Updated
The Canadian Press
The B.C. Treaty Commission was set up in 1993 to facilitate negotiations between governments and First Nations in
In the 15 years since the commission opened its doors, the Vancouver-area Tsawwassen First Nation became the first to have a fully ratified treaty when it ratified by Parliament earlier this year.
Another treaty with five
And the Nisga'a First Nation signed B.C.'s first modern-day treaty in 1999, though it wasn't part of the B.C. Treaty Commission process.
That leaves 56 First Nations still in the negotiation process, despite the $1.1 billion already spent by Ottawa, the provincial government and First Nations communities themselves, says the report by the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think-tank.
"It's money that has been spent without a tremendous amount to show for it," Mark Milke, author of the report, said in an interview.
Milke complained that even in cases where treaties have been reached or are nearing completion, they often call for further consultation and negotiation -- requiring a complicated bureaucracy and dragging on the process.
For example, the deal with the Tsawwassen First Nation gives the 300-member band more than 700 hectares of prime land in Delta, south of Vancouver, about $14 million in cash, self-government provisions and fishing rights.
Milke's report notes 38 instances in the agreement that call for further consultation.
"Many people may well be happy to spend more money to finalize treaties in the event that are actually final," he said.
"Much of what is being portrayed as final is not in fact final in the manner that it could be."
But Doug McArthur, a professor of public policy at
He said that while the treaties offer processes to settle issues that will arise further down the road, it's misleading to suggest there are substantial issues left unsettled.
"The treaties, by and large, do not set up the need for further negotiations down the road," said McArthur.
"They set up co-operative relationships, which mean there must be ongoing relationships between governments. But virtually all of those things are to simplify and make the relationship between First Nations and the governments work more effectively."
McArthur shared concerns about the length of the treaty process but he said there are several reasons it has taken so long.
First, it took several years for the process to be worked out before negotiations could begin, and talks were stalled several times due to major court cases and changes in governments.
And even when negotiations are actually happening, McArthur said it's not an easy decision for First Nations to sign treaties.
"These are really complex and difficult decisions to make," said McArthur. "They also see the treaties as replacing the historic and traditional rights and this gives them a great deal of cause for thought."
No one from the B.C. Treaty Commission was available to comment Monday.
The federal Department of Indian Affairs said it needed more time to review the report before responding, and a spokesperson for B.C.'s minister of aboriginal relations said he wasn't available.
The B.C. Treaty Commission says seven B.C. First Nations are in the final stage of reaching agreements, and another 42 are currently in the negotiating phase. Eight others are in earlier stages.
The report raises a number of other criticisms about the B.C. treaty process, including: how the value of land handed over to First Nations is recorded; the powers of self-governing communities to tax; voting rights for non-aboriginals living on treaty land; and what it calls a "race-based" commercial fishery that gives aboriginals special fishing rights on the Fraser River.