Another big problem with this deal is how secluded it is. Nobody knows much about it until the deal was officially released in November 2007. As mentioned before, the lack of representatives from any party other than the government and Musqueam Band makes the deal suspicious and unsettling. In June 2007, a petition was passed around the neighbourhoods, and on the internet, calling for transparency, or even some 3rd party representatives, in the negotiations. Sadly, no one seemed to have thought much of the petition at that time and the negotiations carried through, without anyone knowing the inside details, until its official release on Nov. 9th, 2007.
The provincial government seems to be overstepping its boundaries and perhaps even ignoring a few laws. The president of the University Endowment Lands says that the government has a statutory requirement, an obligation, to listen to them as the advisory body of UEL if there is going to be any changes in land use. However, the UEL was completely cut out from the negotiations and was just as clueless as everyone else in regards to the negotiations. Perhaps something one should consider here is the fact that money is replaceable, and land is not. We have only so much space to offer. Already four golf courses have been closed in the past 75 years, and out of those remaining, quite a few are private golf clubs, like the Shaugnessy golf club, which members are only accepted through invitation.
And not long after the Agreement was made public, the city of Metro Vancouver rose to challenge the Province once more. The city questioned whether the Province actually had the authority to give land, especially regional government property, to negotiate Aboriginal land claims, which, as I mentioned earlier, falls under the Crown's jurisdiction. Yet, from a strictly legal standpoint, the Musqueam Reconciliatory Agreement was not a treaty, and not perhaps even a legal settlement. It was just a gratuitous amount of land and money granted to three tenuous claims by the Musqueam Band. But then, why would Premier Gordon Campbell, in all his infinite wisdom, proceed with a settlement, even if it was politically unpopular and he was not obliged to do so? One plausible answer would be that he wants to gain the Musqueam Aboriginal's favor. He had told the Musqueam people "Trust me-let's find a solution that will settle the problems of the past and allow us to move forward together." Indeed he has earned the Musqueam Aboriginal's favor. But was it worth exploiting the trust that many people placed in him?
In Campbell's question #4 of his Elections 2005 Referendum, it read "Parks and protected areas should be maintained for the use and benefit of all British Columbians;" 94.5 percent of British Columbians had answered yes, which made it legally binding. Section 5 of the Referendum Act states that "If more that 50% of the validly cast ballots vote the same way on a question stated, that result is binding on the government that initiated the referendum." But by signing the Musqueam land deal, Campbell completely ignored that rule and what is even more surprising is that it took a month before a citizen in Vancouver actually realized that. The province is playing the British Columbians for the fools that we are, for we continuously vote for Campbell and his party, despite all the disasters they have led, and will probably lead us to.
The Musqueam Band, through this negotiation, is nowhere nearer, and arguably further away from making an actual treaty. This negotiation does not help the process of treaty making nor makes things any easier for the BC treaty commission. In fact, this agreement makes a credible legal precedent that will cause quite a lot of trouble and much more land claims to deal with in the foreseeable future. But by then, Campbell would probably be retired and it would be someone else's problem. But the problem is: The Musqueam will grow greedy soon and will want to seize more land, and legal precedence will just make their case stronger. The original Musqueam traditional territory spanned a good part of Greater Vancouver. Nothing will stop them from grabbing a piece of Richmond, then another off North Vancouver. Also what about Aboriginal tribes who will rise up and claim more of land that is considered their traditional territory after seeing what the Musqueam got out of their deal? When will it end?
This is the second and final part of the research essay. Once again i left out endnotes cause I was simply just too tired. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
(And if you know anything pertaining to the topic, please do no hesitate to tell me, i would jump at the opportunity to get more information. But please cite your sources, MLA preferred.)
The provincial government seems to be overstepping its boundaries and perhaps even ignoring a few laws. The president of the University Endowment Lands says that the government has a statutory requirement, an obligation, to listen to them as the advisory body of UEL if there is going to be any changes in land use. However, the UEL was completely cut out from the negotiations and was just as clueless as everyone else in regards to the negotiations. Perhaps something one should consider here is the fact that money is replaceable, and land is not. We have only so much space to offer. Already four golf courses have been closed in the past 75 years, and out of those remaining, quite a few are private golf clubs, like the Shaugnessy golf club, which members are only accepted through invitation.
And not long after the Agreement was made public, the city of Metro Vancouver rose to challenge the Province once more. The city questioned whether the Province actually had the authority to give land, especially regional government property, to negotiate Aboriginal land claims, which, as I mentioned earlier, falls under the Crown's jurisdiction. Yet, from a strictly legal standpoint, the Musqueam Reconciliatory Agreement was not a treaty, and not perhaps even a legal settlement. It was just a gratuitous amount of land and money granted to three tenuous claims by the Musqueam Band. But then, why would Premier Gordon Campbell, in all his infinite wisdom, proceed with a settlement, even if it was politically unpopular and he was not obliged to do so? One plausible answer would be that he wants to gain the Musqueam Aboriginal's favor. He had told the Musqueam people "Trust me-let's find a solution that will settle the problems of the past and allow us to move forward together." Indeed he has earned the Musqueam Aboriginal's favor. But was it worth exploiting the trust that many people placed in him?
In Campbell's question #4 of his Elections 2005 Referendum, it read "Parks and protected areas should be maintained for the use and benefit of all British Columbians;" 94.5 percent of British Columbians had answered yes, which made it legally binding. Section 5 of the Referendum Act states that "If more that 50% of the validly cast ballots vote the same way on a question stated, that result is binding on the government that initiated the referendum." But by signing the Musqueam land deal, Campbell completely ignored that rule and what is even more surprising is that it took a month before a citizen in Vancouver actually realized that. The province is playing the British Columbians for the fools that we are, for we continuously vote for Campbell and his party, despite all the disasters they have led, and will probably lead us to.
The Musqueam Band, through this negotiation, is nowhere nearer, and arguably further away from making an actual treaty. This negotiation does not help the process of treaty making nor makes things any easier for the BC treaty commission. In fact, this agreement makes a credible legal precedent that will cause quite a lot of trouble and much more land claims to deal with in the foreseeable future. But by then, Campbell would probably be retired and it would be someone else's problem. But the problem is: The Musqueam will grow greedy soon and will want to seize more land, and legal precedence will just make their case stronger. The original Musqueam traditional territory spanned a good part of Greater Vancouver. Nothing will stop them from grabbing a piece of Richmond, then another off North Vancouver. Also what about Aboriginal tribes who will rise up and claim more of land that is considered their traditional territory after seeing what the Musqueam got out of their deal? When will it end?
This is the second and final part of the research essay. Once again i left out endnotes cause I was simply just too tired. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
(And if you know anything pertaining to the topic, please do no hesitate to tell me, i would jump at the opportunity to get more information. But please cite your sources, MLA preferred.)
