Caroline Elliott: Closures of B.C. parks to non-Indigenous visitors a sign of things to come
A year ago in these pages, I criticized land acknowledgements for implying that non-Indigenous Canadians are 'uninvited guests' in their own country. Now, the B.C. government has embraced these labels.
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To the applause of her colleagues, NDP MLA Rohini Arora stood in the legislature earlier this month, encouraging non-Indigenous British Columbians to describe themselves as a 'settler,' 'colonizer' and 'uninvited guest' living on 'Indigenous land.'
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This divisive mindset is increasingly being put into action, with a number of parks in B.C. being temporarily closed to non-Indigenous visitors.
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The most contentious of these is the repeat closure of Joffre Lakes Provincial Park during peak season, with access first denied by the Líl̓wat Nation and the N'Quatqua First Nation in 2023 for 39 days. In 2024, access was restricted for 60 days. Last week, it was announced that the 2025 closures will last more than 100 days.
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The B.C. government also recently announced a short-term restriction on non-Indigenous visitors to the iconic Botanical Beach park on Vancouver Island. If Joffre Lakes is any guide, we can expect longer closures in the future.
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The government's endorsement of these closures sets a troubling precedent for other parks and public lands. As B.C.'s former deputy minister of energy and Aboriginal law expert Robin Junger pointed out, the Joffre Lakes closures were initiated on the basis of the park being within Líl̓wat and N'Quatqua traditional territory, where Aboriginal title has been asserted but not proven.
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While Indigenous rights are protected by the Constitution, this does not give Indigenous groups the right to act unilaterally without consideration of the public interest, especially in cases where Aboriginal title hasn't been legally established.
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If the position of Indigenous groups, and seemingly the B.C. government, is that the mere assertion of Aboriginal title confers the right to prohibit access to public spaces, then there is nothing to prevent similar closures not just of other parks, but of any public lands throughout the province.
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The issue already extends far beyond parks. The B.C government was criticized in February for withholding the details of a significant deal with the shíshálh Nation on the Sunshine Coast until after last year's provincial election. It involves huge amounts of money, transfers of land and promises to negotiate Aboriginal title and 'exclusive decision-making' powers in the band's traditional territory.
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