In 2001, the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations filed a lawsuit against Canada and British Columbia that alleged both governments had disregarded reserve land originally set aside during the Douglas Treaties in the 1850s. The lawsuit claimed that James Douglas, then Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, unlawfully took back a portion of the reserve land he had previously designated and used it to develop the Colonial Administration Buildings (now the Parliament Buildings).
In 2007, an agreement was reached between the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations and the Canadian and B.C. governments to settle the land claims outside of the court system. All parties agreed that the Canadian and B.C. governments would transfer $31.5 million to the two nations for purchasing land elsewhere, compensating the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations for what was argued to be an infringement on their historical treaty rights.
