Sliammon
Profile
Ancestry: Coast
Salish
Population: Approximately
870 with 600 resident on Sliammon Indian Reserves.
Location: Near
the City of Powell River, approximately 100 kilometers northwest of
Vancouver.
Size: The
Statement of Intent map covers approximately 614,000 hectares of
which 334,000 hectares is land and the remaining area is
water.
The Sliammon First Nation, the Government of
Canada and the Government of British Columbia began meetings in May
1994 when Sliammon entered the BC treaty process.
January 1996, the BC
Treaty Commission declared the table ready to negotiate a framework
agreement. The framework agreement lists the subjects to be
negotiated. It includes such topics as self-
government, lands, resources, environmental issues, taxation and
financial arrangements.
The signing of the framework agreement in May 1996
completed the procedural phase of the negotiations. The three
parties then moved into the agreement-in-principle phase of the
treaty talks. In this phase, the negotiators work through each of
the subjects with the objective of achieving a series of
sub-agreements which will form the
agreement-in-principle.
The agreement-in-principle then becomes the basis
for negotiating the final agreement which, when ratified by all
three parties, will be the treaty.
The treaty will contain a section on natural
resources which include water, forests, fish, subsurface resources
and wildlife. The intent of the negotiations is to define Sliammon's
aboriginal right to various natural resources.
Land is a component in the treaty negotiations
because the Sliammon never gave up their rights or title to their
traditional territory (Rocha, 2000).
Aboriginal Rights Court
Decision
1990
The Supreme Court
of Canada rules (Sparrow v.
The Queen) that Section 35 of the Constitution Act provides "a
strong measure of protection" for Aboriginal rights. The Court
further rules that aboriginal and treaty rights are capable of
evolving over time and must be interpreted in a generous and liberal
manner. The Court also rules that governments may regulate existing
aboriginal management of resources and that after conservation goals
are met, Aboriginal people must be given priority to fish for food
over other user groups (Ministry of Aboriginal
Affairs).
Sliammon
Agreement-in-Principle Summary
Here I only focus on the portions of the AiP
that are applicable to the management and rights to
fishing.
The fallowing is from the Sliammon AiP
(Ministry of Aboriginal
Affairs).
General
Provisions:
The
agreement-in-principle is not the Final Agreement; it is not legally
binding; it is the basis for negotiating the Final Agreement.
The Final
Agreement will not change the Constitution of Canada.
The Final
Agreement will be a treaty and land claims agreement.
Federal and
provincial laws and the Charter of Rights will apply to Sliammon.
Once the treaty
comes into effect, the Indian Act will not apply to Sliammon and
there will be no Sliammon Indian Reserves.
The precise legal
technique for achieving certainty will be agreed upon at Final
Agreement.
The Final
Agreement will be a full and final settlement that will
comprehensively set out Sliammon rights.
Fisheries:
Domestic Fishery
Sliammon will
have a right to harvest fish and aquatic plants for domestic (food,
social or ceremonial) purposes, subject to conservation, public
health and public safety; this right will be implemented through a
Sliammon fish licence.
Salmon
allocations for domestic purposes are set out for sockeye, pink,
chum and coho; a chinook allocation will be set out in Final
Agreement; non-salmon allocations may be set out at Final Agreement.
Sliammon will
have law-making authority with respect to management of its own
fishery.
The Minister will
retain authority to manage and conserve fish, aquatic plants and
fish habitat.
A Joint Fisheries
Committee will be established to facilitate cooperative planning and
to provide advice to the Minister.
Sliammon will
produce an Annual Fish Plan for the management of its fishery.
A Treaty-Related
Measure will be arranged to test provisions of the AIP relating to
the Joint Fisheries Committee, Harvest Agreement, Fishing Plan and
licensing prior to final agreement.
A one time
payment, to be set out in the Final Agreement, will be made to
Sliammon for a Fisheries Enhancement and Stewardship Fund.
Sliammon vote No
On November 22, 2001 the Sliammon
First Nation voted on the Agreement in Principle, stage five of six
in the land claims treaty process. Six years of negotiations and
100-200 years of the Sliammon Nation being deprived access to their
resources came down to a vote. The results were 51% to 49% against the Agreement in Principal
(AIP). The treaty making process is not a process the Sliammon First
Nation entered into blindly. In 1995, the community held a
referendum to get approval from its citizen’s to enter the process
and proceed with negotiating a treaty on their behalf. The
referendum resulted in an overwhelming declaration of support of
almost 90% Yes. From there, the Treaty team worked with the
community in developing a vision for the future, which was
incorporated into and guided the creation of the AIP (Sliammon Treaty
Society).
