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By Carol Eichstaedt & Doug Donaldson
Windspeaker Contributors
Summary of document:
HAZELTON, B.C.
...In a traditional ceremony on June 13, 1994, at Tse Kya Hall on the Hagwilget Reserve, Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en chiefs signed an agreement to suspend their land title court action for one year and negotiate with the B.C. government.
Six months later the new relationship heralded by B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt when he signed the Accord of Recognition and Respect has yet to surface. Discussions have bogged down because the federal and provincial sides are unable - or unwilling - to get their house in order.
Because the provincial and federal sides are slow off the mark, the discussions so far are only talks about talks, not negotiations.
As a result of the work which went into the Delgam Uukw court case and other self-government initiatives during the last two decades, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en Nations are well prepared for negotiations and are constantly trying to move the process along.
“We are doing a lot of things ahead of the process,” said Mas Gak. “I find it frustrating.”
In the Accord the Gitksan and the Wet’suwet’en agreed to put off their court action for 12 months with a possible extension of another six months if “significant progress” is taking place…
In his address at the 17th annual Gitksan convention on Nov. 18, 1994, Mas Gak summarized the events to date in the negotiations and made several strong recommendations.
“I am recommending that an Agreement-In-Principle, and BC honouring their own tests, be the benchmark for significant progress. I am also recommending that we go back to the Supreme Court of Canada if we are not close to an Agreement-In-Principle by next November,” he said.
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