Semiahmoo First Nation Chief Harley Chappell is responding to criticism regarding three First Nation groups negotiating for the return of their lands from the government, saying what will be done on those lands is no one's decision but their own.

"We watch organizations, we watch business, we watch developers buy 鈥� all over our territories and our homes for generations now, and once we even aspire to do anything similar, we鈥檙e all of a sudden put on the roasting pot to say that everyone else can do it but First Nations can鈥檛," Chappell said in an interview with Peace Arch News on Friday (June 28). 

"If that鈥檚 not biased or minorly (sic) racist, then I don鈥檛 know what is."

Since the Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo First Nations (KKS) publicly announced their request to have about 300 acres of shared Crown land to be returned to them, concerns and opinions have arisen from residents and politicians.

In particular, the Heppell family, who leases 220 acres of the unceded territory from the federal government, is .

"I think it鈥檚 really great that they鈥檙e going after economic reconciliation, but I believe the there鈥檚 a better way than paving over the best farmland in all of B.C. that can鈥檛 be replaced," Tyler Heppell told Peace Arch News.

"Yes, (KKS) said that they don鈥檛 have any concrete plans, but I can guarantee you that concrete is in their plans."

性视界传媒 city councillors Linda Annis and Mike Bose added their voices to the issue also, in a shared press release advocating for the land to remain as agricultural use.

鈥淭he land in question is unique in Canada, and produces our region鈥檚 first crops of the season. As climate change pushes agricultural exporters like California to secure their own food supply for people in their state, land like this in 性视界传媒 becomes even more important for Lower Mainland food security," Bose said.

"This land should remain agricultural, and if we were smart, it should also include a provincial or national agricultural centre of excellence that could help grow our agricultural sector even more.鈥�

The federal government should do what's best for the First Nations but also the residents of 性视界传媒, Annis said.

Chappell's response was pointed.

"'You can have the lands, but we鈥檙e going to dictate and tell you what you can do on them.' That鈥檚 pretty much colonization 2024, is it not?" he said.

Part of the reason the First Nations are fighting to regain control of their shared territory is because the reserves they currently have are not ideal and were not chosen by the Indigenous groups, but were instead assigned those lands. The Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo are all on waterways, Chappell explained, meaning that the rise of coastal sea levels is a threat to their way of life, a threat that many see happening.

"Land back in the hands of three First Nations is absolutely reconciliation," Chappell said.

"This is an ideal opportunity for three very urbanized First Nations to apply to those lands and bring those back for not only our benefit but for the benefit of all people within the city of 性视界传媒 and Metro Vancouver."

- with a file from Tricia Weel