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TheBritish Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is aland claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguishedindigenous rights, withBritish Columbia'sFirst Nations.

Three treaties have been implemented under the BCTP.^[1] TheNisga'a Final Agreement is considered separate from the Treaty Process because those negotiations began before the BC treaty process was started, and it has been called a blueprint for the current process. To represent the interests of First Nations involved with the process, theFirst Nations Summit was created. There are officially 60% of First Nations bands in the process, but only 20% are said to be making progress. About 40% of First Nations are not involved in the treaty process.

Because theRoyal Proclamation of 1763 stated that the Crown must negotiate and sign treaties with the Indigenous people before land could be ceded to a colony, theNumbered Treaties were negotiated in most parts of thePrairie Provinces. The Government of theColony of British Columbia, however, failed to negotiate many treaties and as a result, most of the province's land is not covered by treaties. The few exceptions are the 14Douglas Treaties onVancouver Island,Treaty 8 (1899) in the Northeast of B.C., and the 2000Nisgaʼa Final Agreement.

Relations between Indigenous peoples and the B.C. government worsened over time, as theMcKenna–McBride Royal Commission led to the redistribution of reserve lands and theAllied Tribes of British Columbia was essentially dissolved by an amendment to theIndian Act. First Nations were not allowed to organize or raise money to pursue land claims. In the second half of the 20th century, demands for the recognition ofAboriginal title were buoyed by various court decisions in B.C., includingCalder v British Columbia (AG) andR v Sparrow.

In 1990, the governments of Canada, B.C. and First Nations established the B.C. Claims Task Force^[2] to investigate how treaty negotiations might begin and what they should cover. The following year, the provincial government accepted the concept of Aboriginal rights (including the inherent right to self-government) as official policy. The Claims Task Force made 19 recommendations and suggested a six-stage process for negotiating new treaties.

The British Columbia Treaty Commission is the independent body which oversees the treaty process. B.C. treaty commissioners were first appointed in April 1993, and the treaty process officially began in December 1993. By 1996, 47 First Nations, representing more than 60% ofstatus Indians in B.C., had decided to participate. After a few years of negotiations, the Treaty Commission released the1997 Systems Overload Report which argued that the provincial and federal governments needed to increase their financial resources and the capacity level of First Nations for the negotiation of treaties in BC.

The following year, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision onDelgamuukw v British Columbia, recognizing Aboriginal title as "a right to the land itself", which derives from First Nations original occupation and possession at the time the Crown asserted sovereignty. The court also stated that the federal and provincial governments may infringe upon Aboriginal title under conditions for justification but that fair compensation would be due at the time of such an infringement.

Sechelt First Nation was the first community to sign an agreement-in-principle (AIP) in 1999. Members of theSliammon First Nation (Tlaʼamin First Nation) voted to reject their negotiated AIP in 2001, but then approved the AiP in June 2003. Tlaʼamin Nation later ratified a final agreement with BC & Canada in 2012, which is in effect as of 2016.^[3] Six of 12 member nations of theNuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council likewise rejected their AIP. The five Maa-nulth First Nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth ratified their treaty in October 2007. The BC government has ratified the final agreement which is yet to be ratified in the federal parliament. Ditidaht First Nation has subsequently taken legal action against the Maa-nulth in a dispute over land and resource ownership.

In 2002, the governingBC Liberal Party mailed out ballots for a provincialreferendum on principles for treaty negotiations. However, the referendum failed due to controversy over its phrasing and logistics, which generated protests and a boycott.^[4]

In May 1993 the Treaty Commission allocated approximatelyCA$432 million in negotiation support funding to more than 50 First Nations: $345.6 million in the form of loans and $86.4 million in the form of contributions.^[5] Of that money the Treaty Commission's total operating costs from 1993 to March 31, 2009, spent $34.2 million.^[5] One successfully negotiated treaty was rejected, by theLheidli Tʼenneh First Nation, in 2007.

In July 2007, theTsawwassen First Nation members voted 70% in favour of the treaty. The treaty more than doubled the size of the Tsawwassen reserve, provided a one-time capital transfer ofCA$13.9 million, $2 million for relinquishing mineral rights under English Bluff, $13.5 million for startup and transition costs, $7.3 million for a number of funds for the purposes of resource management and economic development and $2.6 annually for ongoing programs and services, and reserves a portion of theFraser River salmon catch to the Tsawwassen. In return, the Tsawwassen abandoned other land claims and will eventually^[when?] pay taxes.

TheTemexw Treaty Association, whose members are signatories to the Douglas Treaties, is also attempting to negotiate within the BC Treaty Process.

A November 2007 court ruling for theXeni Gwetʼin First Nation called future participation in the process into question. The judge's ruling included a non-binding opinion that theXeni Gwetʼin could demonstrate Aboriginal title to half of theNemaiah Valley, and that the province had no power over these lands.^[6] Under the BC treaty process, negotiating nations have received 5% of their claimed land recognized. Grand ChiefStewart Phillip, president of theUnion of B.C. Indian Chiefs, called the court ruling a "nail in the coffin" of the B.C. treaty process.^[6] Notwithstanding such legal rulings (sustained later in the 2015 Supreme Court of Canada decision,Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia), the BC Treaty Process continues, as more than half of all First Nations in BC continue through the stages of the process. As of 2016, 4 Nations had completed and were implementing treaties; 7 were in Stage 5, and 42 were in Stage 4.^[7]

The treaty process is a six-stage negotiation between thefederal government, theprovincial government, andFirst Nations. A combination of contribution (grant) funding and loans are provided to First Nations on cost-share basis by the federal and provincial governments to support negotiation efforts.

The British Columbia Treaty Commission accepts First Nations into the process, allocates negotiation support funding and monitors the progress of negotiations.

The process:

• Stage 1: statement of intent to negotiate
• Stage 2: readiness to negotiate
• Stage 3: negotiation of a framework agreement
• Stage 4: negotiation of an agreement in principle
• Stage 5: negotiation to finalize a treaty
• Stage 6: implementation of the treaty

The voice of criticisms have come from different angles in Indigenous communities across British Columbia and Canada, and from the non-native society as well.^[8] About two-thirds of First Nations are not involved with the Treaty Process; some have formed the "Unity Protocol", calling for an overhaul of the entire process.

• Extinguishment ofAboriginal title
• Continued assimilation strategies
• Changing the Indigenous peoples from nations to municipal style government.

TheFraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, released a report in 2008 criticizing the B.C. Treaty Process as "incomplete, illiberal and expensive".^[9]

Several assessments of why the treaty process have been made to attempt to more effectively conclude modern-day treaties:

• a 2008 report by the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples,Honouring the Spirit of Modern Treaties: Closing the Loopholes^[10]
• former Campbell River Mayor, James Lornie's 2011 report,Final Report with Recommendations Regarding the Possibility of Accelerating Negotiations With Common Table First Nations that are in the BC Treaty Process, and Any Steps Required^[11]
• the Senate Standing Committee's 2012 final report,A Commitment Worth Preserving: Reviving the British Columbia Treaty Process^[12]
• the 2015 Doug Eyford report, commissioned by the federal MinisterBernard Valcourt,A New Direction: Advancing Aboriginal and Treaty Rights^[13]
• and the 2016Multilateral Engagement Process to Improve and Expedite Treaty Negotiations in British Columbia, prepared jointly by the Governments of Canada, BC, and the BCFirst Nations Summit.^[14]

All of these analyze chronic problems of the process such as lack of governmental commitment and the burden of loans taken out by First Nations to support their involvement in the unexpectedly long process of reaching final agreements.

• The Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples of Canada
• Status of First Nations treaties in British Columbia

• First Nations SummitArchived 10 January 2018 at theWayback Machine
• British Columbia Treaty Commission
• Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

• First Nations in British Columbia
• Aboriginal title in Canada
• Canadian Aboriginal and Indigenous law
• Aboriginal land councils
• Treaties of Indigenous peoples in Canada

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