TS’UUBAA-ASATX NATION, BC — Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation and the Government of Canada have reached an agreement to settle the specific land claim field by the Ts’uubaa-asatx First Nation.
The resolution of this claim addresses a longstanding historical grievance where Canada was alleged to have unlawfully cut off 22.5 acres of land, referred to as Lot 54, from Lake Cowichan Indian Reserve 1. The severed land was later sold by the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway, now known as the Vancouver Island Railway, in 1911.
Canada will pay the First Nation $3,474,135 in compensation.
“This resolution to this claim helps to mend the relationship between Canada and Ts’uubaa-asatx. Over the decades our elders insisted on the discrepancy and after three years of negotiations we were able to come up with a settlement that was fair and adequate to allow for Ts’uubaa-asatx to begin to transform their community for future growth,” said Councillor Melanie Livingstone of the Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation
Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation, previously Lake Cowichan First Nation, is located on the north shore of Cowichan Lake, approximately 80 kilometres northwest of Victoria, British Columbia.
Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation filed its specific claim on February 23, 2015, alleging Canada’s unlawful cut-off of 22.5 acres from Indian Reserve No. 1.
The settlement agreement was ratified by Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation on December 8, 2021.
Since the Specific Claims Program began in 1973 to November 30, 2021, a total of 588 specific claims totaling $8.8 billion in compensation have been settled through negotiations.
From January 1, 2016 to November 30, 2021, 183 claims have been resolved for over $5 billion in compensation. Of these, 178 were settled through negotiation for over $4.8 billion in compensation, and 5 were resolved at the Tribunal for $169 million in compensation.
From April 1, 2021, to November 30, 2021, 7 claims were resolved for $101 million in compensation.
