The BC Adventure Tourism Coalition (ATC) is sounding the alarm today over the treatment of businesses that hold land tenures. The Province of BC’s approach to reconciliation and implementation of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is failing both Indigenous and non-indigenous communities.
After the recent decision by the provincial government to deny a compensation package it rejected principled reconciliation. The ATC is raising concerns over the province’s approach to reconciliation and the implementation of the DRIPA.
Members of the Adventure Tourism Coalition were baffled by the provincial government’s contradictory approach, given that in a similar scenario where Klinse-za Park was expanded, the provincial government noted that the federal government provided $46 million toward compensating industries and tenure holders affected by the expansion, which was done in collaboration with West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations.
The ATC is concerned about the lack of consultation and the many situations across BC where resource tenures are being denied or dramatically reduced in terms or where decisions on resource tenures are delayed by many years.
