{"id":696539,"date":"2026-05-27T06:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/696539\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T06:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:16:26","slug":"b-c-first-nation-wants-treaty-process-paused-or-they-could-exercise-civil-disobedience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/696539\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. First Nation wants treaty process paused or they could exercise civil disobedience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation<\/a> marched through the streets of Campbell River, B.C., recently, warning that they are prepared to escalate their fight.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe really want to avoid any kind of social disruption, blockades, things of that nature, but they just felt like we\u2019ve been continuously disrespected and ignored,\u201d Chief Chris Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Last month, the province introduced Bill 20, the K\u2019\u00f3moks Treaty Act<\/a>, which would see more than 3,400 hectares of land become K\u2019\u00f3moks Treaty Land with an option for the Nation to purchase an additional 1,592 hectares from the B.C. government over time.<\/p>\n

But the neighbouring Wei Wai Kum First Nation is calling for a pause, saying the treaty covers roughly 80 per cent of its own traditional territory.<\/p>\n

Despite raising concerns, though, there has been no resolution.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe want to elevate the awareness of it and bring it to the attention of the government and to the residents of British Columbia,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the First Nation sent formal notices of their intent to exercise civil disobedience to government and commercial entities operating within Ligwi\u0142da\u2019xw Territory, including those related to BC Hydro Dams in the Campbell River watershed, users of the Island Highway, marine terminals and Seymour Narrows.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe really do not want to disrupt traffic. There are cruise ships going through there almost daily in the season, and so it\u2019s really just a matter of let\u2019s not have to do that and let\u2019s resolve this civilly,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBC tables the K\u2019\u00f3moks Treaty Act\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In a statement, the K\u2019\u00f3moks First Nation said it is \u201ccommitted to respectful dialogue and believes disagreements between nations should be addressed through constructive discussions and established processes, not public disruption.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

B.C.\u2019s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeaceful protest, I think, is one thing. Threatening blockades that could cause people\u2019s livelihoods, their ability to get to work and so on, I don\u2019t think is supportable,\u201d Spencer Chandra Herbert said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
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\u201cWe\u2019ll continue to engage with Wei Wai Kum First Nations. We understand their concerns. We\u2019ve been in consistent consultation. I\u2019ve spoken with the chief numerous times. We will continue to do the outreach to hear their concerns and my understanding is Comox Nation is working directly with Wei Wai Kum Nation on a nation-to-nation basis, which is completely appropriate for these kinds of conversations, and we\u2019ll continue to support that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the treaty passes at the provincial ratification stage, Roberts said it will be difficult to make any changes.<\/p>\n

By then, talks might not be the only thing at a standstill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time pressure here is critical,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s that last-ditch plea to say, \u2018Please listen to the concerns we\u2019ve brought forward, please pay attention to the proposal that we\u2019ve made,\u2019 because we firmly believe that if we commit to doing that work together, we will get to a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeorge Abbott of the BC Treaty Commission on the K\u2019\u00f3moks Treaty Act, the Kitselas Treaty Act, and next steps\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation marched through the streets of Campbell River, B.C., recently, warning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,254049,44,41685,714,254050],"class_list":["post-696539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-komoks-treaty-act","tag-news","tag-perspectives","tag-politics","tag-wei-wai-kum-first-nation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696539","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=696539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}