Expropriated land to be returned to Delta farmers

A long and bitter chapter in Delta’s farming history is finally coming to a close as several pioneer families have secured their expropriated land.

The provincial government announced this week a group of Brunswick Point farmers and the Tsawwassen First Nation reached a settlement that resolves a long-standing legal dispute over the expropriation of farmland.

"This is an important settlement which supports farming families at Brunswick Point, respects the Tsawwassen treaty and brings final resolution to a long-standing dispute," Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Mary Polak said Tuesday. "It takes a great deal of negotiation, compromise and respect to reconcile legal issues, and I commend all parties for their work on this settlement."

The agreement allows the provincial government to sell the Brunswick Point land back to the farmers, while still supporting terms of the TFN treaty.

The Brunswick Point families — the Swensons, Montgomerys, Gilmours and McKims – lost their land in a mass expropriation in the spring of 1968.

Brunswick Point was among 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of privately owned farmland in an area known as the Roberts Bank back-up lands. It was to become industrial development to serve the new superport.

Another 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of land owned by Delta would also be expropriated.

The land was never used for industrial purposes, so pressure built on Victoria to return it to the farmers.

In 1999, the provincial government agreed to sell back much of the expropriated land, but that offer wasn’t extended to Brunswick Point farmers because their land was under a treaty claim by the TFN. Although government negotiators later offered assurances the farmers’ properties wouldn’t be included in a treaty settlement, the province also signed an agreement with the TFN stipulating it would have first right of refusal to purchase the land for 80 years.

The families maintained that because the industrial development never took place, they were entitled to a return of their prime farmland without any encumbrances. Another big concern facing the farmers was the price for their land, which they had been leasing from the government since it was expropriated.

The families took the government to court but the judge reserved decision in order to allow all the parties to negotiate a deal.

The deal announced this week allows the Brunswick Point families to regain title to their land at a pre-negotiated purchase price. The land will be consolidated into four large parcels, while staying in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

"We are happy that this long outstanding issue is finally resolved to the satisfaction of all three parties," said TFN Chief Kim Baird. "This is yet another example of where people acting with goodwill and a spirit of cooperation can resolve tough and sensitive issues."

Art Swenson, a spokesperson for the families, told the Optimist they are happy and relieved their saga is nearing an end after so many decades.

"We’re excited to get it back and become owners again," he said.

Swenson noted the TFN would still have the right of first refusal to buy the land.

"In the treaty, if they do purchase those Brunswick Point lands, those lands do come out of the municipality of Delta. But as it stands with us purchasing it, those lands stay within Delta," Swenson said.

It’s not clear at this point that should the TFN ever manage to acquire some of the properties in the future, would the land still be farmed or be used for other development.

One of the key figures speaking on behalf of farmers during the turbulent time of expropriation was Art’s grandfather, a pioneer farmer also named Art Swenson. A former member Delta council, he was chair of a negotiating group of farmers and residents displaced by the superport.

Chosen as Delta’s Citizen of the Year in 1968, the senior Swenson’s family arrived to farm in South Delta in 1888, becoming an integral part of the community.

Swenson and the Delta Farmers’ Institute asked for several concessions, including better offers for the expropriated land as well as allowing the farmers to lease the properties that weren’t immediately needed for development.

The younger Swenson said his granddad would be proud to see the land finally returned.

Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington said it’s a historic deal for Delta that’s long overdue.

"The Brunswick Point families have endured long, hard, hurtful and frustrating years while coming to this agreement and it’s a good day for all of Delta," she said.

Huntington noted the important role of the TFN, whose participation enabled the final settlement.