FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chief Arthur Manuel: Cell: (250) 314-7179, or Office: (250) 828-9789
Neskonlith Indian Band
Chairman, Shuswap Nation Tribal Council
Chairman, Interior Alliance
Co-Chair, AFN Delgamuukw Implementation Committee

Chief Calls on First Nations to

Walk Away from the BC Treaty Process

OPEN LETTER
FEBRUARY 15, 2000
TO ALL OF THE ABORIGINAL NATIONS AND COMMUNITIES PARTICIPATING IN THE
BRITISH COLUMBIA TREATY COMMISSION (BCTC) PROCESS

In 1973, the federal government adopted a national policy to negotiate the extinguishment of Aboriginal title and rights in Canada; this was the Comprehensive Claims policy. In 1986, the Comprehensive Claims Policy was revised by the federal government and in 1990, the federal government removed the restriction of only negotiating with six Aboriginal "Claimant groups" at a time in order to "accelerate" the extinguishment of Aboriginal title.

In 1992, the "made in B.C.", British Columbia Treaty Commission (BCTC) Process was created in order to implement the federal Comprehensive Claims Policy in British Columbia. The NDP governments of Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark subsequently brought into the provincial government bureaucracy ranks, individuals experienced with implementing the federal Comprehensive Claims Policy, notably, Mr. Tony Penikett, former NDP Premier of the Yukon Territorial Government, who presided over the Yukon Umbrella Final Agreement.

We are writing because for the first time since 1992--when the British Columbia Treaty Commission Process began--all of the major Aboriginal organizations in B.C. have adopted a consensus Statement in order to:
· Categorically reject the Federal Comprehensive Claims Policy and Canada's implementation of this policy.
· Affirm that Aboriginal title exists in B.C. and Canada.
· Press for the replacement of the Comprehensive Claims Policy with a new policy of Recognition, Affirmation and Implementation of Aboriginal Title.

During meetings held in Vancouver on January 27- 29, 2000, there was also a consensus on a political strategy that will lead to the exercise of Aboriginal title through initiatives across the province. On December 11, 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its landmark Delgamuukw decision affirming that Aboriginal title exists in B.C. and Canada, rendering the Comprehensive Claims Policy illegal in light of this court decision. The Delgamuukw decision sets out legal principles and a framework for the recognition, reconciliation and implementation of Aboriginal title along with Crown title.
After the Delgamuukw decision, our Interior Alliance patiently waited for the governments to demonstrate to us, what the courts refer to as "the honour of the Crown", by offering to negotiate the recognition of our Aboriginal title in accordance with the Supreme Court of Canada decision.
What we have received instead from the governments of Canada and British Columbia is gamesmanship. Our Interior Alliance Nations were told by the previous Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, to either enter into negotiations under the BCTC process, or go to court.

Our Interior Alliance decided instead to choose a third option. A number of our communities have exercised Aboriginal title by conducting Timber Harvesting Operations within our Ancestral homelands. We did so under our own permitting system. The Government of British Columbia has dragged our communities into court and our communities are defending themselves in court. These court proceedings are numerous and at different levels, including the British Columbia Court of Appeals.

Meanwhile, as per the meeting and consensus statement of January 28, 2000, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the Interior Alliance, the First Nations Summit and the Assembly of First Nations are now united against the Federal Comprehensive Claims Policy and the implementation of that policy.

We will need to be unified in protecting and enforcing our respective Aboriginal title. It should be noted we have a video record of the federal Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, on January 10, 2000, while travelling in Western Quebec with National Chief Phil Fontaine, drawing a line in the sand, by categorically stating that the federal government will not negotiate the recognition of Aboriginal title, or compensation for infringements of Aboriginal title.

In his January 10, 2000, statements, Minister Nault, presents a frank assessment that no Minister of the Crown has a right to recognize Aboriginal title, because this would require a federal "Cabinet decision", which essentially means that federal recognition of Aboriginal title requires the support of Prime Minister Chretien. Minister Nault's comments places into context the recently announced "Treaty Related Measures" (TRM's), or so-called "Improvements" to the BCTC Process, as being merely a manipulative public relations technique designed to paint Aboriginal Nations and peoples as greedy and unreasonable if and when these TRM's are rejected as economically and ecologically unsustainable by Aboriginal Nations and peoples.
The Government of Canada intends to continue denying and delaying the opportunities afforded by the Supreme Court of Canada's Delgamuukw decision for our Aboriginal Nations and peoples.
In our view, the "Treaty Settlement Model" the Chretien government is trying to impose on Aboriginal Nations and peoples through the implementation of the Comprehensive Claims Policy, has origins in his 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy.

We believe that the federal government is deliberately using Aboriginal poverty to keep the Comprehensive Claims Policy and Process alive. We also know that the outstanding $100 million in demand loans and the threat of legal action is keeping many Aboriginal groups engaged in the so-called Treaty process--even though the governments refuse to negotiate the recognition of Aboriginal title or compensation--simply because many Aboriginal groups cannot afford to repay the loans. This is tantamount to blackmail and we urge any of you caught in this situation to bring this fundamental injustice into the public eye.

From the beginning, the federal Cabinet's objective in implementing the Comprehensive Claims Policy in British Columbia has been the extinguishment of Aboriginal title, and the recent Delgamuukw decision has not changed their minds. We only have to look at the terms and conditions contained in the so-called "modern treaties", particularly the Nisga'a Final Agreement and the Sechelt Agreement-in-Principle, to see what the federal and provincial negotiating positions are regarding the extinguishment of Aboriginal title, or "certainty" as the lawyers now call it.

The recent "insulting offers", to groups negotiating under the Comprehensive Claims Process shows a clear pattern that the governments are ignoring the legal principles and framework set out in the landmark Delgamuukw decision. The problem is that the federal negotiators mandates come from the Comprehensive Claims Policy which only deals with administrative land matters, not the recognition of Aboriginal title, or compensation for infringing upon Aboriginal title.
So the purpose of our unified effort in B.C. and across Canada, is to press the federal Cabinet to replace the federal Comprehensive Claims Policy with a policy for the Recognition, Affirmation and Implementation of Aboriginal Title.
However, in our estimation, the policy will be difficult to replace for all of the Aboriginal title territories in British Columbia, as long as some Aboriginal Nations or communities in British Columbia cling to a process that does not work, places you deeper in debt and produces only "insulting offers".
Through the Delgamuukw decision we now have a strong legal foundation and politically we have the makings of a regional, national and international strategy to attack the unjust, unfair and illegal Comprehensive Claims Policy, which has remained relatively unchanged since Jean Chretien first announced it in the House of Commons in 1973, not long after his infamous 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy.
The law has changed and so must policy.

To conclude, for the sake of this generation and for those yet unborn, we urge those of you negotiating under the Comprehensive Claims Policy, through the Comprehensive Claims Process, to leave the table and join with us in pressing the federal Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, to recognize Aboriginal title and compensate for any infringements of Aboriginal title. Together in unity we can strive to ensure that justice and fairness prevails and that the Chretien government cannot continue to ignore the new legal and constitutional reality of the landmark Delgamuukw decision.

In the Protection and Defence of Aboriginal Title,
Chief Arthur Manuel
Neskonlith Indian Band
Chairman, Shuswap Nation Tribal Council
Chairman, Interior Alliance
Co-Chair, AFN Delgamuukw Implementation Committee
Cc. Interior Alliance Nations and Communities
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
First Nations Summit
Assembly of First Nations
Algonquin Nation Secretariat
Atlantic Policy Congress

For more on the historic Delgamuukw decision on aboriginal rights. Click on the highlighted words and on the sites below

Aboriginal Title Alert
Assembly of First Nations has launched a strategy with other key aboriginal groups - a coordinated effort to advance aboriginal rights [NOTE: this is a .pdf file requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader software ]

Aboriginal Rights and Title in Canada
After Delgamuukw: Anthropological Perspectives

Analysis of Delgamuukw Decision and
Its Implications for Treaty Negotiations

Legal Background - Key Court Decisions

Aboriginal Rights and Title Essays

Aboriginal Rights --- Research Resources

TREATIES, LAND RIGHTS,
SELF GOVERNANCE