Huu-ay-aht First Nation Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORT ALBERNI, BRITISH COLUMBIA – In another major court victory for First Nations, the Huu-ay-aht First Nation (HFN) have received a decision from the Supreme Court of British Columbia which holds that the BC Ministry of Forests program designed to address aboriginal interests on forestry matters fails to meet the Province’s constitutional duty to First Nations.

The Province had established a program of resource and revenue sharing based upon First Nations’ population. The program, called the “Forest and Range Agreement Program”, did not consider a First Nation’s claim to territory or the extent of forestry operations within that territory.

“To fail to consider at all the strength of the claim or degree of infringement represents a complete failure of consultation based on the criteria that are constitutionally required for meaningful consultation. While a population-based approach may be a quick and easy response to the duty to accommodate, it fails to take into account the individual nature of the HFN claim…The government acted incorrectly and must begin anew a proper consultation process based upon consideration of appropriate criteria.”

The decision is the result of a challenge to provincial policy brought by the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, whose traditional territory is located on the western coast of Vancouver Island. The Huu-ay-aht territory includes some of the richest veins of timber in the country, and from 1940 until present, over 40 million cubic metres of timber has been logged from the area. The logging has claimed a majority of the old growth forest in the territory. The main logging company operating in the territory is Weyerhaeuser (previously MacMillan Bloedel). The Huu-ay-aht have been in negotiations with the Province seeking an agreement that will assist the Huu-ay-aht to participate in the forest economy within its own territory.

“This ruling is an important victory for our people. For decades we have watched the timber and revenue flow out of our territory, while our people received few benefits and our land has been decimated.” said Chief Robert Dennis of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, following the Court’s seminal decision. “The Court has now told the Provincial government that it must share resources in proportion to what we are losing from our territory. The Province and the logging operators can no longer pretend we don’t exist. They can no longer carry on business as usual.”

The Court characterized the Province’s conduct towards the Huu-ay-aht as “intransigent” and found that the government failed to accord the Huu-ay-aht the honourable treatment that the Crown is constitutionally obligated to provide to aboriginal people.