ESQUIMALT, B.C. — After two decades of negotiations, five Vancouver Island First Nations have signed an agreement-in-principle on a treaty that would include land and cash.
Hundreds of people gathered on the traditional lands of the Victoria-area Songhees First Nation to witness the signing ceremony on Thursday.
The Te'mexw (tah-muck) Treaty Association, representing the five southern Vancouver Island First Nations, reached the agreement that includes provisions to provide 1,565 hectares of Crown land and about $142 million once a final agreement is reached.
Such agreements set out the aims and goals of legally-binding final agreements.
The agreement-in-principle also covers issues of taxation, lands and sets out tools for governance.
Robert Phillips, of the First Nations Summit, says despite recent concerns around the treaty-making process, this agreement is a clear signal to all other First Nations sitting at the negotiating table that progress is possible.
