Vaughn Palmer: Only the gullible would trust government protestations
VICTORIA — The New Democrats last August committed the province to paying more than $100 million over five years to the Sunshine Coast-based shíshálh Nation.
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But they kept the amount and related terms secret until well after the provincial election.
The payments were set out in a 44-page foundation agreement on Indigenous reconciliation, signed Aug. 16, 2024, but not released until Jan. 29 of this year.
The schedule sets out $104 million in payments, commencing “as soon as practicable” after the agreement was signed in August 2024 and continuing through to 2028.
The breakdown includes $47.6 million for economic development, $16.6 million for culture and language, $8.8 million for implementation, $2.8 million for environmental restoration, $1.8 million for water infrastructure, and $1.4 million for monitoring, enforcement, negotiations, and environmental studies.
The agreement also commits the province to “seeking $25 million in provincial funding to address housing needs” or failing that, from “climate change resiliency program funds.”
Those payments are in addition to $32 million provided to the nation for land purchases and implementation costs in an agreement signed by the previous John Horgan government in 2018.
That agreement was touted as “the first major reconciliation agreement between the NDP government and a First Nation.”
The latest agreement, an amendment to the earlier one, also provides for the transfer of five square kilometres of provincial government land to the nation for economic development and cultural use.
Other terms remain confidential. Several dozen passages in the main agreement and two whole appendices are blanked out in the version released on Jan. 29.
The censored parts deal with undisclosed lands that have been deemed “invaluable to the shíshálh nation” and warranting protection for “future generations.”
To that end, the province has provided direct funding to the nation to allow it to “acquire lands on a willing seller, willing buyer basis and to cover due diligence and transactional costs and expenses, including fees and taxes.”
The province says the details were “withheld from the public to safeguard any potential disturbance or desecration and because some are in active negotiations with commercial confidence aspects.
The New Democrats initially excused the delay in making the other terms public, saying they wanted to release the agreement — honest, they did.
But they couldn’t work out a schedule to do so before the government went into caretaker mode at the Sept. 21 start of the election campaign.
Still, on Aug. 1 of last year, the New Democrats somehow managed to release a related plan regarding management of dock space and boathouses within the traditional territory of the shíshálh nation.
The terms were crafted to defuse a festering controversy over dock management on the eve of the election. The stated goal was to provide predictability for “Sunshine Coast dock and boathouse owners.”
It appears to have succeeded, as the New Democrats cruised to an easy win in the riding of Powell River-Sunshine Coast.
Ironically, in the deal released last month, the New Democrats say “we recognize that the success of the dock management plan will be improved by transparency and public understanding.”
On the weekend, I got a note from the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation about my Saturday column on the delayed release of the agreement with the shíshálh nation.
The ministry challenged my view that the agreement signed last year and released this year broke new ground with commitments to negotiate Aboriginal title and also to negotiate “exclusive decision-making” with the shíshálh nation.
The ministry maintained that “the commitment to negotiate Aboriginal title is included in both a 2016 government-to-government agreement and 2018 foundation agreement.” It says that exclusive decision making was also contemplated in 2018.
The earlier commitments are vague and non-specific on how to proceed on Aboriginal title within the traditional territory of the shíshálh nation, an estimated 5,000 square kilometres on the Sunshine Coast.
The new agreement is more precise: “We agree to negotiate and attempt to reach an agreement recognizing shíshálh nation’s Aboriginal title.”
The New Democrats are also willing to act unilaterally on Aboriginal title: “The province’s commitment is not conditional on Canada’s participation or on Canada becoming a party to the agreement.”
The 2018 agreement put overwhelming emphasis on shared as opposed to exclusive decision-making. The new agreement commits to negotiating under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which did not even exist as law in 2018.
In a followup note Monday regarding the decision to delay, the ministry said “Jan. 29 was determined as the best date for the announcement to provide enough time for valuable conversations with local governments and other interest holders.”
Now that the agreement is public, “the community is very interested in how the agreement will be implemented. We will ensure that members of the community are aware about future engagement opportunities.”
When they get around to it, presumably.
In short, the delay had nothing to do with keeping a lid on the terms until after the election.
It was about providing enough time to, you know, start a proper conversation with anyone gullible enough to trust this government on such matters.