In this episode, we are joined by social media influencer and environmental activist, to talk about the ongoing battle between the government and First Nations over access to Crown land in British Columbia. We discuss the controversial issue of the Jeffrey Lake Provincial Park, and how the government is trying to evict First Nations from their land.
00:00:15.380Yeah, I think a lot of this fly is under the radar, and it really shouldn't, because I would argue this is probably the single biggest issue facing British Columbia in terms of its future, its cohesiveness, its prosperity.
00:00:27.500uh this particular file and the way the provincial government is handling it is has been absolutely
00:00:34.860disastrous it's causing huge uncertainty from private property to investment to just where we
00:00:40.760stand as british columbians amongst one another and how we relate to one another so it's really
00:00:44.960really troubling with with joffrey lakes obviously uh you've got two indigenous groups there who1.00
00:00:50.560claim title to the land that the park is on keep in mind claiming title is different than
00:00:56.140than actually proving your title in court.
00:00:59.020So right now it's provincial land, it's public land,
00:01:01.900it's a provincial park that's loved by British Columbians,
00:01:04.460and it's been shut down with the provincial government's endorsement, essentially.
00:01:09.960It's an increasing number every year, 39 days in 2023.
00:01:14.660It was 60 days last year, and now we're at 69 days.
00:01:18.080So you can see where the trend is going.
00:01:19.920Again, these are just two nations asserting title over one area.
00:01:23.220There's 200 plus First Nations in BC and virtually the entirety of the province's landmass is claimed as traditional territory by one nation or another.
00:01:32.160So you can see why I'm kind of so troubled by where this could end up going in terms of accessing the landmass as a whole across British Columbia.