BC Treaty Commission

BC TREATY COMMISSION is an independent body created in 1993 to coordinate and oversee the negotiation of treaties with FIRST NATIONS people. The 5 commissioners are appointed jointly by the federal and provincial governments and the First Nations Summit, an umbrella organization of First Nations groups. The commission determines when negotiations will begin and provides a means of dispute resolution. In Nov 1998 the HAIDA leader Miles Richardson was appointed chief commissioner, the first aboriginal person to hold the post. He was succeeded in 2005 by Judge Steven Point, a member of the STO:LO FIRST NATION who was in turn succeeded by Sophie Pierre, longtime chief of the St Mary's Indian Band, in 2007. In July 2007 the TSAWWASSEN First Nation south of Vancouver voted to ratify a treaty with the federal and provincial governments, making it the first First Nation to reach an agreement under the "new" treaty process. The second treaty under the BCTC process was negotiated with the Maa-Nulth First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island and came into effect 1 April 2011.