March 15, 2014 - 6:24 PM
POWELL RIVER, B.C. - The B.C. government says it's one step closer to ratifying a treaty that would grant self-determination to the Tla'amin First Nation.
The government says it has signed an agreement that would spell out the band's ownership and management of minerals, forestry and other resources on treaty lands as well as fishing and gathering rights.
The government says the treaty will provide the band with a $29.7 million capital transfer, $6.9 million in economic development funding and a $250,000 fishing vessel fund.
It also grants the band more than 8,000 hectares of land, which includes 1,900 hectares of former Tla'amin reserve land and 6,405 hectares of former provincial land.
The agreement, which is scheduled to go into effect April 2016, must still be ratified by Ottawa.
The Tla'amin Nation is represented by 1026 members and its main community is located north of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014