North Shore First Nations buy provincial properties

The North Shore's Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, along with Vancouver's

Musqueam band, are at the centre of a massive land sale deal with the province that will see the First Nations buy large properties in Burnaby and Vancouver.

The province and three First Nations issued a press release Thursday explaining that the Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam have purchased the province's Willingdon Lands in Burnaby, and that all three bands were in the process of purchasing the Liquor Distribution Branch warehouse property on East Broadway in Vancouver.

The 16-hectare Willingdon property at Willingdon Avenue and Canada Way sold for $57.9 million while the financial details on the warehouse property won't be released until the deal closes in the fall, according to the ministry of technology, innovation and citizens' services.

The province announced in 2013 that it would be selling off surplus properties in order to deliver a balanced budget.

While the province carried out First Nations consultation prior to the sale, which is customary, the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations made offers for the lands at the province's asking price.

That price was determined by an independent assessment based on the lands' value if redeveloped to its "highest use", according to the ministry.

Government policy permits direct sales to First Nations.

For Squamish Chief Ian Campbell, the deal bodes well for the relationships the Coast Salish peoples have with each other and with the Crown.

"To the membership, this is just one step in the long-term vision of working together

as neighbours and as families that have certainly known each other for many thousands of years in this part of the country," he said.

"To the members, it's inspiring hope in them that we're starting to see incremental change, and we're providing different solutions and alternatives to the stalemate that has resulted in scarcity of resources, marginalization and alienation from our lands and our economy."

The Liquor Distribution Branch has at least three years left on the site before moving to a new location. After that, the three First Nations will likely redevelop the land with an eye to creating more commercial/office space.

"It looks like commercial is highly sought-after outside of the downtown core. That seems to be the direction the City of Vancouver would like to see within the Grandview Woodlands community planning," Campbell said.

The province hasn't yet found a new location for the hub of B.C.'s liquor distribution system though the press release notes moving it will allow for modernization and more efficiency.