Not long ago, doing anything on Canada’s Indian Reserves was almost as hard as doing anything on whenua Māori. 

Here, the roughly six percent of the country held under Māori land tenure is beset by regulatory difficulty far worse than that bedevilling the rest of New Zealand. 

In Canada, doing anything substantial on an Indian Reserve had meant dealing with a micromanaging central government. So not much could be done. 

How things have changed – at least in Canada.
 
Three apartment towers are nearing completion on the small Kitsilano 6 Reserve near downtown Vancouver on land that was finally returned to the Squamish Nation in 2002 – Phase One of a larger project building over 6,000 homes. 

The Squamish took time to decide what they wanted to do with the land. Once they decided, they could act. The land is theirs, under their authority. And they wanted to build. The small Nation will help ease Vancouver’s housing shortage. 

Real autonomy on that land meant that the Squamish did not need Vancouver City’s permission to build. But autonomy is not autarky. The city provides services, and the Squamish pay for them under a service agreement. There are no free rides. 

Going from concept to construction in a fraction of the time that City Hall takes to process permits led Vancouver’s General Manager of Planning to say, “We might be able to learn something from them.” 

The change over the decades since I left Canada is incredible. And that change started small. 

During the 1990s and 2000s, changes to the Indian Act enabled First Nations to opt for greater autonomy over taxation, land use planning, and borrowing. Early adopters helped build both the legislative changes and the institutions that helped others to follow later.  

In 1996, thirteen First Nations signed the first Framework Accord with Ottawa, allowing them to set their own Land Codes and opt-out of the Indian Act’s land use provisions. Today, 120 have operational Land Codes.  

Now, the First Nations Band Councils that represent their people and govern reserves can have real authority over their land – and many are using that authority to shift from dependence to development.  

Building Nations: What Canada’s First Nations can teach us about devolution and development, a research note we released this week, draws a few lessons from their experiences, including the value of starting small.  

Stronger rangatiratanga over whenua Māori could be good for everyone. 

Explore Eric’s research in greater detail through our complete research note and podcast discussion.