Ottawa next stop for Nisga'a agreement

Page 1

The British Columbia legislature - or at least the governing New Democratic Party members - has put the province's stamp of approval on the Nisga'a Final Agreement.

Nisga'a Tribal Council President Joe Gosnell and the premier signed the agreement into British Columbia law in the Terrace Arena on April 27. Full ratification will be achieved when the federal Parliament completes its legislative process, something sources in Ottawa say won't start before Parliament adjourns for the summer recess.

The NDP government of Premier Glen Clark invoked closure on the debate of Bill 51, the Nisga'a Final Agreement Act, forcing a vote on April 22. Closure is a parliamentary device used by the governing party to end debate on an issue and force a vote before opposition parties feel they have voiced all concerns about a bill.

While the opposition party leaders angrily expressed their displeasure, several Aboriginal leaders also opposed closure. Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, a group that opposed the Nisga'a deal from the beginning, angrily attacked the premier.

"B.C. enters into this treaty in direct defiance of the B.C. Supreme Court, which said, in the Gitanyow case, that government has an obligation to act in good faith when negotiating with Indigenous peoples. What about all the other Indigenous nations whose land is included in the Nisga'a treaty? What good faith has this NDP government shown towards them?" Phillip said. "I am personally outraged at these reprehensible government actions. Instead of talking seriously with all Indigenous peoples whose lands are affected by these treaties, the government is rushing to force a vote on the issue, and forcing Indigenous peoples into court and into the streets in an effort to protect our Aboriginal title territories. These actions show quite clearly that the current government does not have the morality or integrity to negotiate treaties in good faith."

Premier Clark and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gordon Wilson defended the decision to invoke closure.

"In the legislature, we have devoted in excess of 120 hours to debate of Bill 51," said Wilson. "More debate than other piece of legislation in B.C.'s history."

"The passage of this treaty in the provincial legislature marks a historic turning point in the lives of all British Columbians, especially the Nisga'a people," said Clark. "After more than a century of struggle for the Nisga'a and other First Nations in B.C., we have finally found a path that will lead us to reconciliation, justice and a way to live together in mutual respect."