Treaty Talks in British Columbia: Negotiating a Mutually Beneficial Future. 2nd ed.

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

The treaty process in British Columbia began, for the most part, just 10
years ago. The first edition of Christopher McKee’s analysis of the
treaty process was published in 1996. This second edition provides a
snapshot of what has been accomplished in the past five years, showing
us the limitations of treaty making in its current incarnation.

A significant part of the content (five out of the book’s six
chapters) is unchanged from the first edition and is devoted to
providing an overview of the mechanics of the treaty-making process—an
overview of the issues to be negotiated, a description of the various
stages of the process leading to interim and final agreements, and a
discussion of the provisions for the payment of the costs incurred by
First Nations participating in the process.

The new chapter is in many ways the most interesting part of the book
largely because it serves to point out how the process has failed to
deliver on its promises. It gives a brief overview of the only treaty
that has been concluded in British Columbia in 100 years (the Nisga’a
Final Agreement)—a treaty that was begun and concluded outside the
very treaty process described in this book. The chapter also discusses
the 1997 Delgamuukw case, the landmark decision of the Supreme Court of
Canada that recognized the rights of First Nations to the ownership and
control of resources on their traditional territories. One of the chief
demands of First Nations participating in treaty negotiations in British
Columbia has been that governments implement the Delgamuukw decision and
stop the exploitation of resources on lands subject to negotiation. By
failing to implement interim protective measures—measures explicitly
provided for by the treaty process—and allowing “business as
usual” on Native lands, the province has significantly undermined
confidence in the process.

Although the book provides a concise summary of the issues involved in
the treaty process, it fails to address the all-too-apparent limitations
that 10 years of negotiations have revealed. The author concludes that
the modern process of treaty-making in British Columbia has been a
worthwhile process; the lack of progress evidenced by a comparison of
the first and second editions of this book does not substantiate his
optimism.