Original article here.
By Michelle Vandepol
The Observer
Nov 15 2006
The signing of the In-SHUCK-ch Agreement in Principle on October 28, 2006 in Mission, BC was made by the three chiefs of the bands Samahquam Nation, Douglas First Nation, and Skatin First Nations, that make up the In-SHUCK-ch Nation; and Mike DeJong, Minister for Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. While it is an important part of the process, the In-SHUCK-ch’s chief negotiator, Gerard Peters, says they avoided fanfare on the occasion, preferring to mark the end of the negotiations rather than the middle. The Agreement in Principle is not legally binding, but is the basis for the Final Agreement negotiation.
“In fact, we’ve been actively negotiating Final Agreement since the Spring. Signing of AiP is a formality,” says Peters. His traditional name is Eppa and he is a citizen of the Samahquam Nation.
While there were a few dissenting votes among the In-SHUCK-ch people about the AiP at their meeting of April 30, the majority had their say and approved moving forward with this step of the treaty process. Even up to the deadline of its formal signing, there was at least one In-SHUCK-ch member who found the AiP not acceptable.
Peters responds, “As chief negotiator, I respect the views and opinions of all In-SHUCK-ch members, but must proceed on the basis of due process, and majority approval within that process. Notwithstanding dissention, a majority of members support treaty. It’s on this basis we are proceeding.”
Peters, who was appointed chief negotiator by the three band councils prior to their first Statement of Intent in 1993 and again confirmed in 2003 after the three year withdrawal out of the treaty process, has a negotiating team made up of Robert Reiter, legal counsel; Colette Hogue, senior negotiator; and Josh Alexander, a lands and resource specialist trained in GIS mapping systems; and In-SHUCK-ch CEO, Allen Gabriel. Each has collective duties important to the whole.
They are now “better organized and stronger” than they were prior to the withdrawal. In 1999 they did not have a say in the designing of the land part of the government offer. When they returned to the process in 2003, they had made it clear that the days of bouncing offers back and forth with the government were over. This made sense to the Canadian and BC governments as well, and things went smoothly, with each party playing a complementary part. Peters explains the results, “the governments tabled a land and cash offer in the spring of 2006 that held no surprises for us. We participated in developing it! So, by the time of our general assembly, on Apr 30, 2006, we formally approved the Agreement in Principle, which had at its core, the land “package” we had helped to design.”
Through-out the treaty process, “mapping was a prolonged process” he says. It involved the submission of the Statement of Intent map, available for viewing at their website www.inshuckch.com, to “sharing interests in land [at that time] about 60 percent of the SOI land mass to a further refinement representing 10 percent of the SOI [map].” It was at this time that the government worked together with the In-SHUCK-ch in a three-party analysis of the land.
The reason, practically speaking, for the In-SHUCK-ch pursuing treaty negotiations, is a better quality of life for its people.
For those who are not familiar with the BC Treaty Commission’s six stage process, it contains first an initial Statement of Intent and a second stage of Readiness, in which the BC Treaty Commission examines the readiness of each party entering into treaty negotiations. In order to be ready to negotiate, each party has to have a chief negotiator, financial resources, and other human resources. Stage three’s Framework Agreement sets out the issues that need to be negotiated. Stages four through six are the Agreement in Principal, the Final Agreement, and the finalization of the treaty. Within the Final Agreement a thorough referendum procedure is required.
The reason, practically speaking, for the In-SHUCK-ch pursuing treaty negotiations, is a better quality of life for its people. According to Indian Affairs, the In-SHUCK-ch are 907 strong. Only 200 of them live on home reserves. This is because the home reserves are not the type of home the average Canadian is used to. The reserves are services only by forestry roads that are “subject to flooding, slides, and washouts,” says Peters. And “despite the fact of a 235 kv BC Hydro transmission line cutting through the entire territory, there is not connection to the grid. Nor is there land-line telecommunications. These infrastructures are base requirements for any economic development programmes.” These are things a successfully negotiated treaty can rectify, enabling those living on reserves to “attach themselves to the wage economy, to educate their children, and to have more direct access to services that all other British Columbians take for granted.”
Peters expects, “it is possible to complete Final Agreement negotiations in calendar 2007 to the point where I could recommend it to my leadership.” He also forsees possible delays such as lobbying efforts and political action. “The message here,” he says, “is that simply because we’ve reached this degree of conclusion in the BC Treaty Commission process, that we must finish it. Everything depends on whether the mandates that my counterparts carry can be adjusted to allow us to fully engage in negotiating critical aspects of treaty. These issues were relayed to Minister de Jong in September.”
He considers the relationship In-SHUCK-ch has with the FVRD and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District to be good ones. Everyone is working with an eye on the future. He says, “I look forward to integrating our renewed authorities which will result from treaty, with other governments’ authorities. This makes simple, practical sense for all concerned.”
“The dreams of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation are beginning to be defined,” says Peters. They are currently developing a broad plan called the “7 Generations Plan.” It brings together all of the formal planning like the land stewardship plan, their economics plans, their community development plans, BC Parks Agreement, and the Sea to Sky LRMP agreement, for example; keeping in mind their values from the past. “When it’s complete, this plan will be a public document,” says Peters.
Currently, the band councils pledge their first allegiance to Canada under the Indian Act and the Department of Indian Affairs. Peters looks forward to a time when self-government is a possibility, complete with a sustainable economy.
He sees treaty as “not an end in itself”, but as a tool used by the In-SHUCK-ch Nation to support its purpose which “broadly stated, is somewhat represented by its interim government’s broad mandate to define, protect and exercise the Nation’s title and rights which flow from this title.”