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Summary of document:
The provincial government communicates with unions, municipalities and businesses involved but ignores the people most concerned in the use of the land.
By Doug Donaldson
…Although the irony of the moment was enjoyed by those in the know, the two-day appeal once again reminded the Gitxsan that the provincial government will not willingly acknowledge their ownership and jurisdiction over 28,000 square kilometers of traditional lands. The same sense of lack of recognition was epitomized by the decision of Premier Glen Clark’s government on Sept. 12 to prop up a dinosaur with the bail-out of Skeena Cellulose to the tune of $149 million…
…In treaty negotiations, when the Gitxsan insisted on examining an alternative to the province’s cookie cuter approach to settlements – a model that would more closely follow its traditional way of looking at land tenure – BC walked away from the table saying significant progress wasn’t being made.
Meanwhile, the status quo extraction of natural resources on Gitxsan traditional land continues, while those very resources and lands are what is supposed to be negotiated upon in the treaty process. Such behaviour made a mockery of government lawyer Joseph Arvay’s assertion in the Supreme Court that the province is “committed to treaty-making in an honourable way.”…
At the end of the two-day appeal in Ottawa, Gitxsan hereditary chiefs and house members boarded planes for the journey back to their traditional lands in Northwest BC to continue their lives and wait for the Supreme Court decision which may take place this fall or sometime in the first half of 1998. When they arrived, many would occupy themselves over the summer and fall with activities which reinforce the connection to the land – fishing, berry picking, mushroom harvesting and hunting.
They also returned to the world of 60-90 per cent unemployment members of their communities face in the regular Western economy… two-day appeal in Ottawa, Gitxsan hereditary chiefs and house members boarded planes for the journey back to their traditional lands in Northwest BC to continue their lives and wait for the Supreme Court decision which may take place this fall or sometime in the first half of 1998. When they arrived, many would occupy themselves over the summer and fall with activities which reinforce the connection to the land – fishing, berry picking, mushroom harvesting and hunting.
They also returned to the world of 60-90 per cent unemployment members of their communities face in the regular Western economy…
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