Haida Nation recognition Bill making its way through the Senate first

Canada has introduced legislation in the Senate to recognize the Haida Nation’s inherent right to self-governance. It received first reading Feb. 8 and is scheduled to receive second reading this afternoon, Feb. 15.

“This is an important day to have Canada recognize our governance, our self-determination and to take the important next steps together…as we continue to confront the history of this country and look to ensure that our homelands are cared for,” said Gaagwiis (Jason Aslop), president of the Council of the Haida Nation.

Gaagwiis was joined on Feb. 8 in Ottawa by Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree, British Columbia Solicitor General Mike Farnworth and BC NDP Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach.

“This co-developed legislation affirms Canada’s recognition of the Haida Nation’s inherent right to governance and self-determination. It officially recognizes the Council of the Haida Nation as the legitimate government representative of the Haida people,” said Anandasangaree.

The Nang K̲’uula • Nang K̲’úulaas Recognition Agreement was signed by the Haida Nation, B.C. and Canada last year. It is the first tripartite agreement reached under the GayG̱ahlda • Kwah.hlahl.dáyaa “Changing Tide” Framework for Reconciliation, negotiated three years ago by the three governments.  Bill S-16, An Act respecting the recognition of the Haida Nation and the Council of Haida Nation, introduced in the Senate last week by government representative Senator Marc Gold, results from that previous work.

The Bill has yet to make its way through the House of Commons.

Matthieu Perriton, press secretary for Anandasangaree, says “it happens sometimes” that a government Bill is dealt with first in the Senate before being handled in the House of Commons.

“There is no explanation about that. Sometimes when we table a Bill, we go first with the House of Commons or sometimes we just have to go through the Senate to go faster…because there are too (many) Bills waiting in the House of Commons,” said Perriton.

He did not know if that was the case for this specific Bill.

Perriton says handling Bill S-16 in this manner “politically…doesn’t change anything.” It still needs approval from both the Senate and the House of Commons before it’s passed into law.

Once passed, the legislation will formally recognize the Council of the Haida Nation as the government of the Haida Nation.

British Columbia passed its own legislation, The Haida Nation Recognition Act, last May.

Farnworth said it was something his provincial government “strongly supported.”

While Gaagwiis is pleased to see the GayG̱ahlda • Kwah.hlahl.dáyaa framework in action, he was clear that the Haida Nation “didn't wait for Canada or B.C. or anyone to empower us or come along and tell us how to do things. Our people recognized our inherent right to govern our lands and waters in a good way, to steward and speak for the beings and the supernaturals, and to uphold our inherent responsibility to care for our homelands.”

Fifty years ago, he said, the Haida Nation formed its own national government in the Council of the Haida Nation.

The Haida Nation formally adopted its constitution in 2003, mandating the council to, among other duties, “steward the lands and waters of the Haida Territories…and to perpetuate Haida culture and languages for future generations.”

Anandasangaree said the legislation, “long overdue,” was another step in Canada’s work of implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.