Musqueam First Nation, Vancouver Airport sign historic land lease revenue sharing agreement
YVR sits on Sea Island in the Fraser River, traditional Musqueam territory
The federal government has announced an agreement to share revenue generated by Vancouver International Airport (YVR) ground lease revenues with the Musqueam First Nation.
The deal was signed at a ceremony held at the Musqueam Cultural Centre in Vancouver on Monday and is being heralded as the first major federal government infrastructure to have any form of Indigenous revenue sharing.
Musqueam Coun. Wendy John said the agreement is groundbreaking.
"When we look at the history of Musqueam, we've been here for over 8,000 years," said John.
"Think about it. [The government] has said for years that we don't even own the land. And now they're saying not only are we recognizing in an incremental way your rights and title, we're going to share, as we should have been all along, the revenue that's generated off your asset of owning that land."
John said the details and the value of the agreement are being kept confidential.
YVR sits on Sea Island in the Fraser River, traditional Musqueam territory.
The federal government controls the land and collects lease revenue from the Vancouver Airport Authority.
"This is a monumental step forward," said Gary Anandasangaree, minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs. "The revenue sharing agreement represents a key milestone in our shared journey to reconciliation."
In 2017, YVR agreed to give one per cent of its annual gross revenue — the equivalent of $5 million that year — to Musqueam, along with 10 annual $10,000 scholarships.