When the government decides they need your land for public use, they get it.
It’s a tough luck thing for any land owner, but, at the very least, you’ll always get paid for it.
Unless you’re Indigenous, apparently.
Tseshaht First Nation in Port Alberni is seeking compensation for a highway that was built on Tseshaht territory without consent.
Yep, you guessed it: Highway 4.
It’s been built and used for a long time, so why are they asking for payment now?
Well, because they never got payment in the first place, and it’s really not a big ask.
Expropriation is the technical term for what the government did to build Highway 4. It’s defined as an action by the state or an authority to take property from its owner for public use or benefit.
When the government does this with home or business owners, they at least get (relatively) fair compensation for the land.
In the case of most expropriated First Nation land, though, Nations got sweet nothing. Even when they were against the build in the first place. That’s the case with the Tsesaht Nation and Highway 4.
Wahmeesh Ken Watts is Tseshaht First Nation elected Chief Councillor. “This is not a new issue,” he told Alberni Valley News. “In 1889, our nation wrote a letter to the government of Canada expressing opposition to the roadway. Despite this, Canada did not take any steps to protect our interests, as they were legally required to do. As a result, the province of British Columbia proceeded to build the highway, taking our land without our consent.”
Tseshaht First Nation says it submitted a claim for compensation for the “unlawful and unauthorized” use of land within the Nation’s reserve to build the provincial Pacific Rim Highway (Highway 4), which leads to Tofino.
“Tseshaht has always opposed the construction or operation of Highway 4 and has never been compensated for the use of its land,” says a press release from the Nation.
The claim gives Canada an opportunity to accept responsibility for its wrongdoing and ensure Tseshaht is appropriately compensated for the loss of its reserve lands.
The Pacific Rim Highway is the only public route from Port Alberni to Tofino. Folks use it to get back and forth to medical treatments, groceries, and family members. Roughly one million visitors travel the highway every year.
Canada now has three years to review the claim and decide whether it will accept it for negotiations or not.
In a country where thieves get jailed for stealing over $500, it’s pretty clear what their decision should be.
Now we wait and see. Will our government will follow its own laws?
Or will it continue to use its privilege to break them and get away with it?
