Treaty approval now uncertain

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Despite all the hyperbole in the British Columbia media over the terms of the Nuu-chah-nulth agreement-in-principle, it may already be dead in the water.

Local sources say the ratification process requires all member communities that make up the Vancouver Island tribal council to vote in favor. If even one says no, it's back to square one.

The agreement that will be put to the people includes $243 million and 550 square km of land. Newspaper reports in the province have dwelled on how much is in the offer, but many Nuu-chah-nulth people are looking at how small a percentage of their unsurrendered territory and resources are included.

Treaty making has accelerated in British Columbia right now. The Opposition Liberals, expected to defeat the NDP government when a provincial election is called in the near future, have already said they'll hold a referendum on the entire treaty process, once elected. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh has turned that threat into a lever to fast-track treaty negotiations while desperately appealing to the electorate, saying only his party will respect the rights of minorities.

One tribal council member has already announced it will not participate in the ratification vote that is to be held on or before March 31, just three weeks after the agreement-in-principle was initialed. The Ehattesaht First Nation, an isolated community near Nootka Island that is a six-hour drive from Victoria and only accessible after a final 45-minute trek along a logging road, has already walked away from the tribal council and negotiations.

Dawn Amos was the chief of that community from 1998 until October 2000. She was also the treaty negotiator before quitting to attend the University of Victoria. She said she returned to her community to warn the people what would happen if they ratified the treaty offer.

"Speaking as the former negotiator for our tribe, we undertook an analysis of the agreement-in-principle almost two years ago," she said. "At that point, we already had some concerns with the language and in our analysis there were five areas that were brought to the tribal council with respect to jurisdiction, governance, fiscal relations, certainty and taxation."

After she left council, Amos said, the new council did not follow up on those objections.

"As soon as my council left, those issues left the table. It wasn't until the eleventh hour, the day before the initialing, that I went back into the community and shared what we had done and it totally refreshed everybody's memory," she said.

Amos claims the treaty offer is small for the more urban communities in the tribal council and miniscule for the smaller, more remote ones.

Amos knew she would be criticized for speaking against the offer, but she felt she had no choice.

"I was afraid what would happen if I didn't say anything," she said. "I've been totally criticized by my own people and I've received numerous emails basically scolding me or saying, 'This is the best deal we're going to get.'"

One powerful figure on the tribal council, co-chair Richard Watts, said he'll vote against the deal.

"Right in the paper, he said he'll be voting no. I think that'll have a big influence," Amos said.

Another community that reached the agreement-in-principle phase of the treaty process also backed out when it came time to finalize things. After their negotiators reached what looked like an acceptable deal to them, the Sechelt people, whose traditional territory is the Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver, decided that the insistence that they extinguish their tax-free status in exchange for a small percentage of their traditional lands and resources, was unacceptable.

Amos believes that will be a pattern that will be repeated over and over again.

"People are running scared and it's the people who make a living off this process. Those people are running around trying to get us back at the Nuu-chah-nulth table right now. It's only them. It's not the real grassroot,average people," she said.

"We understand that support for the agreement is not unanimous, but we understand also that it may never be so, and we respect the opinions of those who do not support the direction in which we are going," he said. "We firmly believe the agreement provides opportunities for our communities and gives us a proper basis for our proper place in British Columbia and Canada."