Sign treaties, jubilant chief urges natives Divisions remain among province's aboriginal communities as many leaders critical of long, costly negotiations

TSAWWASSEN – Basking in the joyous aftermath of her band's historic ratification of the country's first modern urban treaty and the first under British Columbia's beleaguered, 14-year treaty process, Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Kim Baird urged other natives yesterday to get on board the treaty train.

"We hope other first nations join us in moving beyond the Indian Act and also become self-governing," said Ms. Baird, cradling her seven-month-old baby, Sophia, in her arms as she talked to reporters.

Her call was a pointed reminder of the division within the province's vibrant native community over government efforts to sign treaties that they spurned more than a hundred years ago.

Notwithstanding the Tsawwassen breakthrough, many B.C. native leaders remain aloof from or concerned over the long, costly negotiations to provide treaties for the province's 180,000 aboriginals.

In a scornful statement issued within minutes of Wednesday night's ratification announcement, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Stewart Phillip said that the Tsawwassen deal will do nothing to kick-start what he called "a fundamentally flawed process.

"After 14 years and a billion dollars later, the B.C. Treaty Commission [has] limped past its first ratification," said Grand Chief Phillip, noting that the Tsawwassen First Nation does not have a "vast territory rich in natural resources.

"Within the context of first nations involved in the B.C. treaty process, it is somewhat of an anomaly ... hemmed in by surrounding non-native communities."

Judith Sayers of the First Nation Summit and chief of the Hupacasath First Nation on Vancouver Island had a different view.

"This is a huge step for the Tsawwassen First Nation and a step forward for the treaty process," she said. "It means that treaties are possible in B.C.

"People have to realize that there are still huge challenges for first nations in the rest of the province, but this is huge," said Ms. Sayers, who was part of the Tsawwassen band's victory celebration on Wednesday.

Few doubt the uniqueness of the Tsawwassen treaty, which must yet be approved by the provincial legislature and the House of Commons.

The band's small, 290-hectare pocket of land is bordered by the municipality of Delta, a huge ferry terminal and a coal port. Without vast tracts of vacant land available in its much larger traditional territory, treaty negotiators had to fit settlement terms into a complex urban environment.

The deal will more than double the size of the reserve, with an extra 372 hectares of surrounding Crown land added from the province's Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 200 hectares of that protected farmland will be removed from the ALR to allow the band to build a container storage facility in line with port expansion plans.

The Tsawwassen First Nation will also have a seat on the Greater Vancouver Regional District, a guaranteed water supply from the GVRD, a share of the Fraser River commercial salmon run, plus more than $50-million in cash and program funding.

And the band will assume extensive self-government powers no longer subject to the federal Indian Act.

In return, band members will begin paying government taxes within eight to12 years, and they have agreed to accept the treaty as the final settlement of existing land claims.

"This is a historic time for our community," said Chief Baird, 36, who has been part of the treaty process since 1993. At her side yesterday was Premier Gordon Campbell, equally overjoyed by the 130-50 vote in favour of the landmark treaty.

Many believed a rejection by the 370-member band would have meant the end of the continuing treaty process in its current form.

"This is a day of celebration for the people of the Tsawwassen First Nation and the people of British Columbia," Mr. Campbell said.

On the controversy over the treaty's removal of more than 200 hectares from the ALR, the Premier said that a lot of land has already been taken out by non-natives.

"Frankly, this is a pretty small amount to provide an economic future for the Tsawwassen First Nation."

Another test of the province's treaty process comes as early as tomorrow, when the Huu-ay-aht First Nation votes on the terms of its proposed comprehensive treaty.

Rod Mickleburgh
Globe & Mail
published on 07/27/2007

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