The BC “Land Back” movement is now in overdrive

Majorities have also expressed concern that private property rights are being subordinated to vague collective ones rooted in indigenous storytelling;

Hymie Rubenstein , Bio and Archives--August 20, 2026

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The Epoch Times has revealed that more than 135,000 hectares--1,350 square kilometres--of British Columbia Crown land has been identified or committed for transfer to Indian Bands through modern treaties and other agreements, according to provincial documents released on August 10. The area is roughly 12 times the 114-square-kilometre size of Vancouver.

The province is also negotiating five separate treaties with the Te’mexw Treaty Association (TTA) that include approximately 1,565 hectares of Crown land in proposed treaty settlement areas.

The lands include several prominent public properties in the Greater Victoria area and dozens of waterfront parcels in downtown Victoria, as mentioned below.

The settlement lands are detailed in five distinct modern treaties currently being negotiated together. The overall settlement is between the provincial government, the federal government, and the TTA, comprising the Songhees, Malahat, T’Sou-ke (Sooke), Beecher Bay (Scia’new), and Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) Indian Bands.

The five treaties still require: (1) consultation with other Indian Bands who are claiming possession of parts of these same territories; (2) conclusion of negotiations, and ratification by the five Indian Bands, the B.C. government, and the federal government; and (3) treaty implementation in the final part of a six-stage process.

Overlapping territorial rights, a direct result of the wandering lifestyle of hunting, gathering, and fishing peoples around the world, should raise questions about the operation of loose and shifting land occupation before the European colonial era, ways of utilizing natural resources without owning territory in fee-simple terms.

But this contentious issue has not been made public in any detail.

Negotiations on the wider treaty with the TTA have been ongoing since the mid-1990s, with specific parcels of land, such as the Royal Roads University Campus, mentioned since 2023. TTA negotiations have been in Stage 5 since an agreement-in-principle was signed in 2015 at the end of Stage 4.

The province launched the most recent round of public engagement on May 29, 2026, noting that the agreements still require ratification before advancing to Stage 6, when specific long-term implementation plans will be made with each of the five groups. The province said it has engaged with affected municipalities, neighbouring property owners, businesses, and other Indian Bands that the treaty transfers could impact.

The province has not detailed what this “engagement” has consisted of.

In June 2026, the B.C. government released the full detailed maps of designated lands for transfer once the treaties are ratified. It also held a series of public open houses on the treaties. The maps show proposed treaty territory to be transferred throughout Greater Victoria, Sooke, and up to Nanoose Bay and Parksville on Vancouver Island.

According to the Epoch Times, the B.C. government said that if these transfers are completed, public access and recreational opportunities for the provincial parks would still be safeguarded under the terms of the treaties.

Land Rights Transfers

The B.C. NDP government has said the proposed treaties don’t include any privately owned fee-simple land, “except lands already owned by the respective TTA Member Nations.”

Once transferred, treaty lands would not be subject to external zoning rules. Their transfer would also bring along legislative power over land and resources, health and social services, and other areas such as education and further treaty rights.

As always, provincial and federal governments will require non-Indigenous taxpayers to fund these efforts.

The Cowichan Decision

The potential transfer........

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