The lands will come to K’ómoks in two phases; the majority of the lands will be transferred to K’ómoks on the Effective Date (the day we become self-governing under the Treaty). A small portion of lands will be transferred at a later date, as negotiated.
Eton Road is a parcel of land located in the Town of Comox off of Pritchard Road, near Highland Secondary School. This parcel has been offered to K’ómoks as an Incremental Treaty Agreement (ITA) piece to give K’ómoks the opportunity to develop before Treaty. As part of the ITA the parcel will stay under the jurisdiction of the Town of Comox and K’ómoks will own it privately. This parcel will not become Treaty Settlement Lands (TSL). The Eton Road parcel backs onto the North East Woods (behind Highland School), which have been negotiated to be included as TSL.
In discussions with other First Nations, we had been hearing about Core Treaties and thought it would be worth exploring what a Core Treaty might look like. Yes, we were close to finalizing a treaty and have made significant progress on some issues including: Loan forgiveness Negotiations on the costs of government activities Transfer of the Goose Spit Removal of Extinguishment Preservation of the Duty to Consult Recognition of Rights Periodic Renewal However, there are still many unresolved issues. For example, we still do not have the final land and cash offer from BC and Canada, nor do we have anything [...]
No, we do not. In the past, KFN has been trying to get a tri-partite agreement and KFN has been working with the Department of Justice to get them to pass that direction to the RCMP. Part of our Treaty Related Measure work is to attempt to reach agreement with the RCMP on enforcement.
There are no names addressees or numbers – Police are governed by personal privacy laws that govern what we can and cannot put in the reports. The information includes, the area of crime, successful processions, provincial stats: speeding tickets.
K’ómoks is in a good position as we have learned under the Land Code and are now learning from other First Nations who are under Treaty. We know what the problems are, and what the shortcomings are under the Land Code and what other First Nations are experiencing under Treaty. We are now taking the lead on this to negotiate better arrangements around enforcement for future Treaty Nations. The intention is trying to have something that can make the transition to Treaty more workable. All the work we are doing right now, will help the transition to self government.
Funds will be provided under the Fiscal Finance Agreements (FFA) for enforcement, but you will probably need to enter into enforcement agreements with enforcement agencies. For the Maa-Nulth, the agreements that have been entered into, they all address costing and are based on a fee for service - but if the officers are doing patrols, then there is no cost. If they have been asked to go out by a nation (e.g. Maa-Nulth) – then the cost is split 50-50. If the external agencies are asked to do something outside of the ordinary, it would be 100% the Nation's costs. But [...]
K’ómoks has been provided Treaty Related Measures funding to explore what laws need to be in place under treaty and how to make enforcement work. The BC Treaty Commission is aware of how complex the issues are and has provided funding to K’ómoks for this purpose.
This is a problem that almost all First Nations have. Tsawwassen has resolved the issues for the most part as they have their own police force, but it is costly. It is easier under Land Code than under the Indian Act. It should be better under Treaty, but it's not easy. Government bureaucrats respect treaty enforcement needs. It is a lack of understanding of how it works on Treaty Settlement Lands that makes it difficult; First Nation representatives have spent a lot of time with RCMP explaining how Treaty works. We have made significant progress, and there seems to be a [...]
The laws of general application apply on Indian Reserves, including the Criminal Code and federal laws and provincial laws in relation to cannabis. Enforcement of laws is more complicated because of limited policing resources and policing policy. K’ómoks is currently working on its own law respecting cannabis, to ensure that the cannabis-related businesses are properly regulated under our own laws.
