Another land transfer? B.C. NDP advances mass public land transfer to First Nations

More than 330,000 acres of Crown land are set to be transferred to First Nations through treaty agreements across the province, prompting the B.C. Conservatives to demand greater transparency.

 

The B.C. NDP and federal Liberal governments are moving forward with transferring more than 334,000 acres of provincial Crown land to several First Nations through treaty agreements spanning British Columbia.

B.C.'s latest Public Accounts lists a whopping 334,643 acres of Crown land tied to treaty agreements involving 20 First Nations or treaty groups, across multiple regions of the province.

Among the largest amounts listed are 113,147 acres for Kitsumkalum and 87,203 acres for Kitselas, both in the Terrace and Skeena region, along with 34,461 acres for Wuikinuxv on the Central Coast and 23,411 acres for In-SHUCK-ch in southwestern B.C.

“The introduction of the Kitselas Treaty Act is a significant milestone along the path of treaty-making in British Columbia,” NDP Premier David Eby previously stated in an April news release announcing the legislation.

The recent disclosure also litsts the Te'mexw Treaty Association, whose five member First Nations are in final-stage treaty negotiations with the provincial and federal governments.

As Rebel News previously reported, proposed Te'mexw treaty lands include significant public properties in and around Victoria, including Discovery Island Marine Provincial Park and prime waterfront properties near Victoria's Inner Harbour and the B.C. legislature.

The B.C. Conservatives have raised concerns about the mass transfer and say the Public Accounts disclosure raises further questions about what isn't included.

“Handing over public assets at this vast scale in secret deals is a direct betrayal of our democracy that treats British Columbians, who own this province, as non-existent,” said B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay. 

“And what is worse, this is only the beginning. There are still over 150 Indigenous bands in B.C. still to be dealt with. There will be nothing left of B.C. by the time they are finished. The NDP must immediately halt all land transfers, recall the Legislature to repeal DRIPA, repeal these unfounded agreements, and start the process over this time with full transparency instead of these backroom handovers.”

B.C. Conservative Indigenous Relations critic Scott McInnis also criticized what he described as a lack of public scrutiny surrounding the agreements.

“The lack of public consultation and oversight on the land file is shocking,” said McInnis. “British Columbians should not have to learn from the media or a back page of the Public Accounts to be alerted to these undemocratic land transfers.”

McInnis pointed to his proposed Aboriginal Title Transparency Act, which he says would increase transparency surrounding Aboriginal title claims and negotiations.

“The Aboriginal Title Transparency Act I introduced last spring would prevent British Columbians from remaining in the dark about these decisions, and I encourage the government to act in the public interest and pass this legislation come fall,” he said.

The 334,643 acres listed in the Public Accounts do not represent land newly transferred this year, are not the only public lands up for grabs.

As reported last week, the Eby government is currently negotiating a major Aboriginal title agreement with the Tahltan Nation in B.C.'s mineral-rich northwest, involving a territory of roughly 96,000 square kilometres, nearly 24 million acres, or about 11% of British Columbia.

Please sign our petition to stop UN-driven land seizures and protect Canadian property rights!

13,356 signatures
Goal: 20,000 signatures

Across British Columbia — and now right inside the City of Richmond — private, fee-simple land that Canadians bought, paid taxes on, and built their lives around is being put in legal limbo because of UNDRIP, B.C.’s DRIPA legislation, and court decisions that elevate race-based, unelected authorities over ordinary homeowners. This is not reconciliation — it’s the slow, administrative expropriation of Canadians’ property without notice, consent, or meaningful political accountability. We are calling on B.C. and federal officials to repeal or amend laws that enable these “land grabs,” to defend fee-simple title in court, and to restore one equal set of laws for 100% of Canadians. Add your name to tell our governments: property rights are human rights — and if we lose those, we lose Canada.

Will you sign?

Drea Humphrey

B.C. Bureau Chief

Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.

COMMENTS

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  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2026-08-14 12:13:34 -0400
    Fran: uh, no. That distinction belongs to W. A. C. Bennett, according to the Dippers.

    I was in the Vancouver area just before the 1972 provinicial election. I remember seeing posters with the headline “Fascism ended in 1945”, with either the first “s” or “c” replaced with a swastika. The NDP’s whole objective was to unseat the Social Credit party as the government and inflict its own version of dictatorship on the province.

    One of the first things that Fat Little Dave (as Dave Barrett referred to himself in public) tried to do was to abolish property ownership. It was to be replaced by a “land bank”, where a resident could “borrow” that property from “the people”. (Now where have we heard that before, eh?) I don’t remember what happened to that idea, but I don’t think it didn’t last very long.

    Then the NDP abolished private auto insurance, replacing it with the hideous ICBC. (B. C. wasn’t the only province to try that. Two other NDP domains did the same thing at about the same time: Saskatchewan with SGI and, as I recall, Manitoba.) More than 50 years later, it’s so embedded into the system that it’s impossible to get rid of it. The Bill Bennett Socreds tried in the late 1970s, but people still had to take the basic ICBC coverage.

    B. C.‘s troubles truly began with the election of the NDP more than 50 years ago. What’s going on now is what that party always had in mind.
  • Fran g
    commented 2026-08-14 11:21:18 -0400
    Sounds like eby is going down in BC history as the very worst premier ever.
  • Marie Elmore
    commented 2026-08-12 16:01:44 -0400
    Eby knows that he won’t get re-elected. Christy Clark getting Site C past the point of no return before getting tossed out was child’s play compared to his giving the province away as fast as he can.
  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2026-08-12 12:20:10 -0400
    I grew up in the Peace River Block of B. C. I had just started Grade 12 when the NDP under Dave Barrett was first elected to office. Since then, that party has done untold damage to that province.

    Shortly after my father died, the current version of the provincial Dippers booted out Christy Clark’s Liberals and continued its mayhem with no end in sight. I saw what was happening and I knew I wasn’t going to ever move back to B. C., which was one reason I sold the house that my parents lived in.

    At least in Alberta, I have some degree of freedom and a chance to be prosperous. I’m not so sure about that had I returned to B. C.
  • ron hauck
    commented 2026-08-11 23:38:47 -0400
    Hell I have one eye and could see this coming from 750 miles away. The divide (hate) is going to grow and it’s only going to get worst which some want for control.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-08-11 19:47:53 -0400
    We have to pay for our mistakes but governments don’t. So the hatred building against indigeonous bands keeps growing. What will happen when these grifters want occupied land and Eby gives people’s property to a band? And what will Eby do when there’s no crown land left to give away?