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Website Mission:
The Katzie Treaty Team
website will inform and educate its members and the general public on
its vital and historic treaty negotiations with Canada and British
Columbia.
Katzie First
Nation
Administration Office
10946 Katzie Road,
Pitt
Meadows, B.C.
V3Y 2G6
Ph: 604-465-8961
Fax: 604-465-5949
Email:
katzie.treaty@
shawcable.com
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Treaty
Negotiations
Summer 2002
Summary of Negotiations
Statement of Intent:
The Katzie Nation has existed and prospered within our traditional territory
since time immemorial. We are a Coast Salish people who speak a down-river
Halkomelem dialect. Our society is, and always has been, organized with
complex laws and rules governing all forms of social relations, economic
rights and relations with other First Nations. We have never ceded or
surrendered title to our lands, the right to our resources, or the power to
make decisions within our traditional territory. Katzie First Nation
submitted a Statement of Intent to the British Columbia Treaty Commission in
February 1994. (For a timeline of our involvement in the six-stage BC
treaty process, see the
BC Treaty Commission
website.)
Katzie Treaty Team Mandate:
The constituents of the Katzie First Nation mandated the
Katzie First Nation Treaty Team in 1997 to negotiate a treaty with Canada
and British Columbia. The Treaty Team is comprised of representative from
the three residential reserves: Julie Cunningham, I.R.#1; Leanne James, I.R.#2;
and Debbie Miller, I.R.#3, who is also Chief Negotiator for the Katzie
Table. Peter James, Chief of the Katzie people, sits at the negotiating
table to represent the elected Chief and Council.
Shared Territories:
Since the beginning of our treaty process, right up to the present, our
elders have requested and mandated the Katzie Treaty Team to initially deal
with all identified shared territories (often referred to as "overlaps")
with the Tsawwassen, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, In-SHUCK-ch, Tsleil-waututh,
Sto:lo, and New Westminster First Nations.
Third Party Interests:
Consultation of third party interests (fee simple land
holders, business interests, forest tenure holders, etc.) has played an
integral part in our negotiations. Katzie constituents wanted to have all
those people and groups having a vested interest in our traditional
territory understand the importance of a treaty. As a result, our table was
delayed from moving from stage one to stage two by two years. It was during
this delay that a Local Treaty Advisory Group (comprised of 40 plus
volunteer interest groups and parties) was established. From the beginning,
the group has often been invited to meetings between the three parties for
their input; this remains so to this day.
This unique initiative was established by the Katzie Treaty Team, and was
undertaken apart from the two other parties (BC and Canada). Since this
informal group was never considered part of the Province’s Treaty Advisory
Committees, it has not been affected by their recent decision to cease
funding for these committees. As a result, while these committees across the
province remain in limbo, our advisory group remains active. To maintain the
Local Treaty Advisory Group’s participation in the Katzie Treaty Table,
associated costs are paid by the Katzie Treaty Team.
Stage 3:
The Katzie
Treaty Team, assisted by the community members, developed a draft Framework
Agreement over a six-month period, which identified the substantive issues
we will negotiate. This draft was then presented to Canada and British
Columbia for discussion at the tripartite negotiation table. The final
Framework Agreement was reviewed by the parties, and on March 3, 2001 it
was signed off.
Stage 4: It is during
this phase (the Agreement-in-Principle stage) that the substantive issues
identified in the Framework Agreement are discussed in depth. Katzie has so
far presented interest papers on Wildlife, Culture and Heritage,
Environmental Management, and Parks and Protected Areas. Canada and BC have
shared their interests and provided some background information on these and
several other topics. The parties have also discussed some possible chapters
on Access, Dispute Resolution and Amendment.
There have been working groups established to assist the negotiations in
these areas: Intergovernmental Relations, Fish, and Community Relations. As
well, there is a main-table working group in place. The main-table working group oversees all the other
working groups and reports directly to the Chief Negotiators. There has not
been a Chief Negotiators meeting since the signing of the Framework
Agreement.
Interim Measure:
The Katzie First Nation Treaty Team has been successful in obtaining Treaty
Related Measures funding for a governance study and an economic development
study. The governance study is due to be completed by October 2002 and the
economic development study is to be completed by February of 2003.
Current Negotiations:
The status of current negotiations consists of
a scheduled meeting
to continue the development of an Agreement-in-Principle. Most of
these discussions are limited due to the new direction of the current
provincial government, and the referendum undertaken by the
provincial government.
* * * *
This page will be updated
as developments dictate.
Please return to this page for more information in the future.
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