When the lease came up for renewal, among other political issues, the provincial government said no renewal unless there is a commitment that there will be no nuclear powered vessels or devices etc in the waters of Nanoose Bay. The US refused to disclose their intentions and practice. The BC government said no lease. The federal government stepped in and said we will expropriate the land and waters in order to accommodate the US interest and needs. In Canada there is a very clear division of power on some issues between the federal government and the province.
Property is provincial .
Defence is Federal. The feds say they can take the land because they are doing so for defence purposes. Nanoose Bay has already been defined as provincial property in a previous Supreme Court of Canada ruling. These are some of the points in issue. At the core of it all , the citizens say these matters go to the heart of citizen rights in a democracy.