A First Nations burial site has been protected and the construction of a retirement home in the Gulf Islands has come to an end.

A First Nations burial site has been protected and the construction of a retirement home in the Gulf Islands has come to an end. 

The building is to be demolished after the government stepped in with some compensation for the owner. Grace Islet was found to be the site of 16 cairns, and even after the burial location was discovered, the construction of the home kept moving forward. British Columbia will cover the $300,000 to decommission and tear down the house. The islet will be transferred to the Nature Conservancy of Canada at a cost of $5.45 million. “It’s a significant amount,” said the Minister of Forest, Lands and Natural Resources in a statement, but he said “the First Nations’ archaeological and cultural interests” were “also very significant.”