Publisher leads attack on Nisga'a agreement

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The Assembly of First Nations wants British Columbia publishing magnate David Black to make some room on his mantel for an annual journalistic "booby prize."

Black, who owns three companies that control 60 newspapers in British Columbia and one Alberta newspaper, has told his editors that any editorials and opinions in their papers on the Nisga'a Final Agreement can only contain anti-treaty sentiment.

Canada, British Columbia and the Nisga'a Tribal Council initialed the final agreement earlier this summer. Nisga'a people are expected to vote on it in early November. The deal has been heralded as the first modern-day treaty in the province. Nisga'a people will receive a land claim settlement worth close to $200 million and the agreement provides for the other parties to recognize a form of Nisga'a self government. In exchange for that, the people must relinquish their Indian Act rights to be tax-exempt.

Black, who is no relation to the international newspaper owner Conrad Black, has also contracted book author Mel Smith to write eight columns detailing the background of the Nisga'a treaty process. Smith's articles will appear in all 60 newspapers, even those not writing editorials on the Nisga'a agreement.

Morris Switzer, spokesman for the Assembly of First Nations, said Black has his vote for the Native American Journalists Association's annual award for the silliest action taken by a non-Native person on a Native issue.

"NAJA has the Columbus award," Switzer said. "Well, we don't have anything like that up here, but I think we have - in fact, I'm sure we have - a winner."

The AFN communications boss said he was serious. He said he planned to organize a special ceremony to present the award to Black.

But not all of the assembly's remarks on the issue were based in humor.

National Chief Phil Fontaine held little back in his scathing response to the Black's initiative.

"We've been criticized for saying Indians are still targets of racism," said Fontaine, "but in recent months we've heard politicians deny our treaty rights, and media commentators contest our inherent right to self government. Now they're trying to deprive us of our right to free speech. If this isn't racism, I don't know what else to call it."

Black knew he was going to stir up a hornet's nest with his edict. He isn't, however, prepared to be called racist.

"I'm not against the Nisga'a people and I'm sure as hell not racist," he told Windspeaker. Black just wants people to realize that 90 days isn't enough time to decide on an agreement that will change Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal lives forever.

Members of B.C.'s First Nations Summit feel that Black is abusing his right as a newspaper owner. An abuse that is being carried out at the expense of the Nisga'a people and everyone else who believes in free speech.

"It's as if we were back in the Wild West all over again," said Grand Chief Edward John, First Nations Summit Task Group member. "It is very troubling to think that many communities in B.C. which rely on these newspapers for objective journalism are being provided anything but when it comes to reporting on First Nations issues."

Black said the decision to insist that his own opinion be put into all the newspapers was a tough thing to do. He said he knows what the dangers of forcing an opinion on people can be. But in his mind, the Nisga'a agreement is not the best deal for the Nisga'a people or the province right now.

"It was tough. It's the first time in 23 years [in the newspaper industry] that I've done this," he said "The treaty as proposed now is not acceptable."

Black said the provincial government is pushing the agreement onto the Nisga'a people without the majority of the people knowing what the deal means. The non-Native people in the province haven't been educated enough on the deal or the background either, he said.

"The government is trying to force-feed it. They are selling it to the peole with half truths, as opposed to educating the people about what's in it," he said.

A primary vehicle for the government's campaign to promote the Nisga'a agreement is with paid advertisements in the majority of Black's newspapers. Papers under his control have also printed opinion pieces in favor of the agreement from government sources.

Black said his actions are just a way to present the other side to the public.

"Let's get an educated public here. This is too complex and there's too many issues," he said.

Although he is against the current agreement, Black said he would like to see an agreement negotiated with the Nisga'a. He would like to see the negotiations on a new agreement start up soon after the current agreement is voted down.

"I'm not saying let's turn the clock back," he said. "We need to get this done as rapidly as possible and then get on with things."

If the Nisga'a agreement is voted down by the Nisga'a people, Black's 60 newspapers will again form a united front and lobby for those new negotiations, he said.

"It should be resolved and my papers will be at the forefront saying that this has to be resolved," he said.

The Canadian Association of Journalists has come down hard on Black, calling his actions an attempt to "censure open debate on the B.C. treaty-making process."

Black said he hasn't restricted news coverage of the agreement, just the opinion expressed on the editorial page.

Trudi Beutel, secretary for the Canadian Association of Journalists, said Black has gone too far in trying to influence an issue.

"Black is saying the public has the right to know only what he wants them to know," she said.

Beutel said Black's intention to only influence the editorial page of the newspapers and continue to write fair and unbiased news stories on the treaty process is walking a thin line.

"The opinion/editorial are his words. . . but what's the bigger picture," she asked. "How will Black's mandate affect letters to te editor? How will it affect how the reporters write their news stories. It's a trickle-down effect."

Boni Fox, a board of directors member of the Canadian Association of Journalists also said the "trickle-down effect" could taint the objectivity of the paper.

"It can't help but be a suppression of fair and balanced coverage on this issue," said Fox, a television reporter who has worked in Edmonton and is now a freelance reporter working with CBC in Vancouver.

Even if the papers can continue to write fair and objective articles on the treaty process, Fox said, the public may question their objectivity. She said Black's mandate could not only give those B.C. newspapers questionable credibility with the public, but could also give the whole journalism industry a black eye.

As one of the editors of a paper owned by Black said, "They'll be talking about this in journalism schools for years to come."

"I think it is not helping the industry any," said Fox, adding that many people already feel there is a bias in the media. "Something like this can't be helping our cause at all."

Despite the concerns, Fox said Black's initiative may result in an ironic twist. She said that despite his insistence to express only anti-Nisga'a sentiment on his newspapers' editorial pages, his actions have focused a lot of attention on the Nisga'a Final Agreement across the country and in particular in British Columbia.

That attention to the issue is just what Black wants.

His own opinion that the reserve system isn't working and hasn't for a hundred years is a part of his desire to turf the Nisga'a agreement.

He said the agreement is just a continuation of the reserve system. It will lead to more problems and more barriers between Native and non-Native people.

"You can't separate people based on their race or religion and give them a separate piece of geography," said Black, a firm believer in equality for all.

He said it will produce more ill-will between the twogroups of people.

"It will feed racism for a long time," he said.

Although proponents of the agreement say it will break the reserve system, Black believes the treaty process will instead create "a society of 50 or 60 homelands in B.C," further increasing the diversity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures.

Attempts to reach Nisga'a Tribal Council President Joe Gosnell for comment on the issue were unsuccessful.