VICTORIA – British Columbia’s chief treaty commissioner says the federal and B.C. governments are erecting barriers to negotiations in the First Nations treaty-settlement process.

Sophie Pierre says both the B.C. Liberal government and the Conservatives in Ottawa are more interested never-ending studies and short-term deals than getting the job finished.

Pierre makes the claims in today’s release of the B.C. Treaty Commission’s annual report.

In the report’s introduction, she says the federal government goes to great lengths to study treaty-related issues while avoiding sitting down to negotiate final land-claims settlements.

Pierre says the B.C. government appears to have shifted its treaty focus to reaching short-term economic deals with First Nations rather than long-term, complete treaty settlements that provide certainty for First Nations and Canadians.

She notes there hasn’t been a formal meeting between the federal and provincial governments and First Nations leadership since May 2012.

The B.C. treaty commission was formed in September 1992 to oversee a treaty negotiation process that involves First Nations and the federal and B.C. governments.