Is the NDP secretly giving away 24 million acres? The short answer is no

PENTICTON — The Conservative Party of BC claims nearly 24 million acres and over a trillion dollars in mineral wealth are at stake under "secretive" land "handover" process. The other side calls it "misinformation." Who is, or isn't, telling the truth here?.Let’s start with the Conservatives’ claims and the raw numbers.On August 10, the Public Accounts listed 334,643 acres of provincial Crown land as treaty obligations. The largest slices were clear: 113,147 acres for Kitsumkalum, 87,203 acres for Kitselas, 34,461 acres for Wuikinuxv, and 23,411 acres for another indigenous group.The Conservatives did not stop there, though.They then added the Tahltan Nation’s asserted traditional territory — 95,933 square kilometres, or about 11% of British Columbia. That works out to roughly 23.7 million acres, an area larger than Portugal. Inside that territory sits a large share of the Golden Triangle, where the B.C. Geological Survey has estimated $1.28 trillion in contained metal value. Put together, the Conservatives said, that is “up to 24 million acres” that could be up for grabs..They also pointed to the Te’mexw treaty process. Roughly 30 Crown parcels are on the table here, including two downtown Victoria parking lots across from the legislature, Hatley Castle and the Royal Roads grounds, Discovery Island, and Sooke Mountain provincial park. Much of this particular file was first brought into wider public view by citizen journalists at the X account BC Politics Watch and by Caroline Elliott’s National Post column..The Conservatives described the deals as "secret," said the NDP was preparing to “hand over” vast areas of Crown land, and argued the public was being shut out of decisions that will reshape the province.Those are the claims. Now we test them..First, the numbers themselves.The Public Accounts figure of 334,643 acres is accurate. The hectare totals published by the province convert cleanly to the acre figures the Conservatives cited for Kitsumkalum, Kitselas, Wuikinuxv and one other. Those lands are listed as contingent liabilities — commitments that take effect if the relevant treaties are finalized — not land already transferred. On the arithmetic and the source document, the Conservatives are correct.The Tahltan territorial size is also correct. The Indian Band itself, and provincial references, consistently use 95,933 square kilometres, or about 11% of British Columbia. The conversion to roughly 23.7 million acres is standard. The $1.28 trillion mineral estimate comes from a British Columbia Geological Survey valuation of contained metal in the Golden Triangle. Both figures check out.The Te’mexw parcels are real as well. Approximately 30 Crown sites, including the two downtown Victoria lots, Hatley Castle and Royal Roads grounds, Discovery Island and Sooke Mountain, are listed as proposed treaty settlement lands in Stage 5 negotiations. They appear in the same Public Accounts schedule. They have not yet been transferred.So far, the raw numbers the Conservatives put forward hold up.The fight is over what those numbers mean exactly..Within hours of the Conservatives going public, the Tahltan Central Government fired back. On August 14, it released a statement calling the claim false. Kerry Carlick, president of the Tahltan Central Government, said British Columbians “deserve facts, not fear.” He accused the Conservative Party of BC and OneBC of repeating unsupported claims that create unnecessary fear around indigenous rights. According to the Tahltan, the work under the 2020 Shared Prosperity Agreement has been public — land-use planning, environmental stewardship, economic development, and a stronger government-to-government relationship. A negotiated foundation agreement was always identified as the next step. “There is nothing secret about this work," the Tahltan say.The province has taken the same position. Ministry officials say there is no mandate to transfer the entire traditional territory. The Shared Prosperity Agreement, they argue, is a framework for shared decision-making and the transfer of specific, agreed-to lands in community areas — not a plan to convey all 95,933 square kilometres..In fairness to the government’s position, the "secret" part of the Conservatives claim is a stretch.The Shared Prosperity Agreement itself has been a public document since 2020. Both the province and the Tahltan Central Government point to ongoing public processes around land-use planning and stewardship. Calling the entire effort secret is difficult to sustain once those records are examined. On this narrower point, the “misinformation” label carries real weight.Transparency is not completely clean, however. In May, the Public Land Use Society released findings from Freedom of Information records. Those records showed years of negotiations on a Foundation Agreement that contemplated land and governance changes, title recognition, and authority across roughly 11% of the province. More than 400 pages were withheld. .This fits a recurring pattern. The shíshálh Nation agreement was signed weeks before the 2024 election and kept from public view until after the vote. Non-disclosure agreements were heavily used during consultations on proposed DRIPA amendments. FOI requests on aboriginal title and governance files routinely return large volumes of redacted material.At the same time, no published mandate or agreement transfers fee-simple title to the full 23.7 million acres.The Conservatives treat the recognition principle as evidence of an imminent full handover; the Tahltan Central Government and the province reject that reading unequivocally..Before turning to the Victoria parcels, here is a clear accounting of what holds up on the Tahltan claims and what does not.The territorial size checks out. The Tahltan Nation and provincial references consistently put the traditional territory at 95,933 square kilometres, or about 11% of British Columbia — roughly 23.7 million acres.The $1.28 trillion mineral estimate for the Golden Triangle is also accurate, drawn from a British Columbia Geological Survey valuation. The 2020 Shared Prosperity Agreement does state that foundation-agreement negotiations will be based upon recognition of Tahltan Aboriginal title and rights in the territory. And significant portions of the detailed negotiation record have been withheld from public view, as the Public Land Use Society’s Freedom of Information work showed.What does not fully hold up is the claim that the NDP is executing a "secret plan" to transfer the entire 23.7 million acres. The core Shared Prosperity Agreement has been public for more than a half-decade. Some planning work has been public. Both the province and the Tahltan Central Government deny any mandate to convey the whole territory. The strongest version of the “secret deals” framing therefore overreaches.Opacity exists here, certainly, but the process is not entirely hidden or secretive.The Te’mexw file offers a miniaturized version of the same issue..Roughly 30 Crown parcels are listed as proposed treaty settlement lands in Stage 5 negotiations with the Te’mexw Treaty Association. These include two downtown Victoria parking lots across from the legislature, Hatley Castle and the Royal Roads grounds, Discovery Island, and Sooke Mountain provincial park. The parcels appear in the Public Accounts. They too have not yet been transferred.They remain Crown land until a final treaty is ratified by the nations, the province, and Canada, and the land is actually conveyed.Here's where things get really stuck in the mud: even that process is complicated by overlapping claims. The Songhees and Esquimalt Nations both assert rights in the Victoria area, and they are currently adverse parties in ongoing litigation over aboriginal title. Court records show the Esquimalt have filed a title claim covering land in Victoria in which the Songhees appear as a defendant. Whether the province could seamlessly transfer the proposed Te’mexw parcels, even if it wanted to, remains far from clear.The Conservatives’ present-tense claim that the government “is transferring” them therefore runs ahead of the current legal status even if the existence of the parcels, the discussions around a potential transfer, and the facts brought into wider public view by citizen journalists at BC Politics Watch and by Caroline Elliott’s National Post column, all otherwise remain accurate..Public opinion, at least, is relatively clear.A Research Co. survey conducted in early August found 61% of British Columbians want all negotiations involving Aboriginal title agreements paused until the Cowichan Tribes case is resolved. Earlier Angus Reid polling showed nearly half of respondents supporting the repeal of DRIPA, including a notable share of past NDP voters. Majorities have also expressed concern that private property rights are being subordinated.

Is the NDP secretly giving away 24 million acres? The short answer is no

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