'we still have a long way to go': b.c. regional chief takes stock as national reconciliation day arrives
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sept. 30 — national day for truth and reconciliation — is here and b.c. presents a mixed picture: memorable milestones alongside missed promises on the long road to reconciliation.
terry teegee, the regional chief of the b.c. assembly of first nations, approaches the day with cautious resolve. a forester turned political leader, he says his journey wasn’t planned.
“i was frustrated at the way things were,” he said. “i needed to fight for justice for myself and for my people.”
teegee recalls his childhood in fort st. james, where his family lived alongside indigenous people who were stripped of their rights by federal policies: veterans, women who lost status for marrying off-reserve, and families denied basic entitlements.
“i remember being confused as a kid,” he said. “i had status as a takla nation member, but why were my neighbours — who looked first nations just like me — denied benefits, even after serving the country?”
the injustice ran deeper. his older siblings were forced into canada’s residential school system, a network of government-funded, church-run institutions designed to assimilate indigenous children.
survivors eventually fought back, launching the largest class-action lawsuit in canadian history. the settlement created the truth and reconciliation commission. in its 2015 final report, the trc concluded that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide, documenting over 3,000 child deaths and issuing 94 calls to action. among them was the creation of a national day to honour survivors.
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canada designated sept. 30 as the national day for truth and reconciliation in 2021. b.c. made it a statutory holiday in 2023.
“it was a 100-year policy with generations of kids brought through that system,” teegee said. “are we gonna get over it in a generation or two? probably not.”
most of the trc calls to action remain unmet, including equitable funding for indigenous education and language revitalization, justice reforms to address indigenous overrepresentation in prisons, and actions on the continued large numbers of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
while residential schools have closed, teegee says similar harms persist in new forms.
indigenous peoples still largely depend on costly, lengthy court battles to enforce their rights, he says.
a recent example is the august b.c. supreme court ruling recognizing the cowichan tribes’ legal ownership and authority over nearly 7.5 square kilometres of land in richmond, including shoreline and fishing rights in the fraser river. for the first time in b.c., aboriginal title was extended to land that is now privately owned.
but the province in appealing, and seeking a stay to delay the ruling until a higher court reviews it.
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teegee said resolving the issue will require meaningful collaboration and discussion from all parties involved, including private landowners, first nations and government.
“that ruling was no result of help from the government,” he said. “our people’s alternative, time and time again, has been to go back to court instead of being reconciled with after we were stolen from.”
but teegee noted a recent exception: both the province and canada supported the b.c. supreme court’s recognition of the haida nation’s legal ownership and authority over all of haida gwaii.
“it was a small victory in terms of reconciliation, one i hope that can be emulated elsewhere in the province,” he said.
teegee says many indigenous communities still struggle to secure resources.
“the haida gwaii ruling shows what’s possible when the law supports indigenous peoples, but for most first nations, the fight to have their rights respected continues,” he said.
he pointed to the b.c. treaty process, launched decades ago to guarantee indigenous land rights, self-government and funding for essential services in communities grappling with “the after-effects of colonization.”
teegee says parts of these treaties are often ignored, with provincial and federal governments passing responsibility back and forth like a “hot potato.”
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“neither level of government wants to take full responsibility, leaving first nations communities without the resources they need for health care, child welfare and other critical services,” he said.
teegee says he felt renewed hope in 2019 when b.c., under premier john horgan, became the first canadian province to adopt the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, committing to align provincial laws with indigenous rights.
but his optimism has faded under horgan’s successor, premier david eby.
“with eby, we’ve seen a step back from fully implementing the undrip act,” teegee said. “bills 14 and 15, around land development, became a wedge issue with first nations people as the scapegoat.”
those laws made major changes to b.c.’s land-use planning and permitting system as b.c. sought to fast-track certain projects.
indigenous leaders criticized the lack of consultation with first nations.
“those bills were rushed through in three days. we didn’t even get a chance to review or comment. maybe we would have found a collective solution if we were given a chance to talk through it with the government,” teegee said.
“what i’m worried about now is that some green energy projects are entirely at the discretion of first nations, while others, like lng and oil pipeline developments in northern b.c., are creating divisions within the province and country. the government has always used first nations as an excuse as to why things can’t happen.”
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while the struggle continues, teegee maintains a sense of hope for the future indigenous generations. he has lived with his wife, rena zatorski, on the lheidli t’enneh shelley reserve, 22 kilometres from prince george, for more than two decades.
teegee says their two adult children, rylie and rowan, live in a different world than he grew up in — with more acknowledgment of their cultural history, as well as more opportunities available to them.
“yes, i feel hopeful … because what is the alternative?”
this truth and reconciliation day, b.c. stands at a crossroads. the province has constructed legal scaffolding, such as undrip and other action plans, but whether it will implement them remains unclear.
acknowledging wrongs is not enough, says teegee. reconciliation must manifest in legal rights, restored lands and equity.
“indigenous people have continued to fight for our own reconciliation, something that is simply the morally and ethically right thing to do.”
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