B.C.’s Eby says proposed Indigenous land transfer legislation is about saving money
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British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby is defending draft plans by his previous government to limit the compensation of forest companies when land is transferred to First Nations.
Confidential documents published in the Northern Beat, an online publication, say Eby’s government was planning to transfer about 400 parcels of Crown land to First Nations, while limiting compensation for companies with timber rights on the land.
Eby says the transfers reflect existing treaties and other commitments under the process of reconciliation, some of them dating back decades, and the proposed legislation was about reducing costs for taxpayers.
The documents say the current law requires the government to compensate forestry firms but “given ongoing fiscal constraints” that would create substantial barriers to completing land returns.
