Brian Domney spent 7 years as lead negotiator for B.C. with Wet’suwet’en nation
A former B.C. treaty negotiator is calling out the provincial government for its role in the Wet’suwet’en conflict over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, saying the provincial and federal governments acknowledged long ago that the hereditary chiefs are the appropriate people to negotiate with on matters of rights and title.
Brian Domney penned an open letter to B.C. Premier John Horgan last week and shared it with CBC News, writing that the conflict today is largely rooted in government “shopping around the First Nations world” to find the individuals or groups that will support its agenda.
Domney, who is now retired, worked for the B.C. Ministry of Education in Indigenous education and spent the last seven years of his career with the B.C. Treaty Negotiation Office as the lead negotiator for British Columbia at the Wet’suwet’en treaty table.
He said the current outrage coming from Indigenous Peoples who support the hereditary chiefs is justified.
“I spent seven years negotiating Wet’suwe’ten rights and title on behalf of the provincial Crown and both the provincial and federal governments had agreed the Office of the Wet’suwet’en — that group representing the hereditary chiefs — had the authority to negotiate the rights and title of the Wet’suwet’en people at the treaty table,” he said in an interview with CBC News.
Chantelle Bellrichard – CBC News – Feb 20, 2020.
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