Chilcotin hunting guides say government backtracking on compensation pledge

A group of B.C. guide outfitters say they’ve been abandoned by the provincial government.

The guides have been negotiating compensation for years after the historic Tsilhqot’in First Nation ruling at the Supreme Court of Canada meant they would lose access to their hunting rights on the Chilcotin plateau.

Home to lynx, moose and bears, the Tatlayoko Lake area in the Chilcotin once attracted hunters from around the world.

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And through Skinner Creek Hunts it is how Doug McMann made his living as a guide.

“We are in a really tough spot, at my age you don’t want to have to start from scratch,” he told Global News.

This week the prime minister and senior B.C. ministers marked the 10-year anniversary of the Tsilhqot’in ruling.

The court ruling recognized Indigenous land and title and restricted access for a handful of guide outfitters and ranchers.

For the past six years, McMann and others like him have been negotiating compensation for that lost access.

“The cost of reconciliation needs to be borne by all Canadians, and not just the five of us,” he said.

In a statement, Water and Land Minister Nathan Cullen said the way title was decided — through the courts —left many complex legal and practical questions unresolved.

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“While I cannot comment on the specifics, I will say the province continues to work with the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia on many topics,” he added.

The issue has become a flashpoint in the Cariboo, where the opposition says the government isn’t listening to those affected.

“What is very concerning people is people have lost their businesses and access to something they are currently paying for,” BC Conservative MLA Lorne Doerkson said.

McMann says he supports reconciliation with First Nations.

He’s made multiple trips to Victoria to discuss the issue and potential compensation, believing he had commitments from both Cullen and Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin.

“There is a moral obligation to make that right and I don’t know what happened,” he said.

And he is warning others who rely on tenures that the province’s approach to reconciliation could affect their livelihood next.

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