On June 5, 2025 the Tŝilhqot’in Nation announced a path-breaking set of agreements with the Province of British Columbia and Taseko Mines Limited regarding the area surrounding Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake).
Teẑtan Biny is an area of profound spiritual importance to the Tŝilhqot’in Nation, over which they have proved their Aboriginal rights. It also holds one of the largest known undeveloped gold-copper deposits in the world, to which Taseko holds the mineral tenures.
That collision between the Tŝilhqot’in’s Aboriginal rights and the mineral tenures led to three decades of conflict, as Taseko advanced its massive New Prosperity open-pit mine proposal. That proposed mine was rejected, but Taseko sought to push forward with further exploration activity, which led the Tŝilhqot’in to blockade the roads to the site and to win an injunction against Taseko in court.
Tim Dickson and Aria Laskin represented the Tŝilhqot’in in obtaining the injunction.
The injunction provided the opening for confidential discussions among the Tŝilhqot’in, the Province and Taseko, which after five years succeeded in producing the historic Teẑtan Biny Gagaghut’i (Teẑtan Biny Agreement) and related agreements.
As outside legal counsel, Tim Dickson joined Jay Nelson and J.P. Laplante as the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s core negotiating team.
At the heart of the deal are binding requirements for the Tŝilhqot’in’s free, prior and informed consent for any mining activity in the relevant areas. Those requirements are enforced by two agreements:
- An agreement with the Province that requires the consent of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation for any mine in the Teẑtan Biny area that is a reviewable project under the Environmental Assessment Act(EAA) to proceed. That agreement is prescribed by Order in Council under s. 7 of the EAA, such that the consent requirement has statutory force. A second Order in Council authorizes negotiations to set out the process for how this requirement for the Tŝilhqot’in’s consent would be addressed in any potential environmental assessment process. Those negotiations will commence if the Tŝilhqot’in decide in the future to consider a mine proposal.
- An agreement with Taseko and the holding company that owns the mineral tenures, which prohibits all mining activity – including exploration – in the mineral tenure area without the Tŝilhqot’in’s consent. That agreement sets out detailed processes for engagement and the Tŝilhqot’in’s decision-making.
The agreement also provides the Tŝilhqot’in with financial contributions; a 22.5% interest in the mineral tenures (to be held in trust and released to the nation if and when it decides to consider a mining proposal); a land use planning process with the province over the area subject to the consent requirement; and a path to Tŝilhqot’in stewardship over a larger area of great importance to the nation.
Under the agreement Taseko receives a financial contribution from the Province and a more productive relationship with the Tŝilhqot’in.
These agreements are the result of the unwavering resolution of the Tŝilhqot’in people and their leadership. As Grand Chief Stewart Philip has noted about them, they also mark a turning point in the negotiation of agreements requiring the free, prior and informed consent of an Indigenous nation, by demonstrating that such consent agreements can be the key to unlocking entrenched conflict and advancing reconciliation.
JFK Law is honoured to have worked with the Tŝilhqot’in on this historic deal.
News releases from the Tŝilhqot’in Nation and the Government of British Columbia are here and here. BC’s news release includes a link to a detailed summary of the agreements.
