Legislature approval for amendments to Nisga'a Final Agreement

Cabinet Minister introduces some amendments to the Nisga'a Treaty
during last week's wrap up to the fall session

As they wrapped up the last of their work at the British Columbia Legislature last week, MLA's put the final approval to a pair of amendments to the Nisga'a Final Agreement, the guiding document for the Nisga'a Lisims Government and Province of British Columbia.

Scott Fraser, the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation introduced the amendments to the Legislature last week, outlining the two changes that have been made to the document that was created after lengthy negotiations led to the signing of the Treaty back in 2000.

The first amends the definition of "Nisga'a settlement trust" to enable the settlement trust to also be defined in the taxation agreement. This paves the way for changes to the taxation agreement that will allow the Nisga'a Nation to broaden the scope of investments by the settlement trust. 

The second provision corrects a reference error in the fiscal relations chapter that was identified during the negotiations. The amended agreement will enable the Nisga'a Nation to invest in limited partnerships, which are not permitted under the current settlement trust rules. Changes to federal tax law cleared a path to negotiate these amendments.

The Nisga'a Lisims Government building
from the Nisga'a Nation website

Canada and the Nisga'a Nation have each already ratified the amending agreement. British Columbia is the last signatory that needs to ratify it before the agreement can take effect.

The documentation of the Legislature session can be reviewed here, starting at the beginning of the Tuesday afternoon session.  The video version of the day's events can be found here.

You can learn more about the Nisga'a Treaty here.

For more items of interest about the Nisga'a Nation see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review