Yale First Nation

Background

Negotiating status

Negotiating affiliation

Location

Number of Band Members: 154 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence January 2011, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Negotiations

The Yale First Nation (YFN) entered the treaty process in April 1994, and is now in Stage 5 of the six-stage process, negotiating to finalize a treaty.

The Yale First Nation AIP was approved by the Yale community in a series of meetings held in the fall of 2005, by BC's Cabinet on February 6th, 2006, and by the federal Cabinet June 23, 2006.

A ceremony was held in Vancouver on March 9, 2006, where the AIP was officially signed by the three parties.

A treaty moved a step closer on November 20, 2008, when the Yale First Nation chief signed an understanding between Yale First Nation and the Province to conclude treaty negotiations between the two parties. The signing represented an interim step prior to the final agreement being initialled by all three parties.

On February 5, 2010, that initialling became a reality, as Canada, BC and Yale initialled the final agreements.

Yale First Nations members approved the agreement in March 2011. The legislation entitled “Bill 11 – 2011: Yale First Nations Final Agreement Act” was introduced in the BC Legislature on May 18, 2011, and passed on June 2, 2011. It now goes through the federal parliamentary process. If Parliament passes its legislation, a date is then set by the three parties for the treaty to take effect.

Final Agreement

The Final Agreement provides for 1,966 hectares of proposed treaty lands, including 1,749 hectares of provincial Crown land and 217 hectares of existing reserve land. The offer also includes a capital transfer of $10.7 million.

• Bill 11 – 2011: Yale First Nations Final Agreement Act
• Final Agreement (PDF - 5MB) [This Agreement incorporates all minor changes agreed to by the Parties in the first Minor Change Agreement dated January 31, 2011, the Second Minor Change Agreement dated August 9, 2011, the Third Minor Change Agreement dated November 10, 2011 and the Fourth Minor Change Agreement dated November 14, 2011.]
• Final Agreement Appendices (PDF - 49.7MB) - January 2012
• Final Agreement - French Version (PDF - 995 KB)
• Yale Final Agreement Appendices - French Version (PDF - 16.5 MB)
• Harvest Agreement (PDF - 127KB)

Factsheets

• Introduction (PDF - 25KB)
• Certainty (PDF - 16KB)
• Culture (PDF - 17KB)
• Financial Components (PDF - 26KB)
• Fisheries (PDF - 17KB)
• Governance (PDF - 18KB)
• Natural Resources (PDF - 19KB)
• Ratification and Implementation (PDF - 16KB)
• Taxation (PDF - 27KB)
• Yale Lands (PDF - 17KB)

Yale Final Agreement Side Agreements

• Fiscal Financing Agreement (PDF - 192KB)
• Implementation Plan Agreement (PDF - 33MB)
• Own Source Revenue Agreement  (PDF - 339KB)
• Real Property Taxation Coordination Agreement (PDF - 153KB)
• Tax Treatment Agreement (PDF - 672KB)
• Wildfire Suppression Agreement (PDF - 163KB)

Agreement-in-Principle

• Yale Agreement-in-Principle (PDF - 12.2MB)

Other Activities

In April 2005, it was announced that Yale First Nation, the District of Hope, the Fraser Valley Regional District, Electoral Area 'B' were invited to apply for a probationary community forest agreement, providing up to 34,300 cubic metres of timber annually in the Fraser timber supply area.

In October 2007, the Ministry of Forests and Range issued the five-year probationary community forest agreement.