 • 4 minute read
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VICTORIA — While B.C. marked the 10th anniversary of the Tsilhqot’in Aboriginal title case this week, there was grim news for guide outfitters whose livelihoods were put at risk by the landmark court decision.
A group of five outfitters lost access to key hunting grounds when the Supreme Court of Canada recognized Tsilhqot’in title over substantial tracts of Crown land in the Chilcotin plateau.
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The five have waited for years to be compensated for the effective loss of their provincially granted guide outfitting tenures. But in the past week they learned that the provincial government had turned down a recommended compensation package for the second time.
Doug McMann, owner of Skinner Creek Hunts with his wife Julie, got the devastating news in a phone call from a provincial official.
“I’m 55 years old and, honestly, we’re going broke,” McMann told Rob Shaw of the Northern Beat online news service.
“We’ve sucked this up for years and watched our savings go out the door every year with the province (saying) we are going to make you whole. In the name of reconciliation, we are losing our livelihoods and losing our businesses and savings.”
McMann wasn’t disputing the court decision or its consequences in terms of the land transfer.
“I don’t want to give the impression that we are blaming the First Nation, it’s the furthest thing from the truth,” he told the reporter. “The land has been declared title for them. It’s theirs. They need reparations and funding. But holy Christ, man, why should I lose everything I’ve got?”
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The cost of reconciliation ought to be borne by all Canadians, “not just the five of us,” said McMann.
News of the turndown drew a combination of dismay and outrage from the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C.
“Our issue is that in this path of reconciliation the intent is good, the execution is terrible,” said CEO Scott Ellis. “Reconciliation is broken because you’ve got casualties in the process. There should not be expendable businesses and expendable communities and expendable people.”
Like McMann, he didn’t blame Indigenous nations for exercising rights won in court. Rather he pointed at the province.
“Premier Eby needs to do the right thing. These are provincial tenures and the NDP has chosen to abandon small, multi-generational family businesses.”
For McCann, the most galling aspect of the decision was the sense of betrayal. He’d worked with the province for years on the compensation, always giving it the benefit of the doubt.
“When the government says it has a moral obligation to make things whole, I actually believed it. I’ve given them all the chances in the world to make things right.”
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Then, after years of appraisals and negotiations, came last week’s call. The treasury board branch of the Ministry of Finance had denied a compensation package recommended by the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.
“The assistant deputy minister phoned me,” said McMann. “She said, ‘I don’t know what to say, we thought this was going through, I’m so sorry.’”
In response to the fallout, the New Democrats said as little as possible.
“The province does not comment on the treasury board process as it is confidential,” said the ministry in a statement to Northern Beat. In a separate statement, Lands Minister Nathan Cullen discounted the significance of the turndown.
The government remains committed to “work on opportunities to support Tsilhqot’in acquisition of lands or businesses in the declared title area on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis,” he claimed.
“It must be acknowledged that the way title was decided — through the courts — left many complex legal and practical questions unresolved.”
Nor are the New Democrats in any rush to sort out those complexities, never mind that the decision was 10 years ago and they have been in government for seven of those years.
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The government’s refusal to discuss the matter invites speculation. And the treasury board rejection provides a strong clue as to what is happening behind the scenes.
The compensation for the five guide outfitters has been estimated at a few million dollars. The amount could have been covered easily out of the almost $4 billion set aside in this year’s budget for unallocated contingencies.
More likely the recommendation was turned down over concerns about the precedent that would be set by compensating this group of claimants.
Earlier this year, Cullen was forced to back away from a plan to legislate co-management of Crown land and resources with the province’s 200 First Nations.
The New Democrats have lately signalled a willingness to recognize Aboriginal title over much larger tracts of what is now Crown land than have ever been recognized by the courts.
Both drives are expected to continue if the David Eby government is re-elected. Both would have significant impacts on existing tenures over Crown land, and all that could entail in compensation claims from tenure holders.
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Not likely will the New Democrats discuss those implications before the election.
But if they are able to continue on this course, McMann and his fellow guide outfitters won’t be the only victims of the NDP’s secretive plans for Crown land and resources.
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting Blog 