Beware of B.C.'s proposed Recognition and Reconciliation Act

Arthur Manuel, spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, has written a stinging critique of BC's proposed Recognition and Reconciliation Act.

Premier Gordon Campbell is trying to use the proposed British Columbia
Recognition and Reconciliation Act to overcome the economic uncertainty
that B.C. has been experiencing since the Supreme Court of Canada
recognized aboriginal title. Aboriginal title is an exclusive property
right of indigenous peoples. This is the Achilles’ heel of B.C., as the
provincially created property rights, like fee simple or forestry
tenures and mining leases, are put in question because they fail to take
into account aboriginal title. 

Aboriginal title could even operate to oust provincial control over
lands and resources, so what the province is really seeking through the
proposed act is recognition of Crown title by indigenous peoples.

The much advertised recognition of aboriginal title is contingent upon
recognition of provincial Crown title in return. This position has
historically been rejected by indigenous peoples insisting that their
relationship is with the federal Crown and not with lower levels of
government. The Gordon Campbell strategy is to plug the “First Nations
leadership council”—consisting of the executives of the B.C. Assembly of
First Nations, the First Nations Summit, and the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs—into existing provincial government business schemes. The result
will be benefit-sharing agreements under existing provincial resource
law. This will undermine aboriginal title and indigenous efforts to
protect the environment from increased resource exploitation. 

This has created a backlash against the First Nations leadership
council, headed by Grand Chief Ed John, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, and
Assembly of First Nations B.C. regional chief Shawn Atleo (who was
elected AFN national chief on Thursday [July 23]). There has been a
groundswell of opposition by indigenous peoples to the Recognition and
Reconciliation Act at regional sessions around the province. The chiefs’
council of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs even defeated a resolution to
allow further work on the act. 

Indigenous peoples collectively are the proper title and rights holder.
Aboriginal title over entire territories is held by indigenous nations
with a common language, customs, traditions, and history. The people
have made it very clear that the First Nations leadership council and
the federal Indian Act chiefs and councils are not the proper title and
rights holders and have no right to negotiate about aboriginal title
with Campbell. From an indigenous perspective, the proposed Recognition
and Reconciliation Act does not recognize aboriginal title. It is an
attempt to secure increased corporate access to our territories. It is
also a major public-relations campaign in the lead-up to the 2010 Winter
Olympics so the government can pretend it is dealing with indigenous
issues. Canada and B.C. have been criticized by international
human-rights bodies for their failure to address indigenous rights, and
we will continue to raise this.

The economic uncertainty that B.C. has been experiencing by not
resolving the indigenous land question should not be underestimated.
Since the judicial recognition of aboriginal title, the province has had
to report it as a contingent liability in the B.C. financial statements
every year. The government has been pointing to the B.C. treaty process
as its mechanism for extinguishing aboriginal title. The B.C. treaty
process is a major failure, given that it only produced two small
treaties after the government negotiated for more than 15 years and
spent over $1.5 billion.

Indigenous peoples are worried about economic certainty too, but we want
economic certainty based on the full and true recognition of our
aboriginal title. We want to build a new economy that values indigenous
knowledge and our relationship to the land. The failure of the B.C.
treaty process and community-level opposition to the proposed
Recognition and Reconciliation Act indicate that indigenous peoples want
to be on an equal footing with the provincial government. Indigenous
peoples do not want to continue subsidizing the B.C. government and
corporations by having aboriginal title not recognized or marginalized,
as under the proposed act.

What happens to the British Columbia Recognition and Reconciliation Act
over the next few months will determine if Campbell gets economic
certainty at the expense of indigenous peoples.