This Canadian Pacific Railway station at Oliver was constructed in 1923 to serve the Kettle Valley Railway as part of the Osoyoos Subdivision. Rail operations ended in 1973 and rails were removed in 1979 - 5 Jul 1968 D.T. Horne.

11 July 2012

National Chief Shawn A-in-Chut Atleo Today Welcomed a Decision by the Specific Claims Tribunal on a Claim by the Osoyoos Indian Band

Ottawa Ontario - Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn A-in-Chut Atleo today welcomed a decision by the Specific Claims Tribunal on a claim by the Osoyoos Indian Band, ruling that the First Nation is entitled to compensation for land taken up for a railway in 1922.
 
"I commend the Specific Claims Tribunal for this decision, which provides an equitable remedy for the people of Osoyoos Indian Band in face of a clear breach of the Crown's duty to protect the community's interests in a parcel of their land taken up for a railway," said AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo. "This is a demonstration of the purpose in setting up the Tribunal and I am optimistic it will continue to provide First Nations with equitable remedies in the resolution of the many outstanding claims across the country."
 
The Specific Claims Tribunal released its decision 6 Jul 2012, rejecting the Crown's assertion that the payment of fair market value in 1922 satisfied their legal obligations to Osoyoos Indian Band.
 
"The Tribunal was correct in stating that the price paid in 1922 is of no consequence. Osoyoos was seeking the reversion of the land back to the reservation, which is a legal right," said National Chief Atleo. "The Crown has a legal obligation to preserve and protect a Band's interest in a reserve. The Crown breached its obligation by failing to exercise and assert the Band's entitlement to their lands once Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned the line."
 
The Osoyoos claim arose from the granting of a right-of-way to the Kettle Valley Railway Company in 1922. The Crown sold the railway 3.9 acres of reservation land for $894. The rail line was transferred to Canadian Pacific in the 1950s and was eventually abandoned in 1978. Under the Railway Act of 1919, a company was statute barred from alienating any lands taken from the Crown. Nevertheless, the land was sold to the Province of British Columbia in 1989, despite the fact that the Osoyoos Indian Band made requests starting 1981 to the Department of Indian Affairs for the return of the 3.9 acres of land to the reservation.
 
The Specific Claims Tribunal was established as a part of the work carried out by AFN and Canada under the federal Justice at Last initiative announced in 2007. It is an adjudicative body mandated to address specific claims valued up to $150 million each. It was created to resolve historical claims, which may ordinarily be statute barred if brought in a court. The Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear claims based on the unlawful disposition of First Nation lands and determine the legal obligations of the Crown in relation to those dispositions. Currently, approximately one thousand claims remain unresolved awaiting negotiation or, if these fail, access to the Tribunal. Access to the Tribunal is governed by the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, passed by Parliament in June 2008.
 
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