"The Land is the People, and the People are the Land":

All issues concerning Aboriginal Title territories, including Lands, Waters and Resources are crucially important to Indigenous People. Our philosophy tells us: "The Land is the People, and the People are the Land". Since time immemorial our Peoples have been intimately connected to the Land. Our Cultures, Languages, Political Organizations and Spiritual and Economic well­being all flow from our relationship to the Land. Without our strong connection to, and responsibility for, the Land, our Peoples would cease to exist.

This connection to the Land is our Aboriginal Title. It is our Aboriginal Title, and therefore the very survival of our Peoples, which is threatened by the international trade initiatives that Canada is considering.

For the membership of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who have not signed any treaties nor sold our Aboriginal Title territories to Canada, our Aboriginal Title and Jurisdiction remains. Until we voluntarily sell or cede our interest in our Aboriginal Title Lands to the federal Crown, Canada does not have the jurisdiction or legal right to purport to grant any interests in our Lands to any third party (including individuals or foreign corporations).

Current International Trade Initiatives:

Canada is contemplating entering into international trade agreements and protocols which will ensure that foreign investors have guaranteed access to our Lands and Resources. It is the view of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs that Canada will use international trade agreements and protocols to condone the legalized theft of our Lands and Resources, and denial of our Right of Self Determination.

Canada, in practice, has not recognized the Aboriginal Title of the original inhabitants of this land, and does not recognize the Nation to Nation relationship which exists between Indigenous Peoples and the Crown. Canada has never honoured - our inherent right of Self Determination; - our Aboriginal Title to the lands, waters and resources which comprise our traditional territories; nor, - our international status as peoples.

Canada has proceeded as thought it has the unilateral authority to enter into these trade agreements without the consent of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples have not been informed nor consulted about these international trade initiatives. Aboriginal Title has been treated as though it were invisible, as though it does not exist. The Supreme Court of Canada, in the Delgamuukw decision (December 11, 1997), made it abundantly clear that our legal interest and title to the lands and resources exists and is on par with Crown title. This means that Canada has no unilateral power to grant or vest any interest in our Aboriginal Title lands without our full participation and consent.

The International trade initiatives may override Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 which constitutionally protects Aboriginal Title and Rights. By granting an automatic interest in our lands and resources to foreign companies and interests, these international trade initiatives will recognize more rights to a C.E.O. sitting in a foreign metropolis than to Indigenous Peoples who are intimately connected with and depend upon the Land and its resources. A major focus of the current initiatives being considered by the Standing Committee on International Trade is to eliminate the "barriers to trade" at an International level. Our unsurrendered Aboriginal Title is a barrier to trade; our unsurrendered right of Self Determination is a barrier to trade. Any initiatives which are designed to exploit or further commercialize our lands and resources require our full and informed consent both at International law, and in domestic Canadian law. Until Canada obtains this consent, it is not in a position to enter into any international trade agreements.

Current Canadian and B.C, Trade Policies and Practices:

Under the current trade laws which Canada and the provinces operate under our Aboriginal Title and Rights have been under attack. Within British Columbia, to use one example, the provincial government has increasingly off­loaded and granted interests in our lands and resources to third party developers without our consent. Initiatives such as the permitting of nontimber forest products and marine resources, and the streamlining of Crown lands acquisitions policies, all have the impact of minimizing our interests in our title territories.

Provisions of the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement (FTAA) would give corporations the power to sue national governments where domestic legislation restricts trade. At present, Canada's domestic laws do not go far enough in protecting Lands and Resources, and are entirely silent about protecting Aboriginal Title, Rights and Jurisdiction.

Through the FTAA, Canada might be placed in the position of compensating foreign investors where Canadian environmental legislation or other policies (perhaps the recognition of Aboriginal Title or Rights) limit investment opportunities. Despite years of unauthorized taking of our Lands and Resources Canada has not once compensated Indigenous Peoples for the infringement of our Lands and Resources.

Canada has still not recognized our Aboriginal Title. Will this recognition be precluded under the new investment and trade agreements? The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs believe that foreign companies could sue Canada for recognizing our Title and Rights to specific Lands and Resources. Certainly, recognition of the Jurisdiction of Indigenous Peoples would leave Canada open to liability where international companies feel this interferes with their free and easy access to Resources.

The result of the international trade agreements will be to restrict and limit Canada's current recognition of Aboriginal Title and Rights, and to, in effect, "tie Canada's hands" towards any future broader recognition of our Right of Self Determination and Aboriginal Title.
For practical purposes, the international trade agreements will give Canada a means of side­stepping our Aboriginal Title and Rights by recognizing economic interests of foreign interests before and above our Constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights.

These trade policies will only serve to further disconnect our Peoples from the Land and Resources by granting an interest in the Waters, Lands, Forests, Minerals, Plants, Fish and Animals which sustain us, to Companies and investors who have never set foot upon our soil, who have never sustained and taken care of the Land, who have no interest in the Land aside from the money it can provide to them. The only way that these foreign entities can acquire an interest in our Lands and Resources is if Canada sells out our People and negates its fiduciary responsibilities by entering into these international trade agreements. As the Standing Committee on International Trade you have the power to prevent this.

International Law:

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is very concerned about the blatant hypocrisy which Canada has displayed in the International arena. There are international covenants in place which recognize the right of Self Determination for Indigenous Peoples, and recognize that the theft of land equals genocide for Indigenous peoples who are closely connected to the Land. Canada has fought recognition of Indigenous Nations as "Peoples" Internationally, and has not implemented or honoured the rights of Indigenous Peoples at International law; And yet, Canada seeks to use international agreements in an attempt to further their claims against our Lands and Resources:

Special Rapporteur, Miguel Alfonso Martinet, in his Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations' to the United Nations called this "a process of retrogression" through which Indigenous peoples have been deprived of (or saw greatly reduced) three of the four essential attributes on which their original status as sovereign nations was grounded, namely their territory, their recognized capacity to enter into international agreements, and their specific forms of government. Not to mention the substantial reduction of their respective populations in many countries around the world, due to a number of factors including, assimilationist policies. (at 22)

The Special Rapporteur lists the ways that colonizing powers, including Canada, undermine Indigenous Nations by divesting Indigenous Peoples of their "sovereign attributes, especially jurisdiction over their lands, recognition of their forms of societal organisation, and their status as subjects of international law." (at 23)

Until Canada honours and fully implements International covenants recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada is not in a position to enter into any international agreements on trade concerning our Lands and Resources.

Summary:

Without surrender, without consent, Indigenous Peoples will never support any international trade initiatives which grant interests in our Lands and Resources to foreign entities. If Canada's goal is to increase certainty and economic prosperity for Canadians entering into these agreements without the consent of each and every Indigenous Nation whose title territories will be affected is not the way to achieve this.

No matter how many international agreements or protocols Canada signs, the resources will still have to be taken out of our backyards and we will not allow this to happen. Our people are prepared to take a stand to prevent any further destruction and degradation of our territories. Canada is not acting honestly within the international community if it pretends that it has the jurisdiction and legal authority to unilaterally enter into trade agreements concerning our lands and resources without our consent.

Recommendations:

1. Until the Land Question is fully resolved to the satisfaction of Indigenous Peoples, Canada is not in a position to enter any International Trade Agreements concerning the unceded Aboriginal Title territories and Resources within British Columbia.
2. Any trade agreements or protocols that Canada enters into must be made explicitly subject to the Aboriginal Title and Rights of Indigenous Peoples who hold Title, Rights and Jurisdiction to the Lands and Resources.
3. Indigenous Peoples are Nations in an international sense, and no agreements or protocols that Canada enters into absent our consent can over­ride our Nationhood and right of Self Determination.
4. All Land use and Resource extraction initiatives require the full and informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples whose territories are involved before proceeding. All development must proceed in concert with Indigenous Peoples' own laws and traditions relating to the protection of the Land, Waters and Resources.
5. Any international trade agreements must contain provisions for the explicit recognition of the Jurisdiction of Indigenous Peoples, and that that Indigenous Peoples’ own laws cannot be overrriden by any international trade agreements that Canada enters into, and foreign companies must agree to the application of Indigenous Peoples’ laws as a precondition to any developments on our territories.
6. All international trade agreements must contain provisions which recognize the right of Indigenous Peoples to benefit culturally, as well as economically, from any developments on our Title territories.
7. The United Nations, or other international bodies, be invited to send permanent representative to Canada to ensure that the Title and Rights of all Indigenous Peoples are respected and honoured despite any international trade agreements that Canada is currently party to, or may enter into in the future.

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