At each treaty table, the parties must disclose their ratification procedures before negotiations begin. This is done by an exchange of letters. The Governments of Canada and British Columbia have consistently said that a treaty would receive final approval by cabinet decision followed by legislation. The letter delivered by the B.C. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to each First Nation states, and I quote, The provincial legal ratification procedure for treaties will be to obtain an Executive Decision from Cabinet and to pass enabling legislation in the House. There is a sound reason for disclosing ratification procedures at the outset.
Treaties take years to negotiate and demand an enormous commitment of human and financial resources.
For First Nations it is particularly onerous because most must borrow to build the capacity to negotiate, to hire the expertise they need, and to consult with their people on and off reserve throughout the negotiations. With that much at stake, the parties must find out each others procedures for approving the final treaty. It is essential that the people who will approve the final treaty are the same people who are telling their negotiators what to negotiate. If any of the negotiators are getting their instructions from a different source than the body that finally approves the treaty, the negotiations are likely to be a monumental waste of time, money and effort. 29 First Nations are negotiating agreements in principle under the Treaty Commission process relying on the fact that government negotiators have obtained, and will continue to obtain, their mandates from federal and provincial cabinets, and that those same cabinets will approve the resulting treaties.