B.C. lure rejected by Haida

Council president describes government’s Offer of Queen Charlotte land as ‘mischief-making’

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent

The British Columbia government has collided with a formidable roadblock in its campaign to establish a functioning offshore oil and natural gas industry by 2010.

The Haida Nation has emphatically spurned the province’s offer of 20 percent of the Queen Charlotte Islands, or 440,000 acres, as a land claim settlement in return for the Haida suspending legal action to gain control of the islands and surrounding water.

Attorney General Geoff Plant said his government was not prepared to increase its offer and indicated it was ready to take a tougher line if the Haida rejected the province’s attempt to settle the land dispute.

Plant said the government was ready to impose its authority to make land-use decisions in the Queen Charlottes, where the Haida have prevented logging activities since 1995 when formal land treaty talks were suspended by the Haida, British Columbia and the Canadian government.

He said the 440,000 acres included natural resources that could be used by the Haida for economic development, but the Haida have insisted the land is too environmentally sensitive to exploit.

“Mischief-making and political posturing,” was how the government’s offer was described by Guujaaw (his full name), president of the Council of the Haida Nation.

He said the government was “clearly trying to provoke something” by making offers without any discussion.

The Haida are “really being told to surrender 80 percent of the Haida claims,” Guujaaw said.

Queen Charlotte basin key to offshore development

With the British Columbia government on the brink of recession after years of watching its lumber, fishing and mining sectors crumble, offshore oil and gas development is seen as one of the best hopes of generating jobs and revenues.

But the 6,000 Haida have resisted attempts to entice them back to treaty negotiations after the 1995 breakdown when the three parties had reached the “readiness to negotiate” phase.

In early 1999, the Haida said they were fed up with the way they were being treated by the two governments and were turning to the courts for a resolution of their unprecedented claim to the seabed as well as the land.

In a claim launched in British Columbia Supreme Court last year, the Haida said the “defendants” — B.C. and Canada — have “unlawfully occupied and exploited the resources of Haida Gwaii (the title they prefer) and interfered with the culture and livelihood of the Haida Nation.”

The statement accuses the “defendants” of trespassing, appropriating lands and resources, collecting taxes, conveying land to third parties and failing to protect and manage resources.”

The Haida have demanded compensation for “unlawful occupation and appropriation,” damages for trespass and damages for unlawful interference with the Haida use and enjoyment of the land.

The court is also asked to quash all forestry, mineral and fishing leases and, if necessary, eject those tenure-holders.

Meanwhile, there is no sign yet of progress on the federal front, despite a pledge made in March by Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal that his government would decide this year whether to lift its 1972 moratorium on offshore exploration — a commitment that has been flatly dismissed by Dhaliwal’s colleague, Environment Minister David Anderson.

As part of its go-it-alone strategy, British Columbia announced in June that it intends to award exploration permits in 2004 and approve seismic surveys for early 2005.