VICTORIA, BC, PRESS RELEASE–(Oct. 12, 2007) – The WSÁNEC (Saanich) people have been here since the dawn of time, living off the land and water for thousands of years. It was evident to Governor James Douglas that the WSÁNEC were the sole occupants of the territory just as we are today. We are the direct descendant of those who signed the 1852 Douglas Treaty.
The BC legislature opens Monday October 15, 2007 to debate and vote on the signing of the Tsawwassen Treaty.

Time will tell that this treaty process is fundamentally flawed “The government has become a wedge in First Nations communities” said Chief Tom “taking from Peter to pay Paul is not the solution.” According to the First Nations groups opposing today’s Treaty deals: Shuswap Nation and Treaty 8 First Nations vs Lheidli T’enneh, Tseshaht vs Huu-ay-aht, Cowichan vs Tsawwassen and WSÁNEC vs Tsawwassen, clearly something is not working and this will continue until the problem is fixed. First and foremost the BC and Canadian Governments needs to honor existing treaties.

It’s all ways been the traditional way to support First Nations in their endeavors “It is difficult to support Tsawwassen in their treaty when they infringe on our traditional territory and on our [Mayne Island] reserve” said Chief Tom, meaningful consultation needs to take place in the modern treaty process.

The 130 ratification votes in favor of the Tsawwassen Final Agreement has the potential to affect approximately 2000 WSÁNEC People, due to the fact there has never been meaningful consultation. Until that moment WSÁNEC People will continue to assert our inherent right over the land and water.

For more information, please contact

Chris Tom, Chief, Tsartlip First Nation
Primary Phone: 250-889-7824
Secondary Phone: 250-652-3788
E-mail: var id=’chief’;var host1=’tsartlip.ca’;var host2=”;document.write(‘‘+id+’@'+host1+’.'+host2+’‘);chief@tsartlip.ca.

VICTORIA – An aboriginal chief invited into the B.C. legislature’s chamber Monday to make history told the government, Opposition New Democrats and about 300 aboriginal protesters chanting outside that she didn’t want her people’s treaty to become a political football.

Kim Baird, the five-time elected chief of the 300-member Tsawwassen First Nation, said treaty-making requires acts of compromise by all sides, and her people have been making economic and social compromises for years.

Baird, 37, was summoned inside the legislature to participate in the B.C. government’s introduction of the debate on a treaty with the Tsawwassen First Nation, only the second non-government-affiliated person to address the chamber.

The treaty, once ratified by the B.C. and federal governments, will become the first urban land-claims treaty in Canada. The Tsawwassen live in the southern Vancouver suburb of Delta not far from the ferry terminal that bears their name and a growing container port.

“I think I can say on my and my community’s behalf, that true reconciliation requires that this treaty receive broad support,” said Baird inside the legislature. “I want our treaty to have the support of as many parties and individuals as possible.”

“To have it become a political football due to very specific public policy issues, in my view, sullies the whole point of true reconciliation,” she said. “Compromises are indeed difficult but also very necessary.”

Baird said her comments were directed at politicians, environmentalists and commentators critical of the Tsawwassen receiving 200 hectares of protected agricultural land as part of the treaty settlement.

“Critics choose to ignore Tsawwassen’s history of being victims of industrial and urban development to the benefit of everyone but us,” she said.

Baird said the highway to the ferry terminal serving Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands cut off their reserve and the nearby container port coats their homes with coal and diesel particulate and brings train and truck traffic 24 hours a day.

“Today we have a tiny postage stamp of a reserve, a small fraction of a percentage of our traditional territory fronting a dead body of water, trapped between two massive industrial operations,” she said.

Baird said the treaty will give her people the same opportunities other Canadians already enjoy.

“The Tsawwassen treaty, clause by clause, emphasizes self-reliance, personal responsibility and modern education,” she said. “Or, in other words, a quality of life comparable to other British Columbians.”

Premier Gordon Campbell called the treaty a triumph for the Tsawwassen people.

He said he is prepared to discuss any suggestions people have for improving the current treaty negotiating process.

The B.C. and federal governments have been attempting to negotiate treaties with B.C. first nations for almost 15 years, with little success until recently.

Only about 15 of the estimated 200 aboriginal nations have treaties, and the majority of those were negotiated about 150 years ago when British Columbia was still a British colony.

“I encourage people to come forward with positive recommendations,” Campbell said.

The government introduced three pieces of legislation covering the treaty and amending current laws affected by it.

Baird had heartfelt but stern words for the aboriginal protesters who had gathered at the legislature.

“It saddens me that (there are) such a range of people who don’t understand either our treaty or the objectives of my community,” she said at a ceremony prior to her introduction to the legislature.

“Although I view our treaty to be very exciting, many view this treaty as a scary prospect. Our treaty hasn’t come without its share of controversy. What is happening outside is testimony to that.”

The protesters said they were opposed to the Tsawwassen treaty celebration and carried placards saying they were not satisfied with the negotiating process.

Last July, the Tsawwassen people voted overwhelmingly in favour of a treaty that will give them ownership of more than 700 hectares of prime land, about $ 14 million in cash, self-government provisions and fishing rights.

The Tsawwassen will agree to pay income taxes as a part of the treaty.

The land portion of the treaty has created controversy because it includes some of the most fertile farmland in Canada. Many believe it could be used as part of a huge container port development.

The New Democrats, supporters of the treaty process, have been infighting over this treaty because it gives the Tsawwassen provincially protected agricultural land.

Baird said the treaty has created fear in some parts of the aboriginal community, but much of that could be a result of her band being the first to embrace the negotiating process.

“I’m convinced that only time will prove to everyone that our treaty is not something to fear,” she said. “It’s something to embrace and something that will benefit all.”

Campbell, who presented Baird with a carved cedar door with the First Nation’s eagle and blue heron tribal symbols, praised her and the Tsawwassen people.

“There’s a lot of talk about leadership in the world we live in today,” he said. “Chief Kim Baird is someone who has acted on leadership. She has been a leader through action.”

Baird is the great-granddaughter of former Tsawwassen chief Harry Joe, who petitioned government in 1914 for title to the Tsawwassen lands, Campbell said.

Campbell has become a champion of treaty settlements and aboriginal issues in recent years. He has forged what he calls a new relationship with aboriginals after years of controversy early in his political career.

Campbell was Opposition Liberal leader when Nisga’a Chief Joe Gosnell addressed the legislature in 1998 to celebrate the first modern-day treaty in B.C. history.

Campbell opposed the Nisga’a treaty and launched a lawsuit, which was later dropped.

Campbell now says aboriginals represent Canada’s third solitude and they will not be equal partners in Canada until their health, social and economic status is the same as all Canadians.

Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said aboriginal people from across the province are opposed to the treaty process.

Phillip said it is designed to extinguish aboriginal title and terminate aboriginal rights just to provide certainty for business and industry.

Protester Tom Sampson of the Sencot’en Alliance said he is an old man who is getting tired of fighting

“We oppose the way this government has coerced these tribes to enter the treaty process by using money to move them into a position where they can’t say no because most of our tribes, our people, across the country and especially in B.C. we are still living in Third World conditions,” Sampson said.

VANCOUVER – The B.C. Court of Appeal has reinstated a constitutional challenge to the historic Nisga’a treaty.
Dissident members of B.C.’s Nisga’a First Nation saw their challenge to the Nisga’a Final Agreement tossed out by the B.C. Supreme Court two years ago because the judge said they hadn’t properly prepared their case.

But in a ruling released Tuesday, the B.C. Court of Appeal says dismissing the case was too harsh a penalty for not fully complying with demands to provide more particulars about their challenge.

“Striking a claim (or defence) is a blunt tool, to be used sparingly,” the three-judge panel said in a unanimous decision.

“In this case, the dismissal order seems a particularly serious sanction because the stated purpose of the request for particulars was only to permit the respondents to apply to strike out the Charter claims, but tardiness in affording information required for the application resulted in a dismissal of the action in its entirety.

“Further, given the length of time that had elapsed since the action commenced, one could not say a further seven-day extension within which to provide the particulars would add appreciably to the time for resolution of the action.”

The appeal court has given the group, which is acting without a lawyer, another two weeks to come up with the information or else the Nisga’a Nation and the B.C. and federal governments can move to have the case dismissed.

Nisga’a hereditary chief Sga’nisim Sim’ augit (Chief Mountain), also called James Robinson, and matriarch Nisibilada (Mercy Thomas) filed the challenge in 2000 on behalf of Git Gingoix Tribe members who opposed the treaty and non-Nisga’a residents who they argued were subject to discrimination that violates the Charter of Rights..

The case was dismissed because they did not supply particulars regarding their Nisga’a citizenship and participation in the referendum that ultimately approved the agreement – an issue related to whether they had standing to speak for non-Nisga’a.

Thomas said she spoke up for them because non-Nisga’a spouses and others not born Nisga’a were being struck off band lists after the treaty was implemented.

“This (Nisga’a) Lisims government is the most discriminatory government that I have ever seen,” said Thomas, who now lives near Vancouver. “Because I am a matriarch I have the right to oppose what they have done.”

The Nisga’a Lisims government said in a news release the ruling does not address the substance of the treaty but merely makes it possible for the plaintiffs to resume their challenge in B.C. Supreme Court.

“I’m convinced as I was before that as we wind our way through there that it will be dismissed,” Nelson Leeson, president of the 6,000-member Nisga’a Nation, said in an interview.

“It’s up the justice system, I guess, to take a good look at this and come up with something that has some finality to it.”

The Nisga’a Final Agreement, implemented in 2000 after years of negotiation, was the first modern aboriginal treaty in British Columbia.

The settlement negotiated with the federal and B.C. governments gave the northern B.C. First Nation self-government, 2,000 square kilometres of land, $190 million in cash and millions more in grants and program funds to improve Nisga’a communities in the Nass Valley.

But dissidents, backed by the Calgary-based Canadian Constitution Foundation, mounted a challenge to the agreement, arguing it replaces the Nisga’a hereditary model of governance with an unconstitutional third order of government.

The foundation said in a news release Tuesday the treaty created a “semi-independent Nisga’a state whose laws prevail over Canadian law.”

A lawyer familiar with the case said when the issue of standing to represent non-Nisga’a is stripped away, the case looks similar to the unsuccessful court challenge mounted by Gordon Campbell, when he and his B.C. Liberals were in opposition.

Campbell, premier since 2001, has since changed his views on treaty-making.

Leeson said he believes there are only 20 to 30 active opponents of the treaty.

“I see that as their right as people to question things,” he said. “Hopefully when the decision comes down they can fold up their tents and come and join with us in building a better society, a better community, a better nation for ourselves.”

Leeson said the federal, B.C. and Nisga’a governments bear some blame for the continued opposition. Seven years after its implementation, many people still don’t full comprehend it, despite extensive consultation and publicity.

“With all that work we still have people who haven’t grasped or understood the treaty,” Leeson.

Treaty rejection probed

The Lheidli T’enneh First Nation was divided over local band election issues and some members were poorly informed about their treaty offer when they voted to reject it, an analysis by the B.C. Treaty Commission has found. The proposed treaty, the first finalized under the B.C. Treaty Commission process after more than a decade of talks, was voted down 123-111 in a series of votes held last March. The commission’s follow-up found that members were given little time to consider the two-volume final agreement, which was distributed along with information sheets, a video and a “plain language guide” that ran to 108 pages.

The commission and the band council have been examining whether another vote can be held on a deal in the works since 1992.

“The comprehension level in the community was low,” the commission said in its report.

It also noted that a core group of 15 community representatives who negotiated the agreement in principle was later expanded to more than 50, with each paid $40 per meeting to attend. A survey of voters conducted by Mustel Group found that a third of members who didn’t vote didn’t like the settlement being offered. Among those who voted yes, 42 per cent thought it was the best deal for the band, and 39 per cent wanted to get the community out of the control of the federal Indian Affairs department. In addition to 4,330 hectares of settlement lands, the Lheidli T’enneh deal included a one-time payment of $13.2 million and resource revenue sharing of $400,000 a year for the next 50 years.

Globe and MAil (JUSTINE HUNTER)
October 6, 2007
VICTORIA — For the second time in 110 years, a “stranger” has been asked to approach the brass bar of the B.C. legislative chamber to speak.

Kim Baird, the formidable chief of the Tsawwassen First Nation who took on a wide field of opponents to negotiate a historic treaty for her community, admitted yesterday she is anxious.“I’m extremely nervous, it’s quite an honour,” she said in an interview.

The proposed Tsawwassen treaty is the centrepiece of the legislative session that begins Oct. 15.

Ms. Baird has been invited to speak to the legislature on the opening day to defend the treaty, following in the footsteps of Chief Joseph Gosnell, the Nisga’a leader who achieved the only other modern-day treaty in British Columbia. Mr. Gosnell spoke at the bar of the legislature 10 years ago to open debate on the Nisga’a treaty.

“The treaty is symbolic of reconciliation, that will be a focal point of what I will discuss,” Ms. Baird said.

In order to approach the bar, MLAs must give unanimous consent to a motion to allow an unelected guest – otherwise known as a “stranger” – to address the legislature. Then the massive oak doors to the chamber would be opened, allowing her to step forward onto the red carpet to speak.

The treaty has been strongly supported by the Liberal government led by Premier Gordon Campbell, and is expected to pass. However, MLAs on both sides of the legislature have raised concerns.

The New Democratic Party opposition has suspended one MLA, Michael Sather, because he has vowed to vote against the treaty. Mr. Sather and at least two other New Democrats are opposed to the portion of the treaty that will remove farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Ms. Baird is expected to address that criticism head-on in her address, noting that her tiny urban reserve is hemmed in on all sides by non-native development.

The $120-million treaty includes cash, a share of the salmon fishery and 724 hectares – some of it prime agricultural land expected to be converted for port-related development. The band has 372 members.

Ms. Baird said she intends to bring lots of supporters, including her two young daughters, when she comes to Victoria to speak. But she hopes her girls will not be forced to look at pictures of subjugated native women in the legislature along the way.

This week a controversy over historic murals was literally covered up when the province’s first aboriginal Lieutenant-Governor, Steven Point, was sworn in at the legislature.

Painted in the 1930s, the murals were intended to represent scenes from B.C. history. One shows bare-breasted native women hauling goods under the eyes of white overseers. Another mural shows a native chief, head bowed, before Colonial Chief Justice Matthew Begbie. The murals were hidden behind curtains for Mr. Point’s visit.

“I’m hoping to bring my young daughters, I don’t think they should ever see their ancestors represented in that way,” Ms. Baird said.

The curtains were removed once Mr. Point left the building and the murals are back on display.