B.C. Court of Appeal rules First Nations must be consulted on mineral claims

The B.C. Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court ruling on Indigenous mineral rights on their land, handing First Nations a big win, according to the chief of one nation that appealed.

“It’s an exciting victory not only for Gitxaała but for all nations,” said Gitxaala Chief Councillor Linda Innes after the court ruled that the province must consult with First Nations before it automatically grants mineral rights to prospectors through an online system.

“B.C.’s out-of-date, colonial, mineral-tenure regime violates Canada’s own laws, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and our Gitxaała laws,” she said in a statement.

In s interview, she said her nation’s lawyers were reviewing the decision but she was happy that the courts have sided with the rights the Gitxaała ha