Haawa, Mr. Zimmer.
Yes, I think it's unique. It is a unique arrangement. In the “Rising Tide” Haida Title Lands Agreement between the Haida Nation and the province, Haida aboriginal title is recognized throughout the land, so it does exist underneath the fee simple interests that are held by individuals.
Actually, Tom Isaac and I went to a law conference. He presented. Many lawyers pressed him, you know, and had this important discussion for everybody around his comments. He backed off, in a sense. He acknowledged that a sovereign nation, the Haida Nation, under our governance and our law-making authority, can consent to provincial jurisdiction. That's what we did when it comes to fee simple lands: They remain under provincial jurisdiction. It is compatible.
Nothing in our agreement as it's outlined derogates or takes away from those fee simple interests. In fact, others have argued it actually enhances it in the British Columbia situation, where there aren't treaties in a lot of British Columbia and there's uncertainty from a legal perspective on interests that were given out in an environment without treaty that are liabilities of the Crown, from a legal perspective.
That work, though, didn't come overnight. It's the culmination of working with our friends and neighbours on Haida Gwaii through protocol agreements we've had with each of the municipal governments. Our intention in pursuing our aboriginal title interest is not to remove people from their homes or disrupt their communities. In fact, it's to bring greater clarity in how we're going to continue to evolve our relationships. The agreement reflects that work. I think for us it's a creative path forward.
I also have to recognize that this discussion about fee simple interests isn't just between the Haida and British Columbians and Canadians and settlers. There are a lot of Haida people who own fee simple lands as well. A lot of people, through the Indian Act, were not allowed to live on the reservations and, over time, purchased homes in municipal communities and rural areas.
It was a creative way to provide certainty for everybody in this complex landscape that we're all operating in.