Mon Jul 30, 12:51 AM
Canadian Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. (CP) - The Huu-ay-aht First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island voted 90 per cent in favour of the Maa-nulth Treaty in a vote on Saturday.
The document was initialled last December by the Maa-nulth First Nations - made up of five first nations including the Huu-ay-aht - the province of British Columbia and the federal government.
The treaty will grant the Huu-ay-aht self-government, land and cash as well as access to fisheries, forestry and other economic opportunities valued at $145 million.
Of the 303 eligible Huu-ay-aht voters who voted, 272 approved the treaty.
Huu-ay-aht voters also approved the transfer of band assets to the new Huu-ay-aht government.
The First Nation recently completed and ratified its community constitution.
The treaty is expected to take effect in 2010 once the other four Maa-nulth Nations hold their votes - expected this October - and approve the treaty. That will be followed by votes in the B.C. Legislature and in Parliament.
Hereditary Chief Spencer Peters said the treaty's approval means the band members can be restored their rightful place within Canada as a strong, healthy and prosperous people.
"I only wish that my father, grandfather, and great-great-grandfather could have been here to witness and celebrate this day," he said.
Chief Councillor Robert Dennis said the treaty team worked hard to inform band members about the intricacies of the treaty.
"Once again our people have exercised their democratic right to vote and have given the treaty a resounding vote of confidence. We can now focus our energy and resources on using the tools in the treaty to make the dreams and aspirations of our people a reality," he said in a news release.
"This has been a tough struggle, involving 13 years of negotiation in the community. The Huu-ay-aht people told us what they wanted in the treaty, the mandate was very clear. This is a made-in-Huu-ay-aht treaty," he added.
Until last week, the province had yet to ratify any agreement under its more than century-old treaty process.
The ratification of the Maa-nulth treaty by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations comes after Tsawwassen First Nation members last week voted 72 per cent in favour of accepting B.C.'s first urban treaty.
Tsawwassen Chief Kim Baird said the treaty makes her members equal for the first time because - along with the 724 hectares of land, $35 million dollars in cash and a salmon allocation - it includes a position on the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
The outcome of the Tsawwassen vote was a relief to Premier Gordon Campbell, who believes it will create some momentum in a treaty process that was in danger of collapse if another band had rejected a tentative deal .
Campbell was equally happy to heear the results of the Huu-ay-aht vote.
"It's great because they decided it's what they wanted," he said. "I think that's what's critcal."
Michael de Jong, the minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, said he hoped the other four Maa-nulth First Nations will embrace the final agreement when they vote this fall.
"This has been a remarkable week for British Columbia's treaty process with two First Nations communities voting in favour of a modern-day treaty," de Jong said.
The story wasn't quite the same in March when the Lheidli Tenneh First Nation in northern B.C. rejected a proposed land claim settlement by a margin of 53 per cent.
That deal had been touted as the first completed final agreement in the B.C. Treaty Commission process.
The agreement would have awarded the band about $13 million and 4,000 hectares of land in addition to rights on fisheries, governance and natural resources.
If it had won band approval, the treaty would have moved forward to the provincial and federal governments for approval.
Campbell said each first nation had the freedom to choose what method of governance worked for them.
Eric Denhoff has spent close to a decade as the chief federal negotiator on treaties in the region.
He says the vote leaves no doubt about the level of support for the treaty among the Huu-ay-aht.
"There were tears in the eyes of the chiefs (as it became evident the vote would pass)," he said. "They were very emotional."
Federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Jim Prentice said the treaty will bring certainty to Huu-ay-aht's rights to use, own and manage the lands and resources throughout its claimed traditional territory.
But, he said, before the final agreement can become a constitutionally protected treaty, each of the remaining four Maa-nulth First Nations must vote on the Agreement.
If approved by all of the Maa-nulth First Nations, the Agreement will then be subject to ratification in the provincial legislature and Parliament.
"This is a significant achievement for the Huu-ay-aht community and a positive development for the British Columbia treaty process in general," Prentice said. "The vote clearly shows that the best way to resolve historical rights and title issues is through co-operative negotiations."