LONG ROAD TO TREATY MAY FACE NEW POTHOLES

Even before ratification, two other first nations are challenging its terms

There were congratulations all around in Prince George last Saturday, when federal and provincial negotiators initialled a tentative treaty settlement with a local First Nation, the Lheidli T’enneh.

But the ceremony, coming as it did more than 20 years after the start of formal negotiations between the three parties, also served as a reminder of how even with the best of intentions, the B.C. treaty process is a long and difficult one.

The Lheidli T’enneh, a nation of 500 people whose traditional territory extends from Prince George to the Alberta border, were an early participant when modernday treaty negotiations were established under the NDP government of the 1990s.

Their leaders entered into serious negotiations on an agreement in principle in the early days of Glen Clark’s term as premier and emerged with a tentative treaty in the second term of Premier Gordon Campbell.

But the deal went sideways in March 2007, when the agreement was rejected in a ratification vote among the Lheidli T’enneh people by a margin of 111 in favour, 123 against.

“The result caught many by surprise,” wrote the B.C. Treaty Commission in a post-mortem. “There was an expectation the treaty would pass.”

As independent overseer of the treaty process, the commission hired an opinion survey firm to interview members of the First Nation and discover the reasons for rejection.

The resulting report painted a sobering picture of how the settlement was derailed by a rushed ratification process and internal divisions within the community.

Communication was critical. The treaty ran to more than 500 pages with appendices and even the so-called “plain language” version came in at more than 100.

“The comprehension level in the community was low,” the survey firm discovered. “Some members cannot read well, or at all.”

But band leaders were not at the forefront of explaining and defending the treaty, raising suspicions that they were “unsupportive.” Little thought was given to meeting the objections of an organized “no” campaign. And misinformation flourished.

“Fear was a big factor, including fears about taxes, governance, loss of rights, loss of traditional lands and loss of identity,” said the report from the survey firm. “People believed they would lose medical, dental and eye care ... that health services would bankrupt the First Nation.”

Plus long-standing rivalries among the dozen or so families that made up the First Nation translated into a belief among the “outs” that the settlement would mainly benefit the “ins.”

“Family divisions run deep and trust is in short supply,” wrote the commission in its post-mortem. “There was a belief among members that a No vote would bring with it a better offer from the governments of Canada and B.C.”

So it did. But not until a period of recriminations within the community (documented by the treaty commission), a changeover from the original negotiating team, and years of rebuilding trust before re-engaging seriously at the bargaining table.

The tentative settlement inked Saturday is assuredly more generous than the one rejected 11 years ago. It includes a capital transfer of $37 million upfront plus the establishment of 4,330 hectares of treaty land, a quarter of it within Prince George city limits.

There’s ongoing funding for health, education, social services, economic development and the fishery. All in, the First Nation puts the value at $116 million, a $50-million improvement on the terms rejected a generation ago.

Still, Chief Dominick Frederick, who was leader of the Lheidli T’enneh in 2007 as he is today, was cautious not to oversell the significance of the latest agreement.

The treaty is a step in the “right direction,” he said last Saturday, but far from the last one on the road to reconciliation.

“You can’t reconcile 100 and some odd years of atrocities that were put on our Aboriginal people over a short period of time,” he said. “Reconciliation goes on and on.”

Nevertheless according to the report this week in the Prince George Citizen, the chief recommends that when eligible community members cast their ballots June 16-23, they vote in favour of ratification.

“To the Lheidli T’enneh, the treaty means we’re moving ahead and building our future for the next generation,” said Frederick. “I am hoping for a yes-vote so our community can come together and I hope people realize we can’t stay with Indian Affairs and the Indian Act and we have to start somewhere.

“People are saying ‘it’s not the right time’ — there never is going to be a right time, but I’m saying it’s the right time now.”

If the people accept his recommendation this time — and presuming the federal and provincial governments then ratify the terms as well — the Lheidli T’enneh would join only seven other B.C. First Nations in implementing treaties.

Not a lot of progress for a treaty process that this year marks its 25th anniversary.

Plus one has to note that within a few days of Saturday’s announcement, the Simpcw First Nation and the McLeod Lake Indian Band came forward to challenge the settlement.

They say the deal with the Lheidli T’enneh encroaches on their traditional territories and violates federal and provincial commitments to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

As a result, the terms may be challenged in court, setting the stage for further delays in a settlement that has already taken decades.

The treaty means we’re moving ahead and building our future for the next generation.

DOMINICK FREDERICK, Chief of Lheidli T’enneh First NAtion