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Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, February 12, 2002 - Chief Stewart Phillip applauded the victory of the Taku River Tlingit in the B.C. Court of Appeal on January 31, 2002, stating, “Enough is enough. Our Aboriginal Title exists, just the same as a legal and fiduciary duty on the province to respect and fully acknowledge our Aboriginal Title exists.” Chief Phillip continued, “ The B.C. Court of Appeal has forced the Provincial Liberal government to seek a new path in dealing with Aboriginal Title and Rights. The government’s current policy of closing their eyes and pretending that Aboriginal Title does not exist is illegal, counterproductive and must immediately cease.”

In the Taku case, the Province had issued a mining certificate allowing further development of the Tulsequah mine. The Taku successfully challenged this decision before the B.C. Supreme Court claiming that the Province had not adequately consulted with them about their Aboriginal Title and Rights. The Province appealed to the B.C. Court of Appeal and argued that it does not have a legal or fiduciary duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples about Aboriginal Title or Rights, or to take those rights into account, until those rights have first been proven in Court.

The majority of the B.C. Court of Appeal rejected the Province’s arguments, saying that the Crown’s position, of ignoring Aboriginal Title and Rights, has “the effect of robbing s. 35(1) of much of its constitutional significance” and would “effectively end any prospect of meaningful negotiation or settlement of aboriginal land claims.”

The Court of Appeal clearly stated that the government is under a legal duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples about their Aboriginal Title lands and resources, with the aim of addressing those concerns, and that this duty does not require that Indigenous Peoples first go to Court to prove the existence of their rights. The Court clearly stated that for government to proceed with land and resource use approvals without taking assertions of Aboriginal Title into account would be a constitutional violation of Aboriginal Rights, and lead to a “serious injustice”.

Chief Stewart Phillip said, “The Court has confirmed that our Aboriginal Title and Rights exist, and must be meaningfully addressed. The B.C. government cannot simply proceed as though it were business as usual in this Province. For too long, Aboriginal Title has been treated as though it were a legal fiction, as though it did not exist. The Taku case confirms that there is a strong Provincial duty to take our Aboriginal Title and Rights into account in all of the decisions it makes regarding lands and resources in this Province.”