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April 24 Land claims resolution long overduehttp://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/319712
KEITH KNIGHT
When Vancouver hosts the Winter Olympic Games in 2010, there is growing speculation that First Nations communities will bring their land claims issues to the global stage in much the same way that Nepal has raised its profile in recent weeks over the Beijing Olympics.
First Nations communities would have a strong case.
Over the next few months, as summer unfolds, we can expect to hear recurring clashes on the streets of Caledonia. We can also expect calls for the government -- any government -- to solve the First Nations land claims issue. The issue is a complex one dating back almost exactly 245 years. It is therefore little wonder that no provincial or federal government wants to touch it.
First Nations people live and breathe their history. European Canadians, especially, just want aboriginal communities to "get over it" and to blend into a 21st-century reality. There is a sense that 'we' simply want 'them' to become just one more ethnic group within this country's multicultural mosaic.
Take this historical journey with me and you will discover that it simply isn't that easy.
1763 -- The royal proclamation was signed, explicitly recognizing aboriginal title. Aboriginal land ownership and authority were recognized by the Crown as continuing under British sovereignty. It stated that only the Crown could acquire lands from First Nations and only by treaty. By the 1850s, major treaties were signed with First Nations east of the Rocky Mountains.
1849 -- A British colony was established on Vancouver Island. The Crown gave the Hudson's Bay Company the right to trade. Chief Factor Douglas was instructed to purchase First Nations land. He made 14 treaties in the area near Victoria. The colony ran out of money for treaties. Small reserves were created as protection from aggressive land acquisition by settlers. Under Douglas, First Nations were able to acquire land like settlers. After he retired, the policy was reversed. First Nations people could not acquire Crown land. Colonial officials said First Nations title had never been acknowledged, and no compensation was offered.
1858 -- The Fraser River gold rush. A colony was established on the mainland of British Columbia. The influx of new immigrants changed the nature of the territory. Europeans and Americans believed the land was empty and free for the taking.
1867 -- Canada was created under the terms of the British North America Act.
1876 -- The Indian Act was established. It influenced all aspects of a First Nations person's life from birth to death. Indian bands were created and Indian agents became the intermediaries between First Nations people and the rest of the country.
1884 -- Anti-potlatch laws were enacted under the Indian Act. Responsibility for the education of children was given in large part to church-run residential schools. Native people retained a profound conviction that their hereditary title still existed.
1893 -- Duncan Campbell Scott became deputy superintendent general of the Department of Indian Affairs. His stated objective was assimilation. He held that position until 1932.
1899 -- At a protest blockade near Fort St. John, B.C., the First Nations demanded a treaty and halted the flow of miners. As a result, Treaty 8 was negotiated.
1909 -- First Nations made application to King Edward VII to have the Privy Council determine aboriginal title. The request was denied.
1910 -- Prime minister Wilfrid Laurier visited British Columbia. He supported recognition of aboriginal rights. There was a deep division between the federal and provincial government as to the recognition of aboriginal title.
1912-16 -- The McKenna-McBride Royal Commission was established in response to increasing pressure from new settlers in British Columbia. The commission visited every First Nations group in the province and received applications for additional reserve lands. In some places, additional lands were reserved while in others lands were cut off and reserves reduced in size.
1927 -- The Indian Act was amended to make it illegal for First Nations to raise money or retain a lawyer to advance land claims, thereby blocking effective political court action.
1949 -- First Nations people in British Columbia were permitted to vote in provincial elections.
1951 -- Parliament repealed Indian Act provisions of anti-potlatch and land claims activity.
1960 -- First Nations people in Canada were permitted to vote in federal elections.
1969 -- The Supreme Court ruled that the Nisga'a nation in B.C. did hold title to their traditional lands before B.C. was created. The court splits evenly on whether Nisga'a still hold title.
The federal government, under prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Indian Affairs minister Jean Chrétien issued its White Paper, advocating policies that promote the assimilation of First Nations people.
1972 -- Indian Control of Indian Education policy document was written by National Indian Brotherhood advocating parental responsibility and local control over First Nations education. This policy was accepted by federal government a year later.
1970s-1980s -- Increased First Nations action and the evolution of native political structures. B.C. still would not recognize aboriginal title nor negotiate treaties.
1982 -- Canada's Constitutional Act, Section 35, recognized and affirmed existing Aboriginal and treaty rights.
1990 -- The Oka crisis received national attention when Mohawk warriors entered an armed standoff with Quebec police and Canadian army over land at Oka. First Nations across the country rallied to support the Mohawks and to emphasize their demands for recognition of inherent aboriginal title and rights.
1991 -- Nisga'a Tribal Council, B.C. and Canada sign a tripartite framework agreement that sets out the scope, process and topics for negotiations. This agreement is outside the treaty process, which is subsequently put in place.
Perhaps the land claims issue could have been resolved 200 years ago, before provinces and cities and subdivisions were created. Perhaps the time has come for governments to confess their inability to bring this issue to a resolution many years ago. Perhaps it is time to acknowledge those claims and, where possible, return the land.
Where this is not possible, where entire cities have been built on what was once traditional land, the only recourse may be significant compensation.
Justice has been waiting for 245 years. A solution and settlement is overdue.
Keith Knight is a member of the Mercury's Community Editorial Board. This time, let's all protesthttp://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Opinion/Editorials/2008/04/21/5343116.html
Last week we learned native leaders might, or might not, stage protests during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics to protest Canada's treatment of First Nations people.
That those protests might, or might not, be disruptive. That they might, or might not, be illegal.
Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Phil Fontaine said he favours using the Games to call attention to aboriginal issues, but not interfering with them. However, he noted many native leaders see themselves in a similar situation to protesters who interfered with the Olympic Torch relay to focus global attention on China's occupation of Tibet.
Organizers of the 2010 Games responded they have a signed memo of understanding with aboriginal representatives, including the Assembly of First Nations, to use the Olympics to help and promote aboriginals in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
In any event, if there are going to be native protests, why not try something new? This time, let's have non-native protesters joining in complaining about their treatment on native issues at the hands of Canada's federal and provincial governments.
We could fly in a representative group of taxpayers to Vancouver 2010 to alert the world to the fact we spend billions of dollars every year to improve the lives of native people -- at least that's what our politicians keep telling us they're doing with our money -- but that nothing ever seems to improve.
We could bring in a delegation of non-native protesters from Caledonia to highlight the fact no one in government seems to be doing anything meaningful to resolve a land claim dispute that has already held their community hostage for more than two years.
Native and non-native protesters could hold joint news conferences asking the world's media to demand to know of Canadian politicians why, despite billions spent, we can't even get clean water to many reserves, let alone address high crime, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, addiction and suicide rates.
Now that's a protest all Canadians could get behind.
-- Lorrie Goldstein, lorrie.goldstein@sunmedia.ca
Frustrated First Nations eye Vancouver Olympics as protest targethttp://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/17/america/NA-GEN-Canada-Olympics-Protest.php
The Associated PressPublished: April 17, 2008
OTTAWA: Canada's top native chief said Thursday that the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 are a potential target for protest.
Native leaders will use whatever chance they can to focus attention on aboriginal poverty, said Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
He said thousands of Canadians who have marched against China's sponsorship of the 2008 Olympics in support of a free Tibet should be outraged at the abysmal state of native living conditions.
Fontaine called the Tibetan situation "compelling" when asked Thursday if the 2010 Olympics could be disrupted.
The Assembly of First Nations has called for a peaceful, lawful day of national rallies and marches on May 29. But some militant factions used a similar day of action last June to shut down highways and railroad lines.
Today in Americas U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nationsClinton cites success in key states as advantage over McCainOn Capitol Hill, it's farm politics as usualCanada's former Liberal government pledged about US$5 billion two years ago to help lift Indians from poverty and disease but the funds have not been distributed under the current Conservative government.
The money was pledged for improvements in housing, health care, education and economic development for the nearly 1 million aboriginal peoples of the North American nation, namely Indian tribes known as First Nations and Inuits, the aboriginal Canadians of the northeastern and Arctic territories.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl has said his government is taking a more targeted approach to improving living conditions. He has also vowed to help speed native land-claim settlements and clean up polluted water on reservations.
___
First Nations Get Vancouver 2010 Marketing Agreementhttp://www.gamesbids.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1208619216
Posted 11:33 am ET (GamesBids.com)
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games has signed a licensing agreement with the Four Host First Nations and Nunavut Development Corporation for the right to market merchandise with aboriginal themes under the Olympic brand.
The Four Host First Nations are British Columbia’s Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh bands that cooperated in Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games.
The CBC reports four kinds of products are involved in the agreement – aboriginal art, products featuring the logo of the Four Host First Nations, the integration of aboriginal graphics into Olympic merchandise, and a range of other items featuring aboriginal themes and icons.
Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik said after the agreement was announced Wednesday, “we’re getting a wonderful gift today. Each will be a unique piece of Inuit art. Today’s agreement guarantees that Inuit carvers will be paid a fair price”.
Nunavut artists will supply carvings of inukshuks for marketing through the Games. The initial agreement is for 3,000 inukshuks, but Okalik said he believes orders will come for many more.
About 600 carvers across the territory will supply the carvings, at prices from $65 to $400 each, said Okalik.
Vancouver 2010 CEO John Furlong said all the products will be identified as official Vancouver 2010 merchandise. “So when a person decides to buy a beautiful piece of art like this which has been prepared by an artists in Nunavut, they will have a tag attached to it saying this is authentic”.
VANOC is donating one-third of the royalties from the agreement to a fund for cultural, educational and sporting opportunities for native youth.
Lil’wat Nation secures land use legaciesLand use deal with province the final piece of LRMP process
By Andrew Mitchell
It took several years of negotiations, but last week the Lil’wat Nation signed a land use agreement with the province that will protect almost 800,000 hectares, more than half of the band’s traditional territory.
The agreement, coming less than one year after the Squamish Nation and In-SHUCK-ch finalized their own land use agreements, also represents the final step of the Sea to Sky Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP).
The agreement was signed at Millennium Place on Friday, April 11 by Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell and Lil’wat Nation Chief Leonard Andrew.
For Andrew, it was a reason to celebrate.
“We’re very happy with the final piece, it’s been a long time coming in dealing with our territorial lands,” he said. “Prior to this a lot of dealings have taken place without the Lil’wat Nation, so this is a big step forward. And it proves something — we can work together and negotiate with our neighbours and government. Where we take it from here, it’s really up to us.”
Andrew was especially proud of the establishment of six conservancies in the territory that will be protected from logging, mining, and other forms of resource development.
“That means a lot to our people, those are the very areas we wanted to protect from the beginning, and now we have an agreement in place that does that. The whole plan is very good, but those areas in particular are something we can be proud of.”
One theme that came across from all the speakers was the improved relationship between the Lil’wat and various levels of government.
“It’s changed tremendously in the past few years,” said Andrew. “We all made a commitment, whether it’s through protocol or talks, that we would work with each other. Whatever local government, or provincial government agency, if they’re in our area we will work with them.”
He also credited the Olympics for leading the Lil’wat to sign a protocol with the Squamish Nation, and for opening up economic opportunities for both First Nations, including forestry operations and land development.
“Now, with the LRMP agreement today, that will open up more doors for future dealings we’ll have with the Squamish Nation,” said Andrew.
The land use agreement encompasses almost 800,000 ha, from Garibaldi Provincial Park in the south, to Clendenning Provincial Park in the west, Ts’yl-Os Provincial Park in the north and the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park in the east.
The six new conservancies created by the plan total 39,000 ha and include areas in the Callaghan Valley, 100 Lakes Plateau, Upper Soo Valley, Upper Birkenhead, Twin Two and Cerise Creek areas. The size of the Duffey Lake Provincial Park will be doubled, from 2,095 ha to 4,048 ha.
The conservancies prohibit commercial logging, mineral exploration and development, and hydroelectric power generation. The conservancies are similar to parks, but allow First Nations cultural activities, including hunting, and First Nations tourism initiatives.
The agreement also establishes 204,000 ha of wildland zones where more activities are allowed. The wildland zones don’t allow commercial logging, hydroelectric power generation or new road construction for forestry or exploration. However, sustainable forestry is permitted, as well as approved mining and geothermal activities.
In addition, 47,000 ha were designated as cultural management areas, where all activities will be acceptable provided they meet management directions in the agreement.
As well, there are 59 Lil’Wat Spirited Ground Areas that total approximately 8,850 ha that include village sites, archaeological sites, spiritual places, gathering areas, campsites, and training areas important to the Lil’wat Nation.
Protection for environmentally sensitive areas and old growth forests is also part of the agreement. As well, there are provisions to create a cultural education facility at Owl Creek, opportunities for First Nations commercial recreation ventures, and a commitment to work with the province to create land use zones in the Ure Creek watershed.
According to Bell, more than half the land base is now under some form of protection, but also makes allowances for economic development and the regions growing population.
“This area is under a severe strain as a result of its proximity to the Lower Mainland and three million people… and this is one of the fastest growing areas of the province,” he said. “What this does is provide a high level of certainty to all stakeholders in the region, and it’s a big reason why land use plans are so important for British Columbia. You have to understand what’s available for different types of use, environmental, recreational or commercial, and the construction of this plan respects all of those key areas.”
One of the areas the plan protects is the upper Soo Valley, which is of particular interest to the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE). In 2003 AWARE put forward a plan that would protect the Upper Soo as an Olympic legacy and offset the Olympic development in the neighbouring Callaghan Valley.
The concept was adopted by most of the stakeholders at the Sea to Sky LRMP planning table, but was rejected by the Olympic organizers because protecting land was outside their mandate, and by the province because the LRMP process was under direction not to create new protected areas.
Councillor Eckhard Zeidler, the former AWARE director who suggested the legacy, celebrated the Lil’wat agreement on Friday.
“The process has taken six long years and all of us are very, very happy,” he said. “To my mind it’s absolutely an Olympic legacy, only because without the Olympics coming I’m not sure we would have been able to present this kind of plan and move it forward as far as we did. The area is known as the Soo, that’s S-u-7 as the First Nations call it, that’s what they’ve always called it, but in my mind anyway it will be the Olympic Wildlife Refuge.”
When asked if there was still an opportunity to make the Upper Soo an Olympic legacy, Zeidler said it was possible but said it was out of his hands.
“(The Vancouver Organizing Committee’s) job is to put on an extraordinary Olympic Games, which means building certain physical legacies. But what I’ve learned in the last few years is that legacies come from the Games that have nothing to do with the organizing committee — legacies that happen when people come together around the excitement and around the opportunities and make their own legacies happen. This is something that the Lil’wat should be proud of.”
Zeidler recalled a meeting that the proponents of the wildlife refuge had with First Nations on the top of Lesser Ring Mountain in the Upper Soo.
“One of the Lil’wat councillors got out of the helicopter, looked out and exclaimed ‘now I know why our ancestors were so happy,’” said Zeidler. “To me that sums up why we put all that work into protecting this area, and what happened today made it worth it.”
Johnny Mikes was hired by AWARE to represent the environment at the Sea to Skry LRMP table during negotiations, and was also impressed by the Lil’wat land use plan.
“The LRMP meetings with the stakeholders were really just a preliminary step for all the government-to-government meetings with First Nations and the province, and we’re seeing the culmination of that today,” said Mikes. “It’s a great step, and a great achievement for everyone who participated.
“There’s a lot of great stuff. The conservancies are excellent, the amount of wildlands is excellent, and the cultural management areas put forward by the Lil’wat are really good. There are a few things we would have liked to have seen, like a plan for (run of river independent power projects) that was a recommendation from the LRMP that didn’t’ get in there.
“But overall we’re happy. We were told in 2002 that the LRMP couldn’t create any more protected areas, that all of the protected areas were done in the 1990s in the Protected Areas Strategy… but now we have new protected areas in the Squamish and Lil’wat land use plans, wildlands, the floodplain management plans for sensitive valley bottom wetlands through the corridor. Those are just a few examples, but a lot of good things came about through the LRMP and were built upon by First Nations.”
According to Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy, there is nothing in the Lil’wat plan that would impact his community or backcountry recreation for residents.
“There’s nothing that really jumped out at me as a particular concern, and more important than anything else is to provide some stability, consistency and certainty to land use planning in the area,” he said.
There is a small amount of Crown land in Pemberton’s proposed boundary expansion that would be subject to the plan, but Sturdy is confident that any issues can be resolved with negotiation.
Details of the Lil’wat Land Use Plan are online at www. Ilmbwww.gov.bc.ca.
By the bookhttp://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/terracestandard/news/17670744.html
A BOOK containing the before-and-after experiences of how the Nisga’a negotiated their 2000 land claims treaty is now out.
Based on presentations made at a three-day seminar last fall, “Preparing for The Day After Treaty” was done as a collaboration between the Nisga’a Lisims Government and the B.C. Treaty Commission.
Workshop sessions at the seminar explored treaty issues, including applying best practices in ratification, achieving economic self sufficiency and building capacity through self-government.
Featured seminar keynote speakers included Nelson Leeson, president of the Nisga’a Lisims Government.
Electronic copies of the book are available on the BC Treaty Commission website – bctreaty.net. Problems plaguing treaty talks not of first nations' making
Edward John, Special to the Sun Published: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Re: Harcourt fingers the flaw in treaty process: 'People need to get real', Vaughn Palmer, April 5
When Mike Harcourt was premier in the 1990s, he was part of the New Democratic Party government that arbitrarily set a policy ceiling on the land quantum for treaty negotiations -- specifically, the five-per-cent land-selection model.
Years later, when questioned on how his government arrived at this number, he admitted to first nations leaders that this was a mistake on his part and that the figure was largely an arbitrary one chosen as he was entering a meeting with municipal leaders.
Despite this admission, the B.C. treaty negotiations process continues to bend and falter under the weight of that grossly unfair expectation, where first nations are expected to accept unsatisfactory agreements based on the five-per-cent template, which is a key component of the unimaginative and restrictive mandates of government negotiators.
The unfair nature of government mandates was highlighted in May 2007 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which found in Canada that aboriginal claims to "land rights are being settled primarily through litigation, at a disproportionate cost for the aboriginal communities concerned due to the strongly adversarial positions taken by the federal and provincial governments," (emphasis added.) Furthermore, the committee recommended Canada "ensure that the new approaches taken to settle aboriginal land claims do not unduly restrict the progressive development of aboriginal rights. Wherever possible, the committee urges the state party to engage, in good faith, in negotiations based on recognition and reconciliation."
Since Harcourt's mea culpa was offered, he's been reluctant to own up to his role in creating the problems that continue to plague treaty negotiations. Instead, he deflects blame onto first nations who, by the way, have been forced to take out treaty loans in excess of $315 million only to face intransigent government negotiators who come to the table without the mandates necessary to break impasses over land and other key issues.
Rather than bringing flexibility to the process to address unique circumstances consistent with emerging case law and international human rights standards, federal and provincial negotiators continue to come to the table with their cookie-cutter and homogenous approach to negotiations. All of which contributes to the long delays we have seen in the ability to achieve fair and just settlements in BC.
As a means to address this impasse at many negotiations tables, a number of first nations have come together to discuss a common approach on some key issues; these first nations are bringing a creative approach to contentious issues in a genuine attempt to break the impasse.
Despite the direction provided by international bodies and the courts, there are still people in B.C. and Canada who would rather not walk down a path towards reconciliation if the terms proposed would make them even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
Pemberton-area roads in rough shape
Officials voice concerns about Duffey, Meadows routes By Reporter Kim Thompson kthompson@whistlerquestion.com Highways are a major concern in the Pemberton area and local government wants the provincial government to listen.
The Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board has sent a letter to Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon outlining major problems with highways such as the Duffey Lake Road.
During the Olympics, the road to Lillooet will become a secondary way of accessing Whistler if something were to block Highway 99.
“The road is virtually falling apart and given the traffic on the Duffey Lake Road, it is one stage away from becoming a gravel road,” said Jordan Sturdy, Pemberton mayor. “We sent a letter asking what the maintenance and upgrade schedule looks like.”
The 100-kilometre-long Duffey Lake Road might be one of British Columbia’s most beautiful stretches of highway. The road includes numerous one-lane bridges, and Area C Director Susie Gimse said the road is littered with potholes.
In fact, Gimse said the Pemberton Meadows Road is also in terrible condition. The goal of the letter was to ask the minister what the provincial government intends to do about the highway situation.
“The ministry has not been keeping on top of their highway infrastructure,” said Paul Edgington, SLRD administrator.
Sturdy said maintenance of local roads is extremely important because more people will visit to the Sea to Sky in the coming years. He said Pemberton Meadows Road will be used more heavily by tourists with the completion of the Meager Creek Bridge. Sturdy also mentioned the Lillooet Lake Road, which is in dangerous shape but serves as a life line for the In-SHUCK-ch Nation.
“The Slow Food Cycle uses the Pemberton Meadows Road and the width of the shoulder is a major concern. The road to Birken also needs attention because it is virtually falling apart,” Sturdy said. “Even Highway 99 between Pemberton and Whistler has a couple of big frost heaves.”
Gimse said her constituents are concerned and that it is her job to lobby on their behalf. At a meeting last week, the SLRD also discussed the possibility of a regional strategy to lobby the provincial government.
Other parts of the regional district are facing similar challenges. Areas such as the Texas Creek Slide, on Highway 12 between Lillooet and Lytton, remains one of the greatest engineering challenges the Province faces and one of many areas of concern in the SLRD.
“I think if we want to get something done, we need to agree as a board what the priority is. I think the circle route in the Lillooet area should be our No. 1 issue,” said Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed. “It serves as secondary access to the corridor for 2010. If those roads continue to deteriorate, it will be a problem.”
Gimse added that the circle-route issue is a matter of public safety. She said governments have a responsibility to residents travelling to and from work every day. “I have a responsibility to my constituents because they have kids that have to travel on those roads to school,” Gimse said. “I will do what I can to lobby the provincial government.”
April 10 Katzie's new chief has drive to sparehttp://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=4f944471-0a72-4e4b-86ac-93a1e2c5f94e
Economy, youth top his agenda -- and leadership 'from the bottom up' Brian Lewis, The Province Published: Thursday, April 10, 2008
The first time I met Mike Leon was during a public hearing several years ago in Surrey, when he spoke eloquently on behalf of the Katzie First Nation on why Barnston Island should remain within the Agricultural Land Reserve.
At the time, I noted that he was someone to watch, and his thoughtful presentation that day no doubt contributed to sparing the island lying in the Fraser River between Surrey and Pitt Meadows from industrial development.
But I didn't run across Leon again until recently, when I spotted his name in a local newspaper.
The story said he'd been elected chief of the Katzie First Nation.
Clearly, it was time to drop by the band office on Katzie Reserve
No. 1 in Pitt Meadows.
Even though he'd only been "on the job" for less than a week, Leon agreed to chat about his plans as chief of one of the region's larger bands.
For, as any chief in B.C. will tell you, in these days of treaty talks, land claims, rapid land development and numerous social issues, a chief's job has many challenges.
But it was only at the urging of some band members -- and especially the elders -- that he decided to run for chief. In his first attempt at election two years ago, Leon lost. This Feb. 28, he won with an overwhelming majority and officially took office April 1.
He attributes that result to spending the past few years "getting down in the dirt" with many of the Katzie's 560 members on their main reserves in Pitt Meadows, Barnston Island and Langley Township -- doing archeological work on behalf of the band.
In a nutshell, that job gave Leon a deeper understanding of Katzie issues from the band members' points of view. And the 39-year-old father of two now has a number of goals in mind for his people.
"First of all, I want to bring all the Katzie back together," he says. "The three main reservations are separated geographically, but we're still all family."
In addition to those reserves, which total about 136 hectares, there's a 256-hectare reserve in Coquitlam. And the band's traditional territory extends throughout the vast Pitt River watershed (www.katzie.ca).
"Getting our youth to respect and be proud of who they are is another goal," he adds.
"A lot of them are doing well in school, but part of the council's job is to let them know there are goals out there they can reach."
However, one of Leon's key tasks will be to develop the Katzie economy. Aside from a cabin-rental business on Pitt Lake, there isn't a lot of band-run economic activity.
"I'd like to see us become economically self-sufficient," he says.
"After all, we're tucked right in the middle of outside development all around us. And we'd also like to improve our relationships with the outside community."
Above all, Leon says, he'll take his lead as chief from his people, not the other way around.
"I want our leadership to come from the bottom up," he notes. Canada needs to improve aboriginal education to survive in global economy: Stewart-Patterson
By Joey Coleman | April 9th, 2008 | 4:12 pm February 29, 2008
Business leader says that university and colleges need to reach out to adult learners, new immigrants
Canada must improve the educational outcomes of aboriginals and new immigrants in order to prosper in the global economy, according to the executive vice-president of The Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
“It is clear that Canada cannot rest on its laurels,” said David Stewart-Patterson in a keynote speech at an international conference regarding higher education access. “If we want to continue enjoying steady growth in our standard of living, we need to do better.”
The conference, titled “Neither a moment nor a mind to waste,” took place this week in Toronto and explored ways to improve student access and educational outcomes.
Canada’s economy has undergone a period of rapid growth in the last fifteen years from an economy “in which we did not have enough jobs for our people to one in which we cannot find enough people for the work that needs doing,” explained Stewart-Patterson. He added that ensuring access to higher education was once a moral imperative but is now an economic necessity.
“Far too many Aboriginals are not finishing high school,” he said, pointing to research by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy showing that Aboriginal people who complete high school have almost the same post-secondary participation rate as non-Aboriginal high school graduates. Stewart-Patterson called on the federal government to seize the “critical opportunity to demonstrate leadership and work with First Nations to find solutions that work.”
“This is the one group of students for which the federal government, rather than the provinces, bears primary responsibility,” he said.
Stewart-Patterson’s words are particularly relevant in light of the current dispute between the federal and Ontario governments over responsibility for the First Nations Technical Institute. The federal government recently withdrew funding for the institution, arguing that education is a provincial responsibility. After months of uncertainty as to whether the school would remain open, the provincial government stepped in with emergency one-time funding. But the province still maintains that the institution is the federal government’s responsibility. Stewart-Patterson says that as Canada’s largest growing demographic, aboriginal youth are very important for the future of Canada. With the overall youth demographic expected to peak in 2012, Canadian universities must reach this group of potential students in order to maintain current enrolment levels.
In his speech, Stewart-Patterson also argued against lowering tuition to increase access to post-secondary education. “Many people, students loudest of all, call for cheaper tuition or even free tuition. I am not a fan of this approach,” he said. “Free tuition is not the same as free education; it would not prevent students from racking up impressive levels of debt.”
Instead, Stewart-Patterson is calling on governments to provide the necessary amount of student loans to make sure all students have the ability to succeed in studies and to “write off a big portion – and perhaps all – of a student’s loan over ten years through a credit against Canadian taxes.” He says that international students should also benefit from the tax write-off if they stay in Canada.
Ian Boyko, campaigns coordinator of the Canadian Federation of Students, questioned Stewart-Patterson’s position on tuition. He argued that the “big-business lobby” should be paying more taxes to fund a bigger post-secondary system instead of putting the cost “on the backs of students” who are already carrying record amounts of debt.
Stewart-Patterson also called on colleges and universities to do a better job of reaching out to adults who need access to post-secondary education. “Universities and colleges, the core of our post-secondary system, are not doing the whole job that is needed. In particular, they are not meeting the needs of adult learners. … We all have heard the stories about doctors and engineers driving taxis.”
He argues that the Canadian post-secondary system must work to recognize foreign credentials and offer easy paths for immigrants to quickly earn Canadian credentials. Canada must tap into foreign talent by also allowing international students to fully integrate into the Canadian economy by allowing them to work without restrictions while attending a Canadian college or university. They should also be able to easily obtain landed immigrant status when they graduate, he said.
“If we are to continue prospering as a country, we must make it our national mission to ensure that every Canadian can achieve his or her full potential,” Stewart-Patterson said. “As the title of this conference puts it, we have neither a moment nor a mind to waste.”
April 09 Feds ready to talk treatyhttp://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/news/17369999.htmlBy Jennifer Feinberg - Chilliwack Progress - April 07, 2008 If only seven Sto:lo bands want to talk treaty at this point, it’s all right with the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. “We always encourage the maximum number of bands to come to the table,” said INAC Minister Chuck Strahl in a teleconference with local media. “We think it’s better for them and better for the negotiators, if we can do a bigger deal that answers the questions and offers certainty.” The federal government has also negotiated “one-off” deals with other First Nations in B.C., so effectively they are prepared to negotiate with either large or small aboriginal groups. “If we had all 24 (Sto:lo) bands in the negotiations, it would be delightful,” Strahl said. “But for all kinds of reasons that’s not possible, so if seven want to talk, we’ll talk with them.” Some bands are not ready, or they don’t want to enter negotiations for one reason or another, he said. The seven communities now in treaty talks are part of the 11-member Sto:lo Nation. They formed the Sto:lo Xwexwilmexw Treaty Association to keep the negotiations separate from the service operations of the Sto:lo Nation. Four Sto:lo communities that belong to that political organization are not in treaty talks. The original treaty talks were suspended in 2004 when nine Sto:lo communities left the Sto:lo Nation after a political dispute and formed the Sto:lo Tribal Council. The current treaty talks are at stage four of the six-stage B.C. treaty process, working towards an agreement-in-principle. Asked what he thought about the small group of Sto:lo bands undertaking the bulk of the treaty debt, Strahl replied: “It’s a concern because the bigger the group, the lower the negotiating cost per person, if you will.” So the Tsawwassen treaty was “more complex and costly” than if 20 bands had been involved in that deal, for example, he said. “But we can’t stop groups that want to proceed,” he said. “We’re not prepared to say, ‘No more negotiations until all 24 groups are involved.’ “That might not come for another 10 years and that would be unfair.” Katzie opens its doorshttp://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/mapleridgenews/news/17300244.html
April 05, 2008
Simone Ponne/THE NEWS Larissa McIntosh, 18 months old, smiles during ceremony for new Katzie chief and council. The Katzie First Nation opened its hearts and minds to the non-native community Tuesday – then asked its “witnesses” to do the same by taking the spirit of the evening back to their workplaces and homes.
The witnesses were the non-native VIPs, people like RCMP Insp. Jim Wakely, and the mayors of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows and UBC research forest manager Paul Lawson, who were seeing their first swearing-in ceremony of the Katzie council Tuesday.
The event, the idea of band administrator Coleen Pierre-Sam, brought about 250 people to the Swaneset Longhouse on Wharf Street.
Under the low light from bare bulbs, spectators filed in and sat down on rough-hewn wooden benches that ran the length of the building.
As huge slabs of wood were tossed inside, the warmth from a huge, barrel-shaped stove gradually rose up to the rafters.
Welcoming the visitors as they filed in was Dean Sam.
Thank-you for coming with open hearts and open minds, he said.
“I’m the MC today,” he said. “I’m the go-to guy.”
Sam explained the purpose of the blanket he had draped across him – to cover his heart and keep his spirit warm.
The headbands he said were to keep their minds strong as councillors prepared for their duties.
He told the audience he’s a child-youth worker for the Katzie and that he used to counsel kids with the school district.
“They’re our medicine. They’re our strength and they’re our future.”
Sam, who originally is from Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island, told the audience his family belongs to the raven clan, explaining that in native tradition, each person was named after an animal. In the longhouse tradition when the families gathered, each family would bring a different food item.
As the moment of swearing in approached, the four councillors – Chief Mike Leon and Donna Leon, Jay Bailey and Gail Florence – were led outside the longhouse, then returned, each wearing a blanket and headband, and then followed singers led by Willie Pierre in a circular route around the floor.
Then all four stood at the front on fresh boughs laid down to symbolize a new beginning.
Sam explained the councillors have one last chance to step away from the job.
“Before we go any further, we’re going to give them one more chance. This is like marriage …
At the start of the ceremony, Sam said he knew people didn’t have much time, so the occasion would be brief.
He kept to his word, and shortly after 7 p.m., the official ceremony ended, the native band Black Fish from Kwantlen First Nation, one of whom was wearing a pink T-shirt reading, “Tough guys wear pink,” started drumming and singing, and well wishers lined up to congratulate the new council.
Pitt Meadows councillors John Becker, Doug Bing, Deb Eisel, Andrew Tolchard and Mayor Don MacLean filed out of the building, having their own meeting that evening.
“May I have your attention – please rise,” Sam told the audience.
“Andrew Tolchard has left the building,” he joked.
Sam earlier tossed out another one liner, telling one participant to go outside because her car was being towed.
The formalities over, people relaxed and smiled. Insp. Wakely, in yellow-stripe RCMP uniform, was among those who lined up to greet the new council.
Coun. Craig Speirs ventured in to get a closeup photo of the drummers, while MLA Michael Sather listened to the native beat.
A baked salmon dinner was served to those who stayed.
The evening went well, considering it was the first time non-natives attended, said Pierre-Sam.
She said she wanted to open the ceremony to the range of agencies the Katzie deal with, so people on both sides can put faces to names.
“They didn’t realize what I had up my sleeve,” she said of other band members.
About 250 people showed up for the ceremony. Some left after the formalities, but many stayed on for the baked salmon meal afterwards.
“They just didn’t want to leave.” Land, resources key issues in Sto:lo treaty talkshttp://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/news/17265544.html
By Robert Freeman - Chilliwack Progress - April 02, 2008
But apology needed to sell treaty to First Nations, says Sto:lo woman
Inez Jasper, a 26-year-old Sto:lo woman, is “highly skeptical” of the treaty process, unless a public apology from federal and provincial governments comes with it.
“Because the people who are coming to the table from the other side are not coming to give us back what they have taken from us in the first place,” she said.
“The first premise of reconciliation is an apology,” she told treaty negotiators at a public information meeting Monday. “Are you asking for this (apology) because a lot of our people won’t buy into the treaty without it.”
Sto:lo treaty advisor Chief Joe Hall admitted the issue of an apology hasn’t come up at the treaty table, but it’s just the kind of feedback he and provincial and federal negotiators want to hear at the public meetings.
“Now an apology is on the radar screen,” he said.
But throwing off the yoke of the Indian Act, which governs every aspect of life for aboriginal Canadians, is the driving force behind the return of the seven Sto:lo communities to the treaty table.
“I don’t want my grandchildren growing up under the Indian Act,” Hall said.
The contentious issue of how the seven Sto:lo communities, barely one-third of the 24 Sto:lo communities, expect to negotiate a treaty that involves land and resources within the traditional territory claimed by all the Sto:lo was also raised at the Monday meeting.
“I really have a concern about the laws you think you’re going to be making,” said June Quipp, a member of the Cheam First Nation, which is “dead against” treaty-making. “It’s more like trespass,” she said.
Hall agreed land and resource issues in the “core interest area” of the seven communities are going to be “very difficult” to resolve, but Sto:lo negotiators are “going to do everything to avoid creating a detrimental situation for any aboriginal group” within the traditional Sto:lo territory.
“It is a monumental task, but it’s one we’re prepared to take,” he said.
Although the seven communities hold a minority of the Sto:lo population, those communities “have directed us to negotiate a treaty and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.
After the meeting, Hall pointed out that only 18 of the 24 Sto:lo communities were at the original treaty table in 1994, yet those talks went ahead, and today there are smaller groups around the province, like the Yale First Nation, in treaty talks.
He said the seven communities are not claiming “ownership” of all the land and resources in the core interest area, and don’t intend to exclude other Sto:lo communities through treaty-making.
Traditional dispute resolution methods like potlatches and the Sto:lo practice of following ancestral names are expected to resolve differences that arise after the treaty.
The claimed Sto:lo traditional territory has not changed from the original 1994 statement of intent. The territory stretches roughly from Boston Bar to the ocean, including all of Metro Vancouver, and from north of Harrison Lake to the U.S. border.
But a core interest area has now been defined within that territory, from Boston Bar to about Maple Ridge. It does not include all of Harrison Lake or the Chehalis tribal territory, but does include the area around Stave Lake and Alouette Lake. Chilliwack, Agassiz, Abbotsford and Mission are included.
The map is further refined with the addition of the territories of the Sto:lo tribal groups, rather than the “bands” that were created by the Indian Act.
The seven communities now in treaty talks are part of the 11-member Sto:lo Nation. They have formed the Sto:lo Xwexwilmexw Treaty Association to keep the negotiations separate from the service operations of the Sto:lo Nation. Four Sto:lo communities that belong to that political organization are not in treaty talks.
The original treaty talks were suspended in 2004 when nine Sto:lo communities left the Sto:lo Nation after a political dispute and formed the Sto:lo Tribal Council.
The current treaty talks are at stage four of the six-stage B.C. treaty process, working towards an agreement-in-principle.
Hall said it’s hoped the AIP will be reached by December this year, but provincial negotiator Catherine Panter said that is an “ambitious” goal.
Land and resource issues “are not going to be easy to resolve,” she said, and her “best guess” for reaching a final treaty agreement is five to six years.
Federal negotiator Jim Barkwell agreed that reaching an AIP will be “tough sledding,” and that there are hurdles to overcome in reaching a final treaty agreement that’s meant to last “for all time.”
“It’s very important to get it right,” he said.
After the meeting, Hall said Sto:lo negotiators want to reach an AIP quickly to protect land and resources before more are lost.
But identifying possible treaty settlement lands has not come up yet at the treaty table.
“We’re still working on the land issue,” he said. “There are some areas that are still up in the air as to how we will proceed.”
He agreed “there’s not a lot of Crown land” left in the core interest area that could meet the needs of building “sustainable” Sto:lo communities, so other options like “willing-seller/willing-buyer” might be looked at.
“You can’t have a sustainable community without a secure land base,” he said.
Sto:lo chief negotiator Jean Teillet said treaties are “an incredible opportunity” for First Nations to create their own government and to improve economic conditions for their people.
She also said it’s important for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities to get involved in the treaty-making process through the public information meetings.
Treaty-making should not be done behind closed doors, she said, “so everybody buys into it and everybody owns it.”
That may add more time to the process, she added, but would result in better treaties.
“Don’t think of it as a race,” she said, “because the process of getting there is just as important as the final treaty.”
rfreeman@theprogress.com From social liability to economic asset: It can be donehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080407.RAGENDAMAXWELL07/TPStory/Business
JUDITH MAXWELL
April 7, 2008
Paul Collier's prize-winning book, The Bottom Billion, should be read by every Canadian with an interest in the future of our aboriginal people and anyone looking for a way to turn a social liability into an economic asset.
Mr. Collier distinguishes two classes of poor nations - those that offer hope for a better life for the next generation and those that do not.
The poor nations that offer hope for the next generation are home to four billion people. They include China and India and many others. They have become effective players in the global economy, and are now creating opportunity for their citizens. But there are one billion people who live in "failed states." These are states wherein the economy has been faltering for decades because they are caught in poverty traps - bad governance, civil conflict, landlocked geography with bad neighbours, or badly managed natural resource wealth.
"My argument is that this is a moment where both altruism and enlightened self-interest are aligned, in the longer-term sense," he told Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail. "If we don't get serious about getting the bottom billion to catch up ... then we're building a social nightmare for our children. Let's stop making symbolic gestures and do something that works."
Mr. Collier argues that reform has to come from within these states, but that they will not be able to join the world economy unless world leaders adopt new approaches to international trade and aid, and make greater use of laws and international charters.
Canada, for its part, has to find new ways to support reform inside the desperately poor aboriginal communities that are not making it on their own. As in Mr. Collier's analysis, there are two classes of aboriginal communities in Canada.
Some do offer hope for the future for their young people. They are the ones where young people do not commit suicide. Professors Michael Chandler (University of British Columbia) and Christopher Lalonde (University of Victoria) studied 200 First Nations bands in B.C. They discovered that 90 per cent of youth suicides occur in less than 10 per cent of communities. Half of the bands have no suicides.
Suicide does not become an option, the authors say, when a community generates a sense of personal and cultural continuity - in other words, pride in one's past and hope for the future. In effect, these are communities that have taken responsibility for their collective well-being - they have some measure of self-government, a degree of local control over health, education, child welfare and policing services, and women are involved in band governance (50 per cent of the seats on the band council).
These community strengths plus the labour shortages created by the economic boom in Western Canada are already boosting aboriginal employment rates and their rates of work force participation. In defiance of the myth about aboriginals being unemployable, these men and women are demonstrating that they are ready, willing and able to be part of the West's economic future.
This prospective labour force is a growing asset for Saskatchewan, Manitoba and, to a lesser extent, Alberta and British Columbia. With the current aboriginal baby boom, Statistics Canada is projecting that by 2017, aboriginals will account for 30 per cent of young adults in Saskatchewan and 23 per cent in Manitoba.
But how can we create hope for the large numbers of children and young people living in communities that are failing?
Such communities cannot even provide a decent quality of basic education for their children: 43 per cent of 20 to 24 year olds on reserves had not completed high school in 2001 and about 90 per cent of preschool children had no access to appropriate early childhood education. Yet education is the most promising instrument to help the next generation prosper.
If these young people are equipped with a decent education, they could be the generation that makes the big breakthrough to the good jobs and higher living standards created by the economic boom. If they are not, then these young people are condemned to live the same life as their parents. The social nightmare described by Mr. Collier could happen here.
In countries where basic public services such as primary education and health clinics are utterly failing, Mr. Collier suggests creating an "independent service authority" jointly run by the government, civil society and international donors using competitive delivery channels and high standards of transparency and evaluation.
The idea is already getting a trial run in Canada. The British Columbia First Nations Education Authority - established in 2007 by Ottawa, the province and the B.C. First Nations Steering Committee - will be based on the joint management principle, creating a marriage of higher standards and cultural sensitivity. The FNEA will function as a form of school board, providing teacher and school certification and setting standards for curriculum and exams. The schools will be run by aboriginals.
It took more than seven years to negotiate this deal between the First Nations, the province and the federal government. We need more innovations of this sort - soon. And the West needs more workers.
Ignore this message at your peril. With the aboriginal baby boomers already entering their twenties, Canada does not have the luxury of time. Ransacking of graves is a thing of the pasthttp://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=3c628274-abd2-4a47-a29d-d014c8d69316
Ransacking of graves is a thing of the past Times Colonist Published: Sunday, April 06, 2008 The days of wholesale ransacking of aboriginal graves or farmers deliberately bulldozing ancient villages are long past.
Today, museums are developing policies and procedures for returning human remains to their place of origin rather than collecting them for study or exhibition.
"Attitudes have changed over time in how people deal with human material," said Grant Keddie, archaeology curator at the Royal B.C. Museum.
The vast majority of human remains in museums are now being returned, even though that can sometimes be complicated if there are overlapping claims in the area, he said.
At the Royal B.C. Museum, some remains are left for safekeeping until the band is ready to rebury them.
Today, when ancient bones are discovered during development or other disturbances of the land, First Nations are asked whether the remains should be left in place, removed and studied or taken to a cemetery for burial.
The answers differ with different bands, Keddie said.
"If you have 10 First Nations you will get 10 different responses," he said.
It is important to remember that in the climate of the 1880s to 1920s, it was common to remove human bones, Keddie said.
"People went to countries all over the world and thought it was perfectly OK to go round digging up human remains," he said.
In some First Nations communities, residents would help scientists acquire bones from burial cairns, as they were seen as belonging to people who lived in the area long ago, rather than as close relatives, Keddie said. B.C. ruling spells trouble for Ontario mininghttp://www.thestar.com/News/article/410479
INDIAN RIGHTS TheStar.com
Apr 05, 2008 04:30 AM Cameron Smith
The McGuinty government has repeatedly slammed the door on First Nations people trying to establish their rights to negotiate development in their territories. This has created a confrontational situation that now threatens to throw mining and logging in the province into limbo.
It didn't have to be this way, says Doreen Davies, chief of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation in Eastern Ontario. The Shabot and the neighbouring Ardoch First Nations have always been ready to negotiate, she says, and with the province refusing to sit down with them, the only option left lies in legal action.
An appeal is underway against the jailing of Robert Lovelace, a Queen's University lecturer and an Ardoch nation member sentenced to six months in jail and fined $25,000 for refusing to halt attempts to block drilling for uranium on lands claimed by the two Indian nations.
The appeal lawyer, Michael Swindon, says he will argue that the Ontario Appeal Court should follow a B.C. Supreme Court decision delivered last summer that, if followed, would make Ontario's Forestry and Mining Acts inoperable everywhere an Indian land claim exists.
The B.C. decision, if adopted, says it is no longer necessary for aboriginal people to prove title to land in order to get control of their territories.
When the Constitution was patriated in 1982, a section was added declaring that all aboriginal rights – not just title – were to be recognized and honoured.
This means, the B.C. court said, that hunting and fishing rights are enough to give First Nations control over their territories. They don't have to prove title.
And if they establish such rights, provincial legislation no longer applies in their territories; only the federal government has jurisdiction to deal with any issues raised within their lands. In effect, provincial legislation goes out the window anywhere there is a land claim.
Swindon says he will argue in the Lovelace appeal that the Ontario Supreme Court had no constitutional jurisdiction to sentence Lovelace, because it didn't take the B.C. decision into consideration.
The appeal will also bear on the sentencing three weeks ago of six natives from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninugug (KI) First Nation, also jailed for six months, for blocking drilling by Platinex Inc., about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
The jailings follow on obligations and commitments that Queen's Park failed to honour. During the 2003 election, Premier Dalton McGuinty promised there would be no industrial development in the northern boreal until a comprehensive land-use plan was in place. There still is no such plan . The province is allowing development to push into the northern boreal without acknowledging that Indians have full rights to negotiate how development occurs within their territories. Meanwhile, it is turning a blind eye as Indians are jailed for protesting.
In Eastern Ontario, the Ardoch and Shabot First Nations are protesting because the province failed to follow a Supreme Court of Canada decision requiring Ontario to negotiate with First Nations before exploration proceeded on their territories.
Again, the province is turning a blind eye to the jailing of Lovelace, who blocked attempts by Frontenac Ventures Corp. to proceed with drilling in the absence of such negotiations.
In the B.C. case, Justice D. H. Vickers said allowing logging would be an expropriation of Tsilhqot'in rights, and the province had no constitutional authority to do this. Accordingly, he said, the provisions of the B.C. Forest Act did not apply to Tsilhqot'in territory. Vickers noted his decision could have serious implications for B.C.'s forestry industry, because so many areas are subject to Indian land claims.
Nevertheless, he quoted with approval an academic report that said:
"In reality, it appears that the province has been violating aboriginal title in an unconstitutional and therefore illegal fashion ever since it joined Canada in 1871. What is truly disturbing is not that the province can no longer do so, but that it has been able to get away with it for so many years."
So, Ontario has two choices. It can continue to play hardball, or it can call a halt to exploration in both territories while it seeks to reconcile differences. The danger it faces is that if it doesn't opt for reconciliation, it may lose everything in court.
Cameron Smith can be reached at
camsmith@kingston.net
People on the margins wait to join societyhttp://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=61e07e57-0e4b-4563-b45d-7f7511f089f8&p=2
Mike Harcourt, Special to the Sun Published: Saturday, April 05, 2008
Visit the Vancouver Sun's Civil Society web site for videos, sound-offs, and a full collection of related "civil society" stories.
Mike Harcourt started his public life as a storefront lawyer helping Strathcona residents fight evictions in the name of "slum clearance." That led him to city politics, where he was mayor of Vancouver from 1981 to 1986, leader of the NDP, and then B.C. premier from 1991 to 1996. He has focused much of his energy since then on the issue of creating sustainable cities and fostering "green" development.
Civil Society -- non-government organizations, volunteers and active citizens can play a huge role to help include our often excluded citizens, immigrants, urban aboriginals, the disabled, homeless and poor.
Not only is it morally right to include the excluded, but also, Canada faces a job and skill shortage of one million people over the next decade. Many boomers are retiring -- skilled tradespeople, workers, and professionals. They're not being replaced.
Unless we use the hundreds of thousands of our excluded citizens, who will fill these important posts?
Many of our new immigrants are qualified doctors, dentists, engineers, lawyers, teachers, nurses, trades and businesspeople.
Yet because of our professional societies bringing restrictions, and a shortage of successful skill upgrading and familiarization programs, we lose these skilled people. They languish in less satisfactory lower-paying jobs.
However civil society groups like Toronto's City Alliance and the Maytree Foundation, and Vancouver's hugely effective S.U.C.C.E.S.S. (see Tung Chan's editorial) are starting a number of mentoring, employer-employee job shadowing and familiarization projects. These active NGOs and their volunteers can be more nimble, flexible and experimental than governments. They'll need to be as the job shortage crisis increases, and the two fastest growing groups in Canada -- new immigrants and urban aboriginals -- become more obvious as a clear solution to the skill shortage we face.
In B.C. over half of our aboriginal citizens live off their reserve or settlement treaty lands. For example, of the 5,500-person Nisga'a First Nation, only 2,500 live in the Nass Valley north of Terrace. Most of the other 3,000 live in Terrace, Prince Rupert and Vancouver.
Urban aboriginal organizations need to coordinate with B.C. and Canada to help many of these and other first nations citizens to finish high school, complete post-secondary education, gain employment experience, have proper housing.
A bold experiment to do just that, and much more, is taking place in the Downtown Eastside. Business people like Milton Wong and Downtown Eastside community leaders are putting in place a whole series of housing, health, addiction treatment and employment initiatives. I wish them much success, particularly with the many urban aboriginal people in inner-city Vancouver.
Part of their work is to house many of the estimated 7,000 homeless in Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland. Collaborating with the Real Estate Foundation of B.C., Central City Foundation, Vancity, Coast Mental Health Society and the Vancouver Foundation, a "No Homeless by 2015 from Homeless to Homes" initiative is emerging in the Downtown Eastside, and throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Private individuals with "big hearts" and deep pockets are being approached to donate funds, expertise, and support. This will supplement and help speed up the rapidly growing government of B.C. and City of Vancouver activities (and hopefully federal and other municipal activities, like Surrey's homeless fund).
The goal is to eliminate homelessness by 2015 through 1,000 housing units per year with proper supervision, addiction and job counselling. Most of these housing units will be government initiated. But NGOs like Coast Mental Health, the Portland Hotel and Affordable Housing will sponsor, manage and operate them. Plus they'll build new projects, utilizing the generosity of private citizens.
Disabled citizens are all to often underutilized, kept out of the job market. They face too many barriers, such as lack of accessible and affordable housing, inadequate and inaccessible transportation, shortages of services and affordable equipment and a low quality of recreational, social and cultural activities.
I became actively aware of these challenges after my Nov. 30, 2002, fall off a cliff (Don't ask, I have a railing up now).
After the splendid VGH surgical, ICV and G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre teams got me 80 per cent recovered from my spinal cord injury, I went to work with Rick Hansen and the disabled community. I saw the tragedy of so many -- their frustrations, hopes to be as fully recovered and engaged in society as possible.
Through the work of the City of Vancouver's Disability Advisory Committee, with the help of Patrice Pratt, we developed "Measuring Up," a motivational tool.
Measuring Up was essentially put together by disability community activists and their NGOs. These active disabled citizens were so successful that the 2010 Olympics Legacies Now Program, the province, and the Union of B.C. Municipalities have engaged scores of B.C.'s communities, in implementing Measuring Up initiatives.
Powell River (the best in B.C.) and other municipalities are preparing to show the world when the 2010 Olympics/Paralympics happens, that B.C. and hopefully Canada are at the forefront of removing barriers for the disabled. Again it was civil society, working with a sympathetic Vancouver city council and staff that has led the way.
So civil society -- free citizens active in a democratic society -- can have a huge impact to help include in our society those who often feel and are excluded: immigrants, aboriginal people, the homeless and poor, and disabled people.
Non-government organizations, volunteers and donors are important.
So get involved.
We have much more to do, many jobs to fill, marginalized citizens to welcome.
First Nations lag behind in connectivityhttp://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/17569.cfm
Service providers urged to improve services to remote communities
By Monte Stewart - Business Edge Published: 04/04/2008 - Vol. 8, No. 7
Canada's telecom and broadband-service companies should be providing better connectivity to First Nations reserves, particularly those in remote areas, says a communications professor.
Greater First Nations connectivity was a priority of the Kelowna Accord, a proposed federal-provincial financing and rights deal with First Nations that was introduced by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, but was scrapped when Stephen Harper's Tories took office.
First Nations connectivity programs have slowed since then, says Richard Smith, a Simon Fraser University communications professor who studies First Nations telecommunications.
While Smith notes many First Nations in urban areas have access to broadband and cellphone networks, many in remote areas do not because they are not wealthy and do not make attractive customers for private firms.
"(Cellphone service) is not regulated like telephone services, where the companies have to provide service," says Smith. "It's just an optional thing. (Cellphone service providers) go where the money is to be made. So remote and small communities generally don't have any cellphone access - unless they just happen to be near a larger community or a big highway that big companies tend to provide service along."
He says companies have shied away from boosting cellphone access because it is not subsidized the same way as high-speed Internet access, also known as broadband.
Telus spokesman Shawn Hall says it's true that most remote and small communities do not have cellphone access, but many are getting connected, the technology is fairly new and still being rolled out - and costs have deterred expansion. In urban centres, the economies of scale exist to provide services more cost-effectively, he adds. "An average cellphone tower can cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million-plus to bring in, so you have to have the economies of scale to make that work," says Hall, noting Telus tries to place antennae on existing structures.
The news isn't much better for Aboriginal people when it comes to the Internet. According to a 2006 Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) report, many First Nations are still isolated.
The CCL study found only 13 per cent of First Nations communities and 41 per cent of remote communities had broadband access while more than 60 per cent of urban communities and small towns had access to DSL, cable or wireless broadband services.
Bryan Hendry, a policy adviser for the Ottawa-based Assembly of First Nations, says greater connectivity can help grow small businesses, as well as education and health care.
"The overall community well-being benefits when you have access to the world, information-wise and business-wise. People don't have that feeling of isolation."
Many First Nations lack connections to the basic infrastructure - telephone lines, underground cables and cellphone towers - that are necessary to provide Internet and other communication services.
"There are still reserves where there are only one or two phone lines - and that's it," says Hendry. "Definitely, connectivity and phone access are still big concerns and big priorities."
Some provincial governments are trying to do their part. The Alberta government, working with Bell, constructed the Alberta Supernet, which ensures high-speed Internet access for about 430 communities in the province.
Under a deal with the B.C. government and local service providers, Telus spent $117 million on broadband network upgrades that will link 119 of 151 unconnected communities.
"Many of those were First Nation communities, providing them with tremendous benefits," says Hall.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberals also provided a $630,000 grant to the B.C. Community Connectivity Co-operative and the First Nations Technology Council (FNTC) to help communities conquer the so-called "last mile" connection to homes and businesses.
Norm Leech, a member of the FNTC, says his group hopes 55 B.C.-based First Nations will have "industrial-strength" Internet connectivity this year.
"To not have it is to have no access (to Canada's economy)," says Leech, also the administrative services manager for the T'it'q'et First Nation community near Lilloet. "It's to be disconnected and to be on the other side of the river with no bridge."
SFU's Smith predicts all First Nations will have high-speed Internet access within five to 10 years.
"It's getting better. One of the encouraging things is First Nations ... have made this a priority.?
He praises the Ontario government for providing $2.8 million to K-Net Services, based in Sioux Lookout, from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) to improve electronic delivery of essential services in 17 Nishnawbe Aski First Nations communities. K-Net is a department within the Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) First Nations Council.
"When you start connecting rural and remote communities in Canada, then inevitably you start connecting First Nations communities," he says.
(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca) New Tory policy to audit reserves prompts outcryhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080404.NATIVES04/TPStory/National
NATIVES
Plan brought through back door, Liberal says BILL CURRY
April 4, 2008
OTTAWA -- Canada's largest native organization is accusing Conservatives of spreading falsehoods about aboriginals as Ottawa steps up audits of reserves and vows to publicize its findings.
The Assembly of First Nations issued a terse statement yesterday criticizing a new Indian Affairs policy that begins July 1. Under the policy, all transfers to band and tribal councils will contain a clause allowing the department to audit the money later to determine whether it was well spent.
According to the AFN, the announcement from Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl "plays on the false impression that has been spread about first nations and accountability. Those who believe the myths might like the idea that 'something is finally being done,' but they would be wrong again."
In the spirit of the Liberals' controversial First Nations Governance Act, which was abandoned in 2003 after fierce AFN opposition, the audits will also report on whether bands have appropriate management, financial and administrative controls.
The Conservatives, who praised the failed governance act during the last election campaign, attempted to pass a similar measure in 2006 as part of its Federal Accountability Act, but the opposition parties removed it.
The opposition now accuses Ottawa of sneaking the policy through the back door by adopting it without bringing legislation to the House.
"It's part of a pattern to bypass Parliament," Liberal MP Anita Neville said. "They are playing to their political base that believes aboriginal peoples are not accountable and it's contrary to everything we've heard from the Auditor-General."
The government says the audits will be more detailed and cover more areas than they do now. But the AFN says bands are already heavily audited and that Ottawa is ignoring more pressing needs on reserves such as education and housing.
Mr. Strahl said he believes native leaders understand that all parts of society are moving toward more transparency.
"What we're saying is if we're going to give money, we want to be able to do an audit on it to make sure that it's serving its purpose, that it's being spent on the programs that it was intended," he said. "We just want to make sure that - especially first nations - but all taxpayers know the money is being well spent."
Although it has been revised several times over the past 132 years, the 19th-century Indian Act that still governs most band councils remains virtually silent on financial management and accountability. Issues such as public disclosure of band finances are dealt with through policies of the department. In 2002, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser said Canada's reserves were overburdened by paperwork from Ottawa that few bureaucrats would read.
Patrick Brazeau, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, said his recent cross-country tour to canvass the views of aboriginals found widespread frustration toward native leaders.
The congress, whose organization says it represents off-reserve aboriginals, has long argued that the Assembly of First Nations is an organization run by native chiefs who resist accountability. Mr. Brazeau said he hopes the government's latest move will be an improvement. April 04 Pre-Treaty Agreement Announcement Cominghttp://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=4002
Pre-Treaty Agreement Announcement Coming
Published Date: 2008/4/3 0:10:00 Article ID : 4002 Version 1.00 By Westcoaster.ca Staff |
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