From a former BC NDP MLA... hit the nail on the head...
Comment: NDP government has put reconciliation on a collision course
The NDP is rife with secrecy and uncertainty, with no public input. Zero transparency has become the norm in British Columbia.
A commentary by a former NDP MLA for Victoria-Hillside.
The No Democracy Party (NDP) is rife with secrecy and uncertainty, with no public input. Zero transparency has become the norm in British Columbia.
And, I fear, now has set reconciliation on a collision course with the public.
Many concerned and frankly, frightened citizens of this province have urged the government to repeal DRIPA, not to simply amend it.
The NDP government brought us down this road while purporting to reconcile with about 300,000 First Nations members.
The concern expressed by many citizens who are supportive of reconciliation is about how the effects of those efforts would impact upon the 4.7 million non-Indigenous citizens.
Those concerns were raised and then alleviated in 2019 when Scott Fraser, then NDP Minister of Indigenous Relations, reassured the house and the citizens that B.C. laws would not change, and we had nothing to fear.
We grew concerned again when this government was going to introduce Land Act Legislation just before the last election. We raised those concerns yet again, and again the NDP reassured us, and then, when the truth and facts came to light, the proposed legislation was withdrawn.
Then came the Cowichan court decision last August, stating that Crown and city titles within that area are defective and invalid, and that the Crown’s granting of private titles on the land “unjustifiably” infringed on the Cowichan title.
Serious concerns again. Our premier now is saying that “the court-ordered negotiations are “hopefully” reassuring to landowners in the claim area that their ownership is “not in question.” Hopefully?
And now, even more uncertainty from the federal government.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada has said a framework agreement with the Musqueam peoples, with 1,300 members, providing general recognition that the Musqueam have Aboriginal rights and title within their territory that spans areas including Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, part of Delta, North Vancouver and West Vancouver, has been established for negotiations to define how and where those rights and title could apply.
And the premier, who was at the signing, and the B.C. government are apparently unaware of the details?
This style of so-called democracy has opened a Pandora’s box.
This is not the way to reconcile. Our provincial government has probably done more harm to reconciliation efforts with their ham-fisted virtue signalling attempts and their lack of transparency, truth and public consultation (read democracy).