Between Justice and Certainty: Treaty Making in British Columbia

David Mardiros is a lawyer and anthropological consultant in Terrace,
British Columbia.

British Columbia is the only province where comprehensive treaties have
not been negotiated between First Nations and settler governments. Aside
from a small area of the northeast (which is covered by Treaty 8) and
some areas on Vancouver Island (where treaties were negotiated by
Governor Douglas in the mid-19th century), title, access to, and use of
the majority of the province’s landmass and resources has not, until
very recently, been a serious topic of discussion. As Andrew Woolford
shows in this comprehensive review of the social context and history of
modern treaty making, the colonial steamroller quite literally ignored
and prohibited demands for recognition of Aboriginal title until the
second half of the 20th century.

The majority of the book is devoted to a description of the lengthy
legal and political fight by First Nations and their supporters to get
the province to the bargaining table so that relationships to the land
and access to and control of resources could be discussed and defined.
In the book’s latter third, Woolford develops his thesis, arguing
convincingly that the B.C. treaty-making process, instituted as a result
of the legal and political recognition that has been afforded Aboriginal
interests through the courts, is compromised by a narrowness of vision.
The modern treaty process begun in the 1990s by the B.C. government has
focused on obtaining certainty and finality (certainty of title and
certainty of access to resources). First Nations, on the other hand,
have sought to reconcile and transform the relationship between them and
the Crown so that negotiation of the land and resource questions can do
justice to the perspectives and concerns of Aboriginal peoples. The
ongoing wrangling and negotiations described by Woolford demonstrate
that the process indeed suffers from a major disconnect and, as a
result, may not achieve the finality and certainty the government seeks.

While the historical sections of the book are readily accessible to a
general readership, the choice of language in the final third of the
volume is aimed more at an academic audience familiar with the language
of social and political theory. Nevertheless, the work will appeal to
all those wishing an overview and cogent discussion of issues that will
continue to vex all British Columbians and all Canadians for the
foreseeable future.