The Musqueam Agreements Are a Good Step, Despite Stumbles

Shortly after I retired as a member of B.C.’s legislative assembly in October 2024, I became the negotiator for my home community, Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP).

I underestimated the difficulty of the transition into the new role. We are swimming in a sea of federal and provincial priorities, and for a First Nation or Indian Band to negotiate their way out of the Indian Act it takes a disciplined and strategic effort to self-determine a pathway.

Over four successive sessions of question period in the legislature this week, the Musqueam Indian Band’s agreement-making with Canada took up nearly half the time each day.

Interested in why the B.C. Conservatives were kicking up so much dust, I took a deeper look at the three agreements Musqueam Indian Band recently signed with the federal government, which included the šxʷq̓ʷal̕təl̕tən A Rights Recognition Agreement as the foundation, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Stewardship and Marine Management Agreement and the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Fisheries Agreement that flow from it, and a self-government agreement moving toward a ratification vote.

The framework

First Nations and Indian Bands are still largely governed by the Indian Act. This colonial instrument has shaped every dimension of community life for over 150 years.

For the last decade, there has been an effort by the federal government to establish self-governance structures that allow First Nations to, instead, chart their own courses.

The courts have consistently advised that rights and title are best recognized through negotiation rather than extinguishment and litigation.

This approach respects the dignity of First Nations who never ceded what they are being asked to prove, builds the political certainty that investment requires, and frankly is long overdue.

Sitting across the table from Crown negotiators as I do now, I recognize what Musqueam has built. The architecture of these agreements builds on a rights recognition agreement as the foundation. Two other agreements, on marine and environmental stewardship, and fisheries, layer on governance structures and shared decision-making in priority areas identified by Musqueam leadership.

Together, the agreements create a pathway out of the Indian Act through a self-government agreement, while leaving rights and title to be recognized through continued negotiation. It is a good approach.

The B.C. legislature should have been celebrating Musqueam’s commitment to create solutions at the table rather than in the courtroom or on a protest line.

Instead, it became absurdly politicized.

How Canada showed up

From my perspective, Canada got the substance of the negotiation right. From the establishment of the rights recognition to the signing ceremony, it appears this bilateral negotiation between the federal government and Musqueam was a success.

Unfortunately, they also got the process badly wrong. It appears they failed to properly include the provincial government, which has its own constitutional responsibilities in the area.

It appears they also failed to engage the Squamish First Nation, and maybe others, whose overlapping territorial rights are directly, and obviously, affected by agreements that cover marine and terrestrial areas across Metro Vancouver.

These are not small missteps. The carelessness of the federal government created a vacuum where there should have been strong relationships, perhaps early multilateral dialogues, and accurate information. When the provincial minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation cannot properly respond in question period because he has no idea what has happened, that is an administrative failure.

The vacuum was filled instantly, and predictably, with misinformation, disinformation, fearmongering and outright lies. In a negotiations process, how the Crown conducts themselves is key to the integrity of the table. When they falter, it has the potential to damage trust and create unnecessary political tension.

How British Columbia showed up

We learned in question period that Premier David Eby witnessed the signing ceremony in Musqueam, and the minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation learned about the agreements in the news.

The premier identified the failures of his own government advancing Indigenous relations, and the B.C. Conservatives pointed out, rightly, the serious failure of both Crown governments to adequately communicate with each other and the public.

The early responses from the premier and the minister of Indigenous relations added unnecessary confusion about what they knew about the agreements.

The way the situation unfolded made Eby and his government look incompetent and handed his opponents a legitimate grievance, which they immediately used as cover for something far less legitimate.

How the BC Conservatives showed up

The Conservatives initially landed an important critique of how the provincial government handled this issue. They were correct to point out that the premier and minister of Indigenous relations should have been fully briefed on the agreements, especially considering the premier attended and witnessed the event.

However, they abandoned this critique immediately for political leverage and fearmongering by rolling out a social media campaign telling British Columbians something obviously and totally false, that their private property is “at risk.”

The consequences of their actions are not abstract. At a press conference, the premier said Musqueam’s band office had received death threats.

The B.C. Conservatives are playing with fire when they run a smear campaign deliberately weaponizing Indigenous rights and title as a wedge issue.

Eby rightly pointed out that the official Opposition’s approach was undermining the court-mandated obligations of Crown governments and threatening the investment certainty needed to advance the province’s precarious economic agenda.

Further, the B.C. Conservatives’ arguments in question period directly contradicted their own record. On April 22, 2024, in his response to a ministerial statement on the Haida Nation title recognition agreement, former leader John Rustad said: “I think it might come as a surprise to some people to know that I support title. We need to discover title.”

He went on to describe how in 2016, as minister of Aboriginal relations and reconciliation in the BC Liberal government, he was already pushing the attorney general’s office to recognize Haida title rather than fight it in court. He recounted that he said to staff: “Are you guys crazy? The Haida people have defended the Haida Gwaii islands for thousands of years.... How on Earth do you expect that we would actually win this in court?”

Rustad has said that he is proud of his record signing agreements with First Nations, including agreements on rights and title, land back and resource benefits.

The B.C. Conservatives’ rage-baiting political campaign is a regression. It is opportunism at the expense of relationships with First Nations — relationships that took decades to build.

What showing up well requires

The work of rights and title recognition, and of identifying self-governing pathways out of the Indian Act, is necessary. The courts have said so. Our economy requires it.

However, the B.C. Conservatives have poisoned the discourse on the Musqueam agreements.

Social and political progress on nation-to-nation relationships is fragile. Federal and provincial governments need to take great care in how they move forward. First Nations that share overlapping territories deserve to be engaged, not surprised. The public deserves accurate information, not fear. The federal and provincial governments have an obligation to conduct their work in a way that doesn’t give bad-faith actors the opportunity to burn it down.

From what I can see from my vantage point, only Musqueam showed up with the level of work required. In the implementation, their Crown partners failed.

The cost of getting this wrong is not immaterial, and it is not evenly distributed. It is borne by the communities who have been waiting the longest.