Premier claims he wasn’t briefed on deal signed a few feet away from him last month

As Metro Vancouver residents scrambled Monday to understand what a new federal Aboriginal title agreement could mean for their homes and businesses, B.C.’s premier was insistent he knew nothing about any of it.

David Eby told reporters he was as mystified as everyone else about a deal between the federal government and the Musqueam Indian Band that affirmed Aboriginal rights and title within its traditional territory—an area that includes Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and parts of Delta, and is home to more than one million people.

“I haven’t been briefed yet on the contents of the agreement,” Eby said at an event in which he was trying to deflect attention away from other controversies befuddling his government by announcing changes to daylight savings time.

“I look forward to learning more about what the federal government’s been doing here.”

Isn’t it surprising that Ottawa wouldn’t tell the B.C. government about what it hailed as “landmark agreements that recognize Musqueam’s Aboriginal rights” given the current climate of fear and anxiety over private property rights and Aboriginal title caused by the Cowichan Nation decision, the premier was asked by media.

“To the best of my understanding, the provincial government was not briefed at the political level on this,” replied Eby. “I can’t say whether any public service members had line of sight to it. I certainly didn’t.”

The words would quickly come back to haunt the premier.

But first, his government was grilled in the legislature’s question period on the same issue.

Opposition critic Scott McInnis demanded to know “what this recognition means in the context of our province today?” given the potentially “far-reaching implications” for the province.

Read the full article at BIV: Eby caught in contradiction over Musqueam title agreement