I am writing this article as an examination of the good (if there is any) and the bad of "Your Guide to the Nisga'a Treaty". I hope this can be of help to anyone trying to sort this issue(s) out.

Tax Equality:
"* The Nisga'a will be subject to all provincial and federal taxes."

Yes they will be subject to all provincial and federal taxes, however when, not right away I imagine. Does this actually require a deal? Just throw out the Indian Act, which sounds rather outdated anyway, since we know better then Chris Columbus, that this is America, not India. As it is, Columbus found the Caribbean, and Amerigo Vespucci discovered the Americas, hence the continents' name.

"* Sales taxes will be phased in over eight years from the date of signing, and all income taxes over 12 years, as the Nisga'a develop their economy and become more self reliant."

What did I tell ya? Sales taxes will be ‘phased in' over eight years, and income over 12. Equality my sweet rectoid mucosa. Develop their economy, huh, all of BC needs to do that, is the rest of BC going to get that break? If I were the Nisga'a, I would avoid the deal till some party like Reform BC or the BC Party get in and drop taxes, however I am not a Nisga'a.

"* They are the first aboriginal group in Canada to agree to give up their Indian ACT tax redemptions."

Woo, oh our white knights, the Nisga'a people, they are allowing us to drop our own pants for our examination. The Indian Act should have been ended as it is, without any deals, of course that would require spine, which many in Canadian politics lack in this Politically Correct world.

The Land:
"* Private Land is not part of the Nisga'a Final Agreement, and won't be on the table in any treaties the B.C. Government negotiates."
"* Crown land leased for agricultural uses or woodlot licenses is also excluded."

Right, and B.C. will have a balanced budget by yesterday too. If the NDP is pressured enough by the Ottawa courts, be sure to see Clark coward under the federal gestapo. If we were dealing with a truly principled government, one would actually believe this.

"* The Nisga'a lands include 2,000 square kilometres, including current reserve lands. This resolves their original claim to an area of almost 24,000 square kilometres."

What is wrong with just declaring their current reserve land a non-segregatable municipality? Forget the extra land. They don't deserve it, nor have they earned it.

"* The Nisga'a will own the forest and mineral resources, on their land and must manage them within B.C. laws and standards."

I'm glad to see the environmental damage will continue to be tolerated. Will people be allowed to hug their trees too?

"* Public access to provincial roads through Nisga'a land is assured, as is public access to Nisga'a lands for recreational purposes."

Perfect, this means, beer cans and used condoms can continue to live freely in their natural environment of public recreational parks.

The Nisga'a Government:
"* The Treaty allows the Nisga'a people to govern themselves in a way comparable to a municipal government."

So it's comparable to a municipality? Does this mean, in sleazy political language, that it isn't going to be a municipality (Town, City, etc... of Nisga'a)? Is there going to be a municipal council and mayor like a municipality? Why is this not made clear, what is being hidden from the public? What I think is that this "similar to municipal government" will be another venue for segregation and ethnic separation, that will end up in great tension through out the province. Great idea, Clark, what's next, separate washrooms and drinking fountains for Natives?

"* The Canadian Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Criminal Code will apply to the Nisga'a people."
"* The Nisga'a will be subject to the federal and provincial laws relating to the environment, resources and conservation, and the laws that generally apply to British Columbians today."

Well this I can't really disagree with or argue, they should be mistreated just as much as every other Canadian in BC and Alberta, by Ottawa.

"* Not a single word of the constitution will change."

Why not? We still have to be stuck with the crown?

A Free Vote By Your Elected Representatives:
"* The Final Agreement has been initialled by the Nisga'a Tribal Council, the Federal Government, and the Government of B.C."

So everyone initialled it before it was passed by the Nisga'a ratification vote, MLA vote, and federal parliamentary vote. Why? How can this be guaranteed before the democratic process has gone through?

"* A free vote on the Nisga'a Treaty will be held in the B.C. legislature, allowing all members of the Legislative Assembly to vote with conscience - not along party lines. It must also be passed by the federal Parliament in Ottawa."

Free vote my sweet toe jam! I expect to see NDPers kicked out of, I mean "resign", the NDP caucus if it passes and some NDPers refuse the deal. Resign is of course the Canadian political version of being kicked out of the caucus, look at Jim Hart for example. Also there is no guarantee that the Liberal Führer's Jean "Cretin" Chretien and Gordon Campbell will allow free votes in their caucus. Nor is there, with Reform of Canada, Tories and Federal NDP.

"* The Nisga'a people will hold their own ratification vote."

Gee I wonder how that will turn out? If they were smart, they would have voted no themselves. I can't imagine the Nisga'a or any other native group being naive enough to buy anything Premier Snidely Whiplash has to offer. Goes to show you, they are no smarter or dumber then the average BC voter. Why is it, they get a ratification vote and the B.C. voters don't? This is not equality, by any means.

A Public Process:
"* Bargaining to negotiate a treaty that resolves the Nisga'a claim really began in 1991."

Wow, took that long for the NDP to come up with this raw deal?

"* An Agreement In Principle (AIP) was signed in 1996 and since then has been widely available in libraries and public buildings, and on the Internet."

Agreement in principle, what principle? Seems more like political butt kissing with the Nisga'a to me. This AIP was widely available and they just let you know about it in this panflet.

"* Over 400 public meetings were held and an all-party committee of the legislature travelled B.C. to hear views on the Nisga'a and other treaties. What they heard helped guide negotiators working on the final treaty."

Yes and those Liberals and NDPers, listened to what they wanted to hear and ignored what they didn't. Likely leaving out a lot of view points that don't cross into either party's agenda, hidden or other wise.

A cost shared by all Canadians:
"* The Nisga'a will receive $312 million spread over fifteen years. B.C. taxpayers will pay less than 1/5th of the total cost of settling while Canadian taxpayers combined pay the rest."

That's all, well let me see, I may have lost that amount in the cushions of my couch. If this is a BC issue and not a federal issue, why is the country of a whole paying for it, if they are actualy paying for 4/5s of it. After all most of this country's resources and revenue come from the West, so in a sense at least roughly 33.33% of the cost is forked over by BC at the very least 50% from the West in general, maybe more. For the same reasons, why are the federal courts telling our province and MLA's do make a deal, when it is the people of British Columbia, who have that say in what their MLA does or doesn't do in this matter. Why are we spending so much money on a deal when in a recession with economic uncertainty.

"* Federal and provincial funds ($26 million from the federal government and $3 million from the B.C. Government) are currently paid to the Nisga'a for the provision of services, similar to other municipalities in the province. These funds will be re-negotiated every five years and reduced as the Nisga'a become increasingly self-reliant."

When are they expected to be self reliant? That point in the deal doesn't really say much. We could be paying up for centuries before it is decided that they are self reliant, all we know. Plus, the only money they should get, is the usual amount based on population and land proportioning that every other municipality gets. That would be equal.

"* These contributions by taxpayers support the provisions of services comparable to other municipalities in the region."

Then that is all the money they should get as I mentioned before, why the extra 312 million? To me that 312 million makes things un-equal, and therefore defeats what I thought was the purpose of such a deal.

Economic Certainty:
"* B.C is the only province in Canada where the vast majority of aboriginal people are not covered by treaties."

And this is a bad thing? Maybe if we treated natives as Canadians and not natives, a treaty would have never existed. The treaty treats them as natives and not Canadians. I was born in Canada, so lets face it, I'm technically native to.

"* The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that aboriginal people may hold title to lands they historically occupied."

The Supreme Court of Canada has no business telling my MLA what he or she is to do. That is what I do. This is a matter for the province, not the feds. If Clark had some spine, he might even stand up to Ottawa and tell them to sit on their ruling.

"* KPMG and Price Water house - two national accounting firms - have found that prolonged uncertainty of unresolved land claims has cost B.C. billions of dollars in lost investment and jobs."

The deal isn't going to change that, in fact it may worsen it. The BC government's excessive and unfair taxation, and red tape are causing much more in the way of job loss, I don't see that changing any time soon. The uncertainty hasn't gone and won't go with this deal.

"* Doing nothing means ending up back in court, wasting money on lengthy court battles all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. And court rulings could mean decisions that don't take into account the needs of all British Columbians - aboriginal and non-aboriginal."

The court ruling that started this mess, didn't take in account the needs of British Columbians - non-aboriginal and aboriginal. The patronage appointed Court of Canada has no idea on what they are doing. As for lengthy court battles, the most costly thing in this world is being to much of a coward to make a stand. The stand being, putting the Federal Government in their place.

"* The negotiated treaty, involving give and take by all parties, is preferable to continued litigation or the possibility of confrontation."

I guess paying an extortionist is preferable to having one's legs broken, however it is wasteful of the human spirit. Taking a stand may be painful in short, however in the long run will be most rewarding.

"In the treaty, rights of the Nisga'a are exhaustively spelled out. The Federal Government and Provincial Government will be released from any other obligations pursuant to the Nisga'a aboriginal rights and claims."

Ya, until they decide that what they got wasn't good enough, and the road blocks start up again, and they can start whining like children.

"* The Treaty is a full and final settlement that provides all parties involved with legal certainty."

Nope, I'm afraid it doesn't, because there is no guarantee, that the next government won't decide to renege and pull the deal after the fact. Then where does that leave us? Maybe the Nisga'a deal will strengthen separatist thoughts among British Columbians, and so on. Our world has one certainty, that certainty is that there is no certainty. Not to mention the fact we will have more economic uncertainty then we have now due to the NDP government.

Principles that guide B.C.'s Negotiation:
Going into this would just be redundant and annoy you to no end.

The Finale:
This deal is not only an example of backroom politics and sleazy wording, but an example of how the NDP government cares for nothing and no one, but it's own self interests.
Glen Clark is just to uncredable to be running such a deal. The Nisga'a should know this. I wish they did. I think British Columbians have just woke up and smelled that rancid coffee.
As a province we are screwed, since there is no real leadership shown here buy, Campbell, Wilson or Clark. Campbell is just trying to oppose anything the NDP come up with. Wilson is trying to oppose anything that Campbell says, because he is seeking revenge against the BC Liberal Party for ousting him and stabbing him in the back. Clark is too much of a weanie to stand up to anyone in the Courts or the Nisga'a ranks. This is why we really need a referendum, to get our voice heard, because the only voices I hear are those of people patting themselves on the back, and a tied up Vander Zalm gaged with a sock in his mouth (figuratively speaking).
In fairness, there is one voice notable. David Black, who was attacked by Premier Clark, for spending own money and property to get his point of view across. Clark, how awful of him, he should be using public money like you and the Nisga'a. Clark had another plan of hiding the truth. An old trick used by decent people like, Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc... You know, teaching this propaganda in schools! It looks like Glen Clark has just hired Joseph Goebbels as Minister of Propaganda, so ve can learn to like this deal, because ve have no choice what so ever. What's next, re-education camp, in Siberia? I wonder since, it was the Europeans who invented land deeds, how natives have rights to the land, since they didn't have land deeds when they lost it. This is the most curious aspect of the land claim issue. I hope it get's cleared up at some point.
Well I hope I successfully managed to be a decent alternative voice to what you usually here, and I hope that the Parliament at least has enough votes against, because it will pass in the BC Legislature. Gölök Buday is a writer and is not a member of any B.C. party nor a supporter of either the Liberal Party, or the NDP party.

Copyright to Gölök Buday 1998-1999, ©1998-1999

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