{"id":514920,"date":"2026-03-05T01:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514920\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T01:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:31:08","slug":"musqueam-deal-will-challenge-overlapping-indigenous-claims-across-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514920\/","title":{"rendered":"Musqueam deal will challenge overlapping Indigenous claims across Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

People toss roses into the Fraser River to mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirited people, at the Musqueam Nation in Vancouver.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The Musqueam First Nation\u2019s agreement with Ottawa to advance the nation\u2019s rights and title over an area that spans the western half of Greater Vancouver will force Canada to grapple with overlapping Indigenous<\/a> claims, the boundaries of civic governance, and the principles of co-operative federalism.<\/p>\n

The deal acknowledges the existence of constitutionally protected Aboriginal title and creates a framework to implement Musqueam\u2019s rights and title in their traditional territory. It is accompanied by two other agreements that create a framework for shared decision-making over fisheries, marine stewardship and land use. Just where that title will be recognized, and what rights will be affirmed, are yet to be negotiated. <\/p>\n

Overlapping land claims<\/p>\n

The Musqueam\u2019s traditional territory has overlapping and shared territories with its First Nation<\/a> neighbours, the Kwikwetlem, Squamish, Tsawwassen and Tsleil-Waututh, according to the BC Treaty Commission. A BC Supreme Court ruling last August adds Vancouver Island\u2019s Cowichan Tribes to the list. The court awarded Aboriginal title to the Cowichan for a portion of the city of Richmond. The Musqueam are appealing that decision.<\/p>\n

The agreement between the Musqueam and Ottawa on Feb. 20 says the pact does not recognize any rights and title for any Aboriginal people other than Musqueam, and does not affect any rights and title of other nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada would also fulfill its duty to consult with neighbouring First Nations, if required,\u201d Pascal Laplante, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s deal with Musqueam First Nation raises alarm about property rights in Vancouver area<\/a><\/p>\n

But the chair of the Squamish Nation Council, Sxw\u00edxwtn (Wilson Williams), said his nation is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d that Musqueam may be negotiating for lands that fall within Squamish traditional territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us be clear: The Squamish Nation government will defend and uphold our inherent Aboriginal rights and title. Any implication that another Nation\u2019s agreement could extend into Squamish Territory will be challenged,\u201d Mr. Williams said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSquamish Nation was not consulted or meaningfully engaged by the federal government prior to the announcement of these agreements. We have formally requested an urgent meeting with federal officials to obtain full transparency on the agreements, including their scope, intent and any implications for our territory and interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Municipalities concerned<\/p>\n

The Musqueam\u2019s traditional territories span approximately 533,000 hectares, including much of modern-day Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Delta.<\/p>\n

The city of Richmond is already embroiled in a legal challenge to the Cowichan decision, which declared Aboriginal title over a parcel of land in the southeast of the city. The judgment also established a precedent that Aboriginal title is a \u201cprior and senior right\u201d to land, over and above the \u201cfee simple\u201d title that private landholders have.<\/p>\n

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said Wednesday he is alarmed that the federal government has negotiated in secret with the Musqueam, adding another layer of uncertainty for residents and businesses in his city.<\/p>\n

Cowichan decision leads to another claim on private lands in B.C.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were completely taken by surprise,\u201d he said in an interview. The mayor will be asking for another meeting with Rebecca Alty, federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who recently sat in his office to discuss Cowichan but gave no hint that there was a deal with Musqueam in the works.<\/p>\n

As a former lawyer, Mr. Brodie said the agreement itself is \u201cbewildering.\u201d Although it runs 30 pages, the objectives and parameters are ambiguous, he said. Both Ottawa and Musqueam say private land is not on the table, but that is not spelled out in the terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cReconciliation has to be an open process and transparent and accountable process, and it also has to exclude private property and so I\u2019m looking forward to the parties putting it in writing,\u201d Mr. Brodie said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Co-operative federalism\u2019 without the province<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s rights recognition agreement with Musqueam promises to work out specifics through an \u201congoing process that will be pursued through a nation-to-nation relationship between Musqueam and Canada where future phases are aligned in the spirit of co-operative federalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

That spirit of collaboration between the federal and provincial government has not been a feature of negotiations to date.<\/p>\n

B.C. Premier David Eby said he was invited to the signing ceremony by the chief of the Musqueam but was not provided with a text of the agreement and is still waiting for a briefing from Ottawa two weeks after the deal was signed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received no briefings about the content of this agreement, no heads-up from the federal government,\u201d Mr. Eby told the legislature during Question Period on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

However he said the work of reconciliation is important: \u201cI look forward to learning more about what the federal government\u2019s been doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: People toss roses into the Fraser River to mark the National Day of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,1008],"class_list":{"0":"post-514920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pleasemod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}