Kwantlen First Nation members outraged over proposed changes to rent-to-own housing program

For the last decade, the Kwantlen First Nation has run a rent-to-own housing program for 12 homes on its MacMillan Island reserve across from Fort Langley. But at a hastily called meeting on March 29, prospective homeowners were told that the program would be ending and the homes would now be for rent only.

People in the program were given new rental agreements on April 1 and told to sign or face potential eviction. So far, no one has signed the agreements and people who live in the homes are now in a state of limbo.

Gord Thomas, 66, has lived in Kwantlen his whole life. He tells CityNews he’s paid over $60,000 into the program over the last 10 years, adding the changes have left him “infuriated.”

“Everybody else got upset too because they didn’t go through protocol. They just made up their minds to do that. The proper protocol would be to bring it to the land code committee, then bring it to the Elders and they’d have to have a membership vote on it,” Thomas said.

‘We want to do it our way’

This isn’t the first point of contention between Kwantlen members and the Nation’s leadership. Kwantlen is one of the few Nations in B.C. where leadership is determined by local custom rather than elections.

Marilyn Gabriel has been Hereditary Chief since 1993. In 2019, Kwantlen members launched a petition calling for Gabriel to resign and a new governance code to be established.

Then, in November 2022, Kwantlen members held a general assembly, voting to remove the chief and institute government reforms. Chief Gabriel has said the results of the vote are invalid, and has taken the reform leaders to court over the vote.

Fern Gabriel is the Chief’s sister and one of the homeowners affected by changes to the rent-to-own program. Fern says the purpose of the program was to help Kwantlen members build equity — and now, that equity could disappear.

“Sitting in that room I felt like this is the perpetuation of an Indian Act policy that never seems to go away. We’re still living under that Indian Act … and there’s a group of people that are perpetuating those same attitudes toward their own people,” she explained.

Fern says things don’t have to be this way. She wants to see positive change for her people.

“We want to do it our way. The leader of this community gave us lip service that things will change but when push comes to shove, it’s not — it hasn’t. She’s perpetuating those same behaviours because she likes to keep control.”

After announcing the policy change, Chief and Council sent a letter apologizing, saying that band members “misunderstood” the policy.

“We again sincerely apologize that there was confusion and concern caused by the communication shared at the meeting on this. We will work to correct the misunderstandings.”

The letter adds some homes will still have an ownership option, though a number of the units will be rental only.

Chief and Council say Kwantlen holds the mortgages on the homes through an agreement with the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation. Until the mortgages are paid the homes remain the property of the Nation.

No change to policy despite apology, member says

Brandon Gabriel, one of the reform movement leaders, says despite the apology, there hasn’t been any shift in the actual policy.

He wants Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to step in and help resolve the situation, but the agency won’t do that.

“Indigenous Services Canada is — by not acting — taking the side of the status quo. In the meantime, community members who are fighting various forms of political oppression are put in a vulnerable position,” Gabriel said.

Indigenous Services tells CityNews it has no role in how the community’s leadership is selected or how governance disputes are resolved.

“Indigenous Services Canada understands that governance disputes can be challenging for a community. We strongly encourage the resolution of disputes through dialogue whenever it is possible,” ISC said in a statement.

“ISC staff are in contact with the parties and have indicated that Professional and Institutional Development Program funding is available from ISC for the First Nation to hire a mediator/facilitator to support dialogue between the parties and/or to facilitate community meetings.”

Indigenous Services also says its role is to support First Nations with developing and delivering their own housing programs within their communities, adding administering the program is ultimately up to the Nation.

Meanwhile, Kwantlen member and journalist Robert Jago, who is working with the reform movement, says people in the region need to know about what’s going on there.

“People should know this isn’t the only band like this. There are dozens of bands across this country where the ministers act like it’s none of their business when they create this situation and put thousands and thousands of Canadians under forms of government we wouldn’t tolerate in any of our allies. They put us in this, they fund it, and they support it. This is all happening because of the hard earned tax dollars of Canadians,” Jago explained.

CityNews has reached out to Kwantlen’s leadership for comment on this story. Despite several attempts, the Chief and other leadership have not responded to our requests.