B.C. quietly cuts off public access to parkland
The B.C. government has quietly ceded a large swath of protected parkland on Vancouver Island’s west coast to the Nuchatlaht First Nation, diminishing public access.
The B.C. government has quietly ceded a large swath of protected parkland on Vancouver Island’s west coast to the Nuchatlaht First Nation, diminishing public access.
The transfer stems from the 2023 B.C. Supreme Court ruling recognizing Aboriginal title to 1,140 hectares of land on Nootka Island, including around 320 hectares of old-growth forest previously part of Nuchatlitz Provincial Park.
The Nuchatlaht are appealing the decision to seek an even larger land grab.
The government has yet to provide the public with information on the matter, leaving public visitors uncertain about the land's future accessibility.
The government has ceased enforcement of park legislation in the area, and the boundaries of the remaining 175 hectares of the park are unmarked.
The Nuchatlaht have begun development on their title lands, including the construction of a road.
A spokesperson for the Nation stated that land-use policies have yet to be finalized, but that resource development, including logging under “strict guidelines,” is under consideration.
The province has not passed legislation to govern how Aboriginal title lands intersect with public interest or conservation mandates.
B.C. retains legislative authority to impose environmental protections on Aboriginal title lands, but it has so far chosen not to act in this case.
The land concession at Nuchatlitz is part of B.C.’s reconciliation agenda, which is governed by the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), which aligns the province’s legislation with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in B.C. in 2019.
The federal government, under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, adopted it in 2021.
In recent years, the province has supported several closures and agreements restricting Canadians’ access to public lands.
A notable example is Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, where public access was restricted for 39 days in 2023 and for 60 days in 2024 by the Líl̓wat and N’Quatqua First Nations,
More than 100 days are scheduled to be restricted this year, with the support of the NDP government.
In April, access to Botanical Beach Provincial Park on Vancouver Island was also temporarily restricted to non-Indigenous visitors.
In a separate development, the B.C. government reached an agreement with the Haida Nation in 2023 recognizing Aboriginal title over the entirety of Haida Gwaii — more than a million hectares of land.
The agreement was ratified in a referendum held exclusively for Haida citizens. Premier David Eby described the deal as a potential “template” for future agreements in other regions.
B.C. also paused proposed amendments to the Land Act in early 2024 after widespread public opposition.
The changes would have enabled the province to enter co-management agreements with Indigenous governments covering up to 95 per cent of public land.
According to court rulings, Aboriginal title grants the right to exclusive use and control of land, subject to federal and provincial laws.
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Are these First Nations people going to make sure that the public facilities are kept up in these parks? Will they keep the walking paths cleared and bathroom facilities clean etc.? If it's their property they need to keep it up.
We are second class citizens in our own province. Eby will give the entire province to the natives.