The provincial government will officially rename the Queen Charlotte Islands off the north coast of British Columbia Haida Gwaii under the terms of a "reconciliation" agreement signed Friday with the Haida Nation.
It's the second such "reconciliation protocol" announced with B.C. First Nations in as many days offering shared decision-making on land use and economic development opportunities.
Premier Gordon Campbell said the deals offer a "new relationship" with First Nations.
"The protocol will support the Haida in the goal of building economic and social well-being on the islands by creating jobs and economic opportunities for members of the Haida Nation and their neighbours on Haida Gwaii," Campbell said in a statement announcing the deal.
B.C. and the Haida signed a strategic land use agreement in 2007, and the protocol announced Friday builds on that.
It establishes a joint management council to make development decisions in key areas such as implementation of the land use deal, forest practices, and protected areas. When consensus cannot be reached, the deal dictates that a neutral chairperson will be the deciding vote.
The agreement also sets in motion a process to resolve disputes between Haida and Crown title, and it includes $10 million for the Haida to buy out forest tenures on the islands from willing sellers.
The Haida will also get a 120,000 cubic metre forest tenure on the island.
And like the Coastal First Nations who signed a similar protocol a day earlier, the Haida will get a share of any future revenue from carbon offsets attributable to their rainforest ecosystem.
Perhaps most importantly, the Haida will also have revenue-sharing on future resource development in the region.
The pristine islands are in the centre of B.C.'s vast offshore oil and gas fields but offshore development remains under moratorium off the west coast, due in part to the opposition of First Nations to exploration and drilling activities off the B.C. coast.
Haida Nation president Guujaaw could not be reached for comment Friday.
He said in a statement that after 100 years of conflict, his people and the province have set the ground for a new era of peace and mutual trust.
Unlike First Nations in other provinces, most B.C. aboriginal groups did not sign treaties with European settlers.
Despite years of talks between First Nations, the province and the federal government that have cost each party millions of dollars, a modern-day treaty process has produced only two agreements - one that is in place and another that has been ratified.
The B.C. government abandoned a proposed Reconciliation Act earlier this year due to opposition from some First Nations, but the province is forging ahead with individual deals, saying they offer greater certainly in land use decisions and increased prosperity.
