VANCOUVER — The chiefs of four British Columbia First Nations have told Conservative member of Parliament Aaron Gunn to “chillax” after he criticized land acknowledgments referring to “unceded territory” at the start of public events.
In a joint statement, the chiefs from the Tla’amin, Homalco, K’omoks and Klahoose nations said that “harmless” land acknowledgments only recognized “the history of the place” where people held events.
The nations said that land acknowledgments “have never seized private property, cancelled a mortgage, repossessed a pickup truck or altered a single title deed anywhere in Canada.”
“Chiefs from four First Nations communities are urging the public to please approach Aaron Gunn with no caution whatsoever,” their statement issued on Wednesday said.
“He is completely harmless, though momentarily unsettled by the alarming possibility that someone might acknowledge the land before a meeting.”
It said the chiefs “had two words for the MP — chillax, bud.”
Gunn, the MP for North Island-Powell River, had criticized the practice of acknowledgments on Monday, saying on social media that if the federal government “truly believes in the private property rights of Canadians, they should probably stop opening every public meeting by proclaiming the gathering on the ‘unceded territory’ of this or that First Nation.”
Gunn said in his statement that making such remarks “reinforces the radical and dangerous legal concept that most Canadians live on ‘stolen land.'”
“This is Canada,” he said. “One country. For all Canadians.”
He was commenting in the wake of a rights acknowledgment between Ottawa and the Musqueam First Nation in B.C. that was signed last month.
The Tla’amin, Homalco, K’omoks and Klahoose nations are located in the riding represented by Gunn.
“No one is going anywhere,” the First Nations said. “Canada will survive the brief moment of honesty. Until then, chiefs across the region continue to reassure the public that land acknowledgments have not, to date, resulted in any land back.”
Gunn responded to the joint statement on social media on Thursday by saying it was “unfortunate to see a number of bands making light of what is an extremely divisive time in our politics.”
B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert said Thursday that adding “a bit of humour to this is important.”
“There seems to be a manic anxiety quality coming from some Conservative politicians around acknowledging history,” he said, adding that telling someone to “chillax” was “the kindest way to approach it.”
References to territory in British Columbia being “unceded” typically refer to the fact that although the British Crown established treaties with First Nations in most parts of Canada before it was formed, the process was not completed in B.C.
The recent agreement with the Musqueam, who claim Aboriginal title of an area spanning much of Metro Vancouver, says the First Nation has unextinguished rights and title in its territory, and that both the federal government and the Musqueam are seeking a “new nation-to-nation, government-to-government relationship.”
The rights agreement says it does not “create, amend, establish, abrogate or derogate” from Musqueam title, and nor does it constitute a treaty or land claim.
— with files by Wolfgang Depner in Victoria
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2026.
The Canadian Press
