Editorial: Great hosts: good job B.C by Paul Barnsley
The Bitter Root - Let's Make a Deal by Arnie Louie
Extinguishment offered to Sechelt band by Paul Barnsley
Kemano deal draws fire by Paul Barnsley
News in Brief
No more eagle feather debacles?
First Nations eligible for job program
Moratorium on development of Deh Cho lands
CIBC Aboriginal Banking goes on-line
Camosun students welcomed back with totem pole
Here is a full list of additional stories featured in the September, 1997 issue of Raven's Eye. If you are not receiving your own copy of Raven's Eye, then you have missed all this information.
Click here for Raven's Eye subscription information.
First Nations artist lends helping hand
Interior chiefs to propose new treaty process
Native arts and crafts exposed to the world
Claims commission suggests review
Murdered woman's family grateful for conviction
Fetal alcohol syndrome victim fights back
Author calls for protection of Aboriginal culture
Victoria gets back to national championship
Play examines quest for Indian identity
The House of Commons Security Service asked for - and received - help from the Canadian Centre for Police-Race Relations in the form of a two-day workshop in June. The goal was to ensure that no more unfortunate mistakes like the infamous eagle feather incident will occur on Parliament Hill.
Earlier this year, guards refused access to a young Aboriginal woman who wished to carry an eagle feather into the visitor's gallery, saying the feather could be a dangerous weapon. The lack of cultural sensitivity outraged Aboriginal people across Canada.
The purpose of the workshop was to "identify skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for interacting with people of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds."
First Nations, local governments and educational institutions are now eligible for Job Start, a provincial government program designed to help young people get some work experience.
Effective immediately, if an employer hires someone who is between the ages of 17 and 24 who has less than three months of work experience and is not returning to school, the government will pay the employer part of that person's wage. The employers must guarantee 16 straight weeks of work for the young worker. The government will pay as much as $1,120 per youth.
The program is offered by the Ministry of Employment and Investment.
The Deh Cho Annual Assembly voted to freeze development on their traditional territory in the western Arctic until Canada commits to engage in talks that won't lead to extinguishment of Aboriginal or treaty rights.
The Deh Cho people won't go to the table until Canada promises to leave extinguishment out of any negotiations.
Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus commended the decision and urged Canada to make that commitment and get to the table as quickly as possible.
Cameron Brown, a British Columbia banker of Aboriginal heritage, is the national director of Aboriginal banking for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He and several colleagues were at the Assembly of First Nations trade show in Vancouver last month to publicize the CIBC's new Aboriginal web-site (www.cibc.com/aboriginal). The bank is the latest of the big banks to put more effort into helping their Aboriginal customers get access to investment capital and other financial services. The website premiered on July 29. Brown says there are a number of ideas in the works that will increase the quality of the services that CIBC can offer to Aboriginal customers.
When more than 4,000 students returned to school in the first week of the month at Victoria's Camosun College they were greeted by a 18 foot high totem pole that was recently completed by Ditidaht artist Art Thompson.
The totem pole was erected at the Lansdowne campus' Wilna Thomas Cultural Centre. The centre was constructed as a place for Aboriginal and international students to gather.
"This piece will provide a 'sense of place' to First Nations students at Camosun, as well as provide beauty and cultural education to all students and guests at the college. It is a privilege to have this piece here," Janice Simon, the co-ordinator First Nations Education said at the unveiling.
The artist studied commercial arts the school, which was then called
the Institute of Adult Studies, in 1971. He has been involved in a number
of fund raisers for the school.
Editorial: Sechelt offer - Is it enough?
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Editor
Surely, the biggest story in British Columbia this last month is the offer made to the Sechelt people by the federal and provincial governments.
It looks like the light at the end of the modern-day treaty talks tunnel is a fully loaded freight train called extinguishment.
That's a head-on collision that many Aboriginal people have seen coming for a long time.
It would be hard to estimate the worth of the Sunshine Coast in 1997 Canadian dollars but Raven's Eye couldn't find anybody who believes that $48.2 million represents even a nickel on the dollar of the true worth of the land that both governments, with their offer, are admitting was illegally taken from the Sechelt people. And Aboriginal land claim researchers will tell you that the government won't even consider applying commonly accepted standards for calculating interest on land claims. They offer a small fraction of the 'nut' and then refuse to even talk about the interest or punitive damages incurred during 100 or more years of loss of use.
You could say it's a sort of reverse loan-sharking.
Canada and the province are saying 'We'll trade you a couple of hundred hectares of relatively unattractive inland real estate for several thousand hectares of some of the best coastal lands on the continent AND we'll give each of your current band members the equivalent of a used pickup truck a year each year for the next five years. For that, you'll agree to let us off the fiduciary hook by giving up your tax-free status.'
Comments by federal officials confirm that extinguishment is the bottom line in any land claim settlement offer that's going to be coming from Canada or British Columbia. Aboriginal leaders have complained long and loudly that the settler governments can't have it both ways. If the colonial governments want a permanent solution (which is what extinguishment is, the Aboriginal leaders say) to 'the Indian problem,' they can't expect to offer five cents on the dollar in compensation for the Crown's admitted land thefts and breaches of fiduciary duty and then still expect First Nations to give up their (rather limited) tax exempt rights. Those rights have been the only benefit that the Crown has seen fit to bestow in exchange for the loss (regarded by any honest authority on international law as 'the theft') of an entire continent.
In the name of fairness, respect for the rule of law and plain old common decency, the mainstream governments have to give something on one end of the deal or the other.
The Sechelt chief has sent off a letter to the Minister of Indian Affairs saying that asking for extinguishment within 12 years is too soon. Remarks from federal negotiators suggest their instructions are to not bend on that issue.
It looks like the mainstream governments are more interested in seeing how much they can get away with. The political pressure the governments feel is not to do the morally right thing. Applied without evident concern for any sense of decency by groups like Citizen's Voice and other conservatives in British Columbia, the
pressure is to keep the cost down, to avoid paying a legitimate debt.
Mainstream politicians know they can't ever repay the loss that First Nations in Canada suffered at the hands of the colonial powers. Such a move would cost trillions of dollars, some activists say. Spending that kind of money would cripple the Canadian economy and surely lead to the end of any politician's electability.
But Canada values its international reputation as a humane, enlightened democracy. That means there must be some gesture, some hint that Canada wants to do the right thing.
If it turns out that it's an empty gesture, as the minimal Sechelt offer appears to be, what does that say about the humanity and the enlightenment of the Canadian establishment?
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
PRINCE GEORGE
The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council is considering legal action that would seek to negate the recent out of court settlement reached between the province and Alcan Aluminium.
The government of British Columbia was facing a $500 million lawsuit after former Premier Mike Harcourt cancelled the Kemano Completion Project in 1995 saying the planned $1.4 billion project would hurt the fish stocks in the Nechako River. The Montreal-based aluminium giant claimed it had already spent close to $500 million when Harcourt killed the project and filed suit to recover its losses. When Premier Glen Clark and Alcan CEO Jacques Bougie signed the deal on Aug 5, the threat of the lawsuit disappeared.
But environmentalists, taxation watchdogs, some legal experts, former fisheries scientists and the First Nations located along the Nechako River say that the province gave Alcan too much and did nothing to protect the salmon stocks in the Nechako which is part of the Fraser River system.
The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council calls the deal a sell-out. They accuse the province of paying its debts with First Nations' money and resources and ignoring their legal obligation to conserve the fish stocks in the Nechako.
The B.C./Alcan Agreement 1997 expires on Dec. 31, 2023. During the life of that agreement Alcan will receive as much as $1.5 billion in subsidies from the province, according to the local chapter of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Robert Pauliszyn, the director of research for the federation wrote a scathing three-part analysis of exactly what Alcan was given by the province. He said that below market prices for electricity supplied to Alcan by B.C. Hydro and reduced tax rates for water rental add up to between $50 and 60 million in annual subsidies for each year of the agreement. He goes on to charge that the originally-planned project would have been cancelled by Alcan anyway, due to changes in the marketplace that made the project too expensive to make a profit. Pauliszyn accuses the government of being too generous with the taxpayers' money. David Austin agrees. The Vancouver lawyer who specializes in energy industry cases said that provincial negotiators would have gotten a better deal if they'd let Alcan take them to court.
Carrier Sekani tribal vice-chief Reg Mueller said the latest deal is just another in a long series of assaults against the Cheslatta people. The story began in 1950 when Cheslatta hunters returned home to discover that their villages had been burned. The province had given Alcan permission to flood their lands in the Upper Nechako watershed as the company diverted existing waterways to power turbines that would provide electricity for the company's smelter in Kitimat.
Since then the Cheslatta have been fighting for compensation, running a persistent public relations campaign aimed at forcing the government and the corporation to make good for the loss of their traditional homeland.
"The B.C. government handed over tens of millions of dollars of the benefit of the Columbia River treaty to Alcan," said Mueller. "Should not these benefits have gone to the Columbia River people who are effected by this treaty? Again the money trucks line up to haul away our resources while our land and life slowly dies."
The tribal council has received legal advice that they stand a good chance of winning a challenge based on the claim that the province violated its trustee obligation by allowing Alcan to uproot the Cheslatta people in 1950 without their consent. A court, if it finds that the province was in breach of its fiduciary obligation, could set aside the transaction and award damages.
"At this point the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council is weighing its
options," Mueller said, "but one thing you can bank on is, we
are not going to take this lying down."
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Editor
SECHELT
West Coast First Nations learned that extinguishment is the pot of gold at the end of the British Columbia Treaty Commission negotiation process rainbow when negotiators representing Canada and the province made an offer in late August that they hope will lead to the treaty process' first agreement-in-principle.
On Aug. 22 the federal government and the government of British Columbia announced that they would be willing to trade 348 hectares of land, 11 commercial fishing licenses, $48.2 million and their continued recognition of a limited form of Sechelt self government in exchange for the Sunshine Coast.
The Sechelt Indian Band claims the upscale real estate north of Vancouver as its traditional homeland. That claim has been recognized as legitimate by both non-Aboriginal governments.
The offer is the result of two years of open, main table bargaining that involved the Sechelt representatives, federal and provincial negotiators, local government officials and other third parties. It is made on the condition that all parties can agree on all the issues involved in the on-going negotiations.
If they accept the offer, Sechelt people will receive 222 hectares of urban lands and 126 hectares of rural lands. The $48.2 million cash settlement will be augmented by the transfer to the band of 11 existing commercial fishing licenses worth approximately $1.5 million. The provincial government, as part of the deal, will pass a law that will recognize the existing Sechelt Indian Band Self Government Act , federal legislation that was passed in 1986 which allowed the band to own its 33 reserves in fee simple title rather than as land held in trust by the Crown. Since that time the band has governed its territory under the Sechelt Constitution with powers similar to a municipal government.
The parties have worked closely throughout the negotiating process. The band produced a position paper in 1989 that was updated in 1995. Canada and British Columbia responded with their own position papers in 1996.
Canada and the province also consulted with local residents and local municipal officials before formulating the recently announced offer.
British Columbia's Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, John Cashore, revealed that the interests of third parties were an important part of the development of the offer.
"This offer meets the objectives of the Sechelt Indian Band while accommodating the interests of Sunshine Coast stakeholders," Cashore said. "I urge all involved to continue their dedicated efforts toward a Sechelt treaty that provides certainty over land and resource use that is fair and affordable."
Affordable seems to be the key word. The money, land, fishing licenses and governing authority all come with a price that many Aboriginal leaders say is too high: the surrender of tax exempt rights.
If there is any doubt that the non-Aboriginal governments are trying to settle their outstanding debt to the Sechelt people for the lowest possible price, remarks by a provincial government official remove them. When asked if an appraisal of the actual value of the lands on the Sunshine Coast exists, Peter Smith, a spokesman for Aboriginal Affairs, said it does, but it's a secret.
"That value will remain confidential at this point," he said. "Revealing it undermines our position and we are, after all, involved in negotiations."
First Nations people involved in negotiations across the country have long complained that government offers on specific claims are generally far too low, averaging around five percent of the value of the land.
Penticton Indian Band Chief Stewart Phillip, who is an outspoken critic of the B.C. Treaty Process, said that coastal bands are frequently in dire financial straights because of their limited land base and are therefore vulnerable to pressure from the outside governments to settle their claims for far less than the actual market value.
Sechelt Chief Garry Feschuk wrote a letter to Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart a week after the offer was made in which he suggested that giving up all tax-exempt rights within 12 years was too much to give up too soon. Government officials told Raven's Eye that their position is that the 12-year time period is what they require to bring certainty and finality to the treaty process.
By Arnie Louie
Raven's Eye Columnist
This time around, more chiefs gathered in Vancouver to vote for a national chief than ever had before.
The first day saw Chiefs and proxies shake hands, strategically form groups and go right to lunch, straight to the lounge, or directly to their caucus of choice. Politicking was set in motion and consumed every moment leading to the final ballot.
In typical governmental fashion the AFN cleared thousands at the door charging $100 a head. In the beginning, chiefs wondered who was going to show up: Ovide Mercredi or Ghandi? Or whether the rising popularity of candidate Wendy Grant-John would spread beyond her own riding in B.C.? What about Phil Fontaine's return to the national ring?
And what are those other three guys' names again?
Going to the third ballot the most interesting dialogue was not in the caucus rooms but between the candidates themselves as each one approached Larry Sault who without a doubt was the man of the hour.
After the third ballot results were announced, Ovide Mercredi stood up and, as predicted, pointed in the direction of Grant-John. With the simple gesture of a pointed finger the boys and girls club of the First Nations Summit screamed and jumped in one motion as if that was all that was needed to assure victory.
While all the attention was on Mercredi as he walked over to Wendy's camp and gave her a hug that was bathed in camera lights, key people in the Fontaine camp were busy at the other side of the building letting Larry Sault know how special he was.
Suddenly, an interesting message came over the PA system: "The Interior Chiefs of British Columbia will meet in the Bobby Manuel room."
Who were these chiefs? Why were they not in the B.C. caucus room? Was there a split in British Columbia?
Grant-John was invited to the interior chiefs' caucus room. The interior chiefs wanted to know: Would she amend the First Nations Summit policy that supports individual bands negotiating treaties in B.C.?
She danced around the question. That was all the chiefs needed to hear. The choice became clear. When Fontaine entered the room a standing ovation awaited him. Rather than question him, the chiefs chose to hurry to the ballot box and vote for him.
After the voting, Fontaine's lead only increased to 54% and, unless Grant-John conceded, there would be another ballot.
"Support the B.C. Treaty Process and we'll give you the election," Summit supporters told Fontaine.
The Interior Chiefs of B.C. who gave Fontaine their unified support simply because they did not want the First Nation Summit Agenda in Ottawa, shouted, "No concessions! Let's vote again."
In the end, Grant-John, with dignity and grace, conceded to Fontaine.
The newly elected grand chief of the AFN addressed the assembly.
He gave a special thanks to the Interior Chiefs of B. C.
After that he turned to Grant-John's supporters and said, "The AFN will support the BC Treaty Process..."
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