Lawyer for island First Nation calls for more clarity over future of E&N rail line
A lawyer representing a Vancouver Island First Nation is calling out the federal government for being indirect about its intention for the South Island's rail corridor, after a parcel of E&N rail land was returned to the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation.
In 2021, the B.C. Court of Appeal gave the federal government two years to decide what to do with the portion of land that crosses through the Sna-Naw-As Nation after the nation filed a lawsuit.
When the deadline for that decision came on March 14, the government decided to return the land to the First Nation, but didn't outline if it planned to revive the train track or not.
"That wasn't the clear 'yes' or 'no' to the – I think it's $700-million – project that would be required to restore the railway," said Erika Richards, lawyer for the Halalt First Nation.
Richards is representing the Halalt Nation, north of Duncan, B.C., in a lawsuit to get land back from the rail corridor.
The Sna-Naw-As Nation had sued for similar reasons.
"We waited patiently alongside our clients and we got some great news yesterday, that they’re supporting the reversion of those lands," said Jason Harman, a lawyer representing the Sna-Naw-As Nation on Wednesday.
"The island corridor doesn't necessarily disappear with this decision. It just no longer makes this something that is top down — that the First Nations are no longer being dictated to by the government," he said.
The province says it respects returning reserve lands, but wants to preserve the passage as much as possible.
"The case for the use of this rail corridor for rail purposes and other transportation purposes is only going to grow in importance," said B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming on Tuesday.
Richards says the non-answer given by the federal and provincial governments on Tuesday will delay "the actual decision that will affect 13 of the 14 affected First Nations."
"We need a bit more clarity on what that process is going to look like before we can have a real indicator of whether that’s going to be the case or just another buzzword," she said.
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