The Gitxaaa Nation has filed a lawsuit against the provincial govt’s “free entry” mining claim staking policy. And the British Columbia Supreme Court (BCSC) has begun hearing arguments in the case.
The Country filed a legal complaint in the Supreme Court in Oct 2021 to contest the province’s approval of many mineral claims on Banks Island, which is located in their territory, between 2018 & 2020.
The case, which claims that British Columbia’s practise of approving mineral claims without consulting or obtaining consent from Indigenous peoples violates both constitutional requirements and the UNDRIP.