Five Vancouver Island First Nations have signed an agreement in principle with the provincial and federal governments are part of ongoing treaty negotiations.
The agreement with the Malahat, Snaw-Naw-As, Songhees, Beecher Bay, Gordon Planes, and T’Sou-ke First Nations includes the transfer of title to more than 15-hundred hectares of Crown land.
The five will also share in 142 million dollars in funding.
The Agreement-in-Principle covers issues that included governance, taxation and lands and a process for the transition to self-government.
Incremental Treaty Agreements signed in 2013 allowed for the early transfer of some the land.
Chief David Bob, of the Snaw-naw-as First Nation, says the milestone is the result of a lot of work, including the efforts of late Chief and lead Negotiator Wilson Bob.
