New day is dawning with Declaration Act

Re: “Indigenous Peoples bill has good goals but overpromises,” editorial, Nov. 3.

In response to the unsigned editorial in the Times Colonist claiming that “the unifying authority of government has been fragmented” by the province’s new Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, I am writing to express my dismay.

From the dark days of the Oka crisis to the pending Declaration Act, we have come a very long way. A new day is dawning in which Indigenous people actually get to be treated to the same rights to life, liberty, equality and self-determination (the right to decide what happens on their land) that we as settlers have been so privileged to enjoy.

Now that the truth of the Residential Schools, the Indian Hospitals and the Sixties Scoop are being told, it is time to right the wrongs of our forefathers. The First Nations people have been here for thousands of years and have been shamefully abused and have had their lands and resources stolen from them by settlers.

In Indigenous culture, it is their hereditary duty to be caretakers of the land. Today, we stand shoulder to shoulder as nations to honour those values so that we can all share in the wealth of our land, while respecting the environment so that we can all prosper.

This land belongs to the people and for far too long has been in the hands of a few elite families and corporations to amass wealth to the detriment of the land and its people. I stand in strong support of the Declaration Act.

Jane Devonshire View Royal