Union of BC Indian Chiefs Annual General Assembly

Hon. Michael de Jong
Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
Vancouver, B.C.
September 19 – 21, 2007

Union of BC Indian Chiefs Annual General Assembly (23KB)

Michael de Jong, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation: Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, members of the executive of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, chiefs, councillors, elders, thank you for the honour and the privilege to be here with you at your assembly. Let me acknowledge and thank also the Coast Salish peoples, the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh peoples for the fact that we are here in their traditional territory.

Let me also congratulate the Grand Chief. I know a little bit about elections. They are those times when we come together and discuss ideas and visions and try to chart a course for the future and pick the people that will help lead us there. It is a tribute to Grand Chief Stewart Phillip that the confidence of this august body has been placed in you again. Yours is a storied history of service, of leadership, of a passionate desire to improve the lives of the people who are represented by all of these leaders here today, and I say for myself, for the government and for Premier Campbell who has asked me to convey congratulations to you for this show of confidence in your leadership here at this assembly: congratulations.

You may not recall…. I do, because I was nervous. I think this was virtually the first significant gathering that I attended last year as the new Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, and I am very grateful — was then; am now — for the nature of the welcome, the hospitality, the forthrightness, the civility that characterized that, our first opportunity to engage in some dialogue. For many of us we have met in the past and worked together in the past. It was my first chance to come here as the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. So I’m grateful at the end of a long day, and it has been a long day, that you are able to set a little bit of time aside.

I want to make a couple of comments. I know there are some things that you likely want to tell me about, bring to my attention, and I want to ensure that we have time to do that, perhaps pose some questions about some of the things the government is doing and some of the things the government isn’t doing. That’s why these opportunities are important.

I want to at the outset, as well, pay tribute to the work of the Leadership Council, your representatives on that all important body. I thought last year when I was here I probably said…gave you an indication of how important the work and how important the creation of that body is. Everything I have seen in the intervening 12 months convinces me that that is so. It is historic. It is a sign of the leadership of this body that it has been able to sit down with representatives of the First Nations Summit and the Assembly of First Nations and present that kind of united voice to address some very, very important issues, and we’ve begun to make some progress.

But I thank you, and I hope I can convey to you the importance that I as a minister and we as a government assign to the existence of the First Nations Leadership Council and your participation in it and how we see in that council a vehicle by which we can move forward and create good things — great things, in fact — for the peoples that we represent.

Lots happened in 12 months — probably not as much as we would like, but I thought it might be worthwhile just to talk about a few of those things. You know, part of the success, I think, that we have achieved collectively…. In all of this we achieve collectively, none of us do this on our own. As issues arise, our ability to respond to them and more effectively address concerns…. We had an issue this past summer in Lytton. Some of the protocols that the leadership council was able to help establish, some of the work by members of the leadership council, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, were instrumental in helping to find resolution to that matter, and I applaud the parties for that work.

You know, with the [Inaudible] and B.C. Hydro, there are some differences there, there are significant issues at play there, but we are engaged; we are beginning to see some progress. I think there is goodwill on all sides, and perhaps we can move in the months ahead towards some concrete resolution of some long-outstanding claims.

On the land, there is no end of challenges, no end of issues that we need to address. There is, I know, a great deal of concern about one of the instruments we have collectively negotiated to bring us together, forest and range opportunity agreements, FROs, FRAs, and though I'm not the Forests Minister any longer, I know about some of the challenges that folks in that industry face and the challenges [of] some of you who have chosen to avail yourselves and negotiate those agreements. In fact, over 130 First Nations have.

It's a tough industry right now, and it was a first stab at trying to more equitably share resources, more equitably share resource revenues. They're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and I know that there is important work taking place. I know that Forests Minister Rich Coleman, in concert with the aboriginal forestry council is trying to develop some alternate approaches that will take better account of the reality that communities are facing in terms of the economics of those forestry agreements.

But I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that the conversation, the dialogue, the negotiation, is so much more advanced and has evolved so far over where it was five or six years ago and that we can build on that and not lose sight of that. We talk about…. I'm the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. We have tried to demonstrate our belief and commitment to the second of those terms, "reconciliation," so for the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations — you know, that place I have assemblies in over in Victoria, that big house that was located on a parcel of land that was a subject of a significant dispute…. Through a negotiation and reconciliation agreement, we have been able to resolve that.

There are parts of this province where in decades past decisions were made, resources were developed, valleys were flooded, and only now are we beginning to properly address some of the dislocation and reconcile some of the injustice that has taken place. It's about time, but it's beginning to happen, and I think that's a good thing.

We have protocols and agreements in health, in education, and the protocols and the agreements are good, they're a good start, but of course, what all of us are looking to do is to see real results.

Now, the new relationship isn't about a nice turn of phrase. It's not about a couple of words that make us feel good. It's got to have an impact. If it's the same old thing, then it's just a relationship. A new relationship has to be better. It has to be better for the lives of the people that we represent. It has to show improvement. It has to, in concert with the transformative change accord, actually begin to bridge that socioeconomic gap that for too long has separated aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities. The words are easy, and we will continue to emphasize them as statements of objectives, but it really is what is happening on the ground that is important.

If I can, I'll say two more things. There's two more things. I remember last year when I was here, just in anticipation of some of the comments and questions and concerns that might be raised…. The specifics of those concerns are important. I remember when I was here and the Kingcombe issue arose, the road. You know, the point was made: "My community doesn't have access — safe, reasonable access — for much of the year. In the winter, when the weather conditions…. A child gets sick. We can't actually get people in and out of here." Well, that resonates with me. I think it's a reasonable request in the year 2007 for a community to have access to those kinds of services. So we went to work, and we're now at a point where that road is going to be built. The issues have been resolved with the trust, and we get that road up and running. That's the kind of real progress that we need to work towards, that we want to see.

And then there's one last thing, and it is something that the grand chief never fails to impress upon the Premier or myself, and that is his belief — and I think it is reflective of the belief of this organization — that the province should enact recognition legislation. And he has advocated strongly, passionately and consistently, and we are now having that discussion about what that legislation should look like. And I accept the argument. I accept the argument around the importance of the concept, of enshrining that concept legislatively and settling on statutory language that works, that accomplishes the purposes we set out to achieve.

And I know it's frustrating, and I know the length of time it takes to finish the job is frustrating, but I ask you also to be cognizant of the fact that we are fully engaged with you in that discussion, in that work — fully engaged — and we are, to my knowledge, the only jurisdiction in the country so engaged and having signalled a preparedness to take this step. And don't underestimate the extent of the challenge I face and the Premier faces in moving something as significant and as important and, in this country at least, as novel as that kind of legislative package through the various stages.

We think it has merit, and we want to continue this work. Actually, we want to complete the work so that we can have a result so that there will be that day when the Legislature in British Columbia says, "Look, here is a piece of legislation that enshrines these ideals as part of the statutory law of the land," and I can commit to you our wholehearted efforts in that regard. As always, it'll be a collective effort, and it won't be without some tough discussions and tough negotiations, but I think we can get there, and I know that through your leadership you'll be kept informed of the progress we make as we go.

So, ladies and gentlemen, elders, chiefs, councillors, executive, Grand Chief Stewart, thank you again for the opportunity to be here, for the honour to be here, and I'll be happy to listen to your comments and try to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you very much.

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