{"id":105131,"date":"2026-05-27T08:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105131"},"modified":"2026-05-27T08:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:48:18","slug":"b-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/b-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. Indigenous relations face &#8216;fraught context&#8217; but treaty commissioner undeterred"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Wolfgang Depner Relations between the British Columbia government and First Nations plunged this year as Premier David Eby grappled with how or whether to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which he once championed. The province is also engaged in two high-profile appeals against court rulings that sided with First Nations, while a debate rages over their impact on property rights, development and the legislative landscape in B.C. As George Abbott takes over as head of the BC Treaty Commission, would he prefer congratulations or condolences? Abbott, a former BC Liberal minister for Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, said in an interview that he was &#8220;very much honoured&#8221; by his new role, facilitating treaties with First Nations in the province. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s a really important&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F27%2Fb-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Wolfgang Depner Relations between the British Columbia government and First Nations plunged this year as Premier David Eby grappled with how or whether to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which he once championed. The province is also engaged in two high-profile appeals against court rulings that sided with First Nations, while a debate rages over their impact on property rights, development and the legislative landscape in B.C. As George Abbott takes over as head of the BC Treaty Commission, would he prefer congratulations or condolences? Abbott, a former BC Liberal minister for Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, said in an interview that he was &#8220;very much honoured&#8221; by his new role, facilitating treaties with First Nations in the province. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s a really important... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F27%2Fb-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>B.C. 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The province is also engaged in two high-profile appeals against court rulings that sided with First Nations, while a debate rages over their impact on property rights, development and the legislative landscape in B.C. As George Abbott takes over as head of the BC Treaty Commission, would he prefer congratulations or condolences? Abbott, a former BC Liberal minister for Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, said in an interview that he was &#8220;very much honoured&#8221; by his new role, facilitating treaties with First Nations in the province. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s a really important\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/b-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T12:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27\\\/b-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27\\\/b-c-indigenous-relations-face-fraught-context-but-treaty-commissioner-undeterred\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"B.C. 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