A12
                                                 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

                                           Date: March 13, 1997
                                           C.C. File: 3139-1

   TO:       Vancouver City Council

   FROM:     City Manager

   SUBJECT:  Local Government Interests in Lower Mainland Area Treaty
             Organizations


   RECOMMENDATION

        A.   THAT Council receive the attached report on Lower Mainland
             Area Treaty Organizations for information.

        B.   THAT Council's feedback and support on the document be
             channelled through Council s representative to the Lower
             Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC).

   CITY MANAGER S COMMENTS

        The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A & B.

   COUNCIL POLICY

   On March 14, 1995, City Council endorsed the following principals and
   rights formulated by the Province, that will be used to guide the
   Provincial negotiation teams on First Nations land claims:

   -    Private property will not be on the table;
   -    Access to land and resources for hunting, fishing and recreational
        use will be guaranteed;
   -    The Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms will
        be applied to all citizens of British Columbia;
   -    Agreements must be affordable to B.C. taxpayers;
   -    The Federal Government's primary constitutional and financial
        responsibility for treaties must be maintained.
   -    Fair compensation for unavoidable disruption of commercial
        interests will be assured;
   -    Jurisdictional certainty between First Nations and municipalities
        must be clearly spelled out;
   -    Province wide standards of resource management and environmental
        protection will apply.

   In addition, Council identified the following City concerns, which were
   communicated to the Federal and Provincial Governments:

   -    Real property owned by a municipality should not be at risk;
   -    Real property held by a municipality under long-term leases and/or
        trustee agreements from either level of senior government should
        not be at risk;
   -    Real property owned/held by First Nations outside the official
        boundaries of their Reserves not be granted Reserve status.  These
        properties, if they fall within the official boundaries of a
        municipality, are to be treated like any other private property
        with respect to taxation and application and enforcement of
        municipal by-laws;
   -    The application and enforcement of municipal by-laws are to include
        all First Nations Reserve properties that fall within the official
        boundaries of a municipality.

   BACKGROUND

   The LMTAC is comprised of representatives from 26 jurisdictions from the
   Lower Mainland area who have been collaborating on the municipal
   interests in Treaty negotiations since 1994.  Councillor Nancy
   A.Chiavario has been Council s representative on the LMTAC from the
   onset and is currently the Chair of LMTAC.  The LMTAC, through three
   separate efforts - an interest paper, a half day workshop, followed by a
   full day facilitated working session, has brought forward an agreed upon
   set of principles to guide municipal participation in negotiations as
   outlined in the attached report (Appendix I).

   DISCUSSION

   The purpose of the attached report is to provide LMTAC members with a
   reference that guides the interests of the local government members in
   negotiations.  It will also be used to provide Federal, Provincial and
   Aboriginal negotiators with an initial understanding of the viewpoints
   and interests of area local governments.  It is intended that the
   document is dynamic; that is, changing and evolving as negotiations
   progress.  Once feedback is provided by Councils to the LMTAC, the
   document will be brought back to Council for final endorsement.  More
   detailed and community-specific information will be added as
   negotiations enter substantive phases.  Appendix II contains January and
   February bulletins outlining the current activities of LMTAC

   The report identifies:

   -    interests in the negotiation process - this section provides a
        summary of the Committee s interests related to the process of
        negotiating treaties and Local Governments  participation therein;
   -    general interests in negotiating settlements - this section cover
        Committee members  general interests or principles they wish
        reflected in any negotiated settlements;

   -    issue-specific interests in negotiating settlements - this section
        is a preliminary listing of guiding principles the Committee has
        formulated related to services and issues in which Local Government
        has a direct interest.

   In summary, the Committee believes that any negotiated settlements
   should assist all citizens of British Columbia to live in harmony with
   each other by understanding and respecting each other s values, race,
   heritage and place of origin.  The Committee also believes each citizen
   of the Province should be treated equally and have similar rights and
   responsibilities.  The Committee recognizes that to accomplish these
   aims within negotiated settlements will be a challenging task.  However,
   to settle for less would not serve the aims of the treaty negotiation
   process, nor would it be just  to the citizens of British Columbia -
   aboriginal and non-aboriginal.

   SUMMARY

   The participation of elected officials and staff on the LMTAC will help
   to achieve successful negotiations in treaty discussions.  More detailed
   and community-specific information will be required as negotiations
   progress.  Input from Council will be sought as the treaty negotiations
   progress.

                                 *  *  *  *  *