Sun Oct 25, 8:15 PM
By Terri Theodore, The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER, B.C. - When Roy Francis talks about the 70 kilometres of British Columbia waterfront land that could soon be owned by the Tla'amin First Nation his voice fills with pride.
"It's a jewel," he said of property near the Powell River, B.C. "It's incredible."
But his voice hardens when he talks of the treaty process to get the land and federal government foot-dragging that has cost the tiny First Nation of just 1,000 people more than $2 million in the past two years.
"It's frustrating, it's really, really frustrating."
The Tla'amin First Nation, pronounced Slah-ah-min, announced Sunday its members have endorsed its constitution, clearing one of the last few hurdles for a modern treaty.
The First Nation's constitution lays the foundation for the band to set up laws, financial administration and other rules to manage the assets the band will oversee when the treaty process is complete.
The Tla'amin is just one chapter away from reaching a treaty agreement.
Francis, who is the band's chief negotiator, said in an interview that the problem is federal government negotiators aren't willing to talk about that chapter, which concerns their portion of the fishery.
The band wants access to not only a share of the salmon, but of the clam, oyster, and crab fisheries that their ancestors have harvested for thousands of years.
"Honestly I don't think they have a will," Francis said of the government negotiators. "They won't acknowledge that there's an aboriginal right to fish. I think they struggle with that term. The courts have confirmed there's an aboriginal right to fish."
The band entered into the treaty process in 1994 and the Tla'amin and the provincial and federal governments had to pledge they had a mandate to negotiate, but Francis said it appears the federal government no longer wants to honour that pledge.
"It's embarrassing for Canada. If we have the messaging out for the world to hear. It should be embarrassing for them," Francis said.
The tiny band, which is about 140 kilometres north of Vancouver along the B.C. coast, has spent almost $9 million so far in negotiators for lawyers, consultants and other fees.
It angers Francis that First Nations are the only one of the three groups involved that doesn't seem to have endless cash.
"It's not right for the Tla'amin to be borrowing, going further in to debt just waiting for Canada to do it's part of the work."
Just a few weeks ago the head of the B.C. Treaty Commission called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to re-examine the settlement mandates it has given to its treaty negotiators, with an eye towards accelerating settlements.
Chief Sophie Pierre said there had been 16 years of expensive negotiations with few success stories.
Pierre said she was appealing directly to Harper because the Ottawa portion of the negotiations was moving too slowly, especially over the issue of fish.
No one from the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs could be reached for comment.
B.C. Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation George Abbott congratulated the Tla'amin First Nation on the weekend ratification vote of its constitution.
"This document will be the cornerstone of the relationship between First Nations and the Tla'amin government, and it's part of the treaty implementation process," Abbott said in a statement.
There are more than 200 First Nations in the province, but fewer than 20 have treaties and most of those date back to the 1800s when British Columbia was a colony and agreements were signed between aboriginals and local governments.