4 ~ Sunday, June 14, 1992 — North Shore News

Natives have constitutional card to play

ATTEMPTS ARE under way by various politicians to
backtrack on the promises of self-government made to
native leaders during the latest round of unity talks.

Natives have been doing well on
paper, at any rate, in the last
couple of months at the constitu-
tional bargaining table for the
simple reason that they finally had
a card to play.

That card was their ability to
spoil any deal between Quebec
and the rest of the country.

Thus, after 125 years, imperial
Ottawa was having to come full
circle to the position it always
paid lip service to when it was
negotiating treaties, namely that
these were deals between sovereign
peoples.

The Indian Act and the cradle-
to-grave state control system it set
up wasn’t invented until after
most of the treaties were in place.
It was certainly never explained as
being part of the deal.

While many native societies,
like the Plains Cree, were broken
up into fragments and exiled to
scattered reserves to keep them
from regrouping as a military
force, other smaller bands surviv-
ed intact, more or less, to this
day.

The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en,
for instance, maintain hereditary
lineages of chiefs going back
thousands of years — despite the
rules imposed on them by the fa-
dian Act, which ordains the elec-
tion of chiefs and councils.

All very democratic on the sur-
face. Underneath, what was ac-
complished was nothing less than
the psychological demoralization
of several generations of divided
and sub-divided and sub-sub-
divided colonized peoples.

The enshrinement of the inher-
ent right of natives to self-
government in the new constitu-
tion puts in place something that
had been implied by the signing of
treaties, but conveniently left out

Bob
Hunter

STRICTLY PERSONAL

of the contract.

To give them back something
they never surrendered is nice but
not overwhelmingly generous in
itself.

But at least it establishes some-
thing of a level political playing
field.

The follow-up -~ how we work

‘ out a new relationship, how the

natives decide to define themselves
now that their big moment is
coming — is the part that gets re-
ally interesting.

Alas, instead of looking for-
ward to making histcry by truly
enfranchising the natives of
Canada, bringing them in from
the political cold, there has been
much editorial and political wring-
ing of hands and expressions of
concern because we don’t know

_ what we are getting ourselves into.

Of ali the dumb remarks I read
or heard, however, none came

- close to the silly — in fact, idiotic

— words of Benoit Bouchard, the
federal minister who serves as

Socreds schedule meeting

B.C. SOCIAL Credit party
president Dave Mercier is
scheduled to speak at the an-
nual general meeting of the
West Vancouver-Capilano
Social Credit constituency on
Thursday, June 18, at 7:30
p.m. at the former Interna-

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tional Plaza Hotel site on the
southeast corner of Marine
Drive and Capilano Road.

Also scheduled to attend is
Socred MLA Lyall Hanson.

For more information, call
Jacqueline Kirby at 986-4094.

Brian Mutroney’s Quebec power
broker.

Whined Bouchard:

“J don’t understand how we
needed 125 years in Quebec, and
in two months they (native peo-
ples) could get all that they get.”

Cry me a river, Benoit! Those
nasty old Indians, getting all the
constitutional goodies while poor
Quebec languishes like a
wallflower, as usual. Stop me, I’m
sniffling.

Who knows what thought pro- .

cesses actually occur in
Bouchard’s mind? An asinine
comment like that can only be
taken as political doubletalk.
For all I know, Bouchard may
be another separatist in federalist

’ clothing. Either that or he’s play-

ing to a constituency that is itself

blind to history.
Bouchard seems eager to’ keep

” wp the pretense that the descen-

dants of Jacques Cartier’s in-
vading Gallic hordes have been
terribly hard done-by under the
iron yoke of Confederation.

The near-impossibility of
achieving a renewed federal ar-
rangement that treats everyone
fairly can hardly be better il-
lustrated than by Bouchard’s
childish pouting.

What is it about linguistic and
cultural and nationalist issues that
reduces debate to the level of a
sandbox quarrel?

The marginalized life of native
peoples of Canada and the central

‘ position of power enjoyed by their

French conquerors are two entire-
ly different experiences.

It is ludicrous for a non-native
Quebecer to complain that Fren-
ch-Canadians have been dealt
with unfairly compared with the

woMTe vancouves

way the original tribes were
treated.

The only comparison would be
if the Mohawks had built enor-
mous canoes and paddled over to
Normandy in the 1596s, spreading
epidemics that wiped ou? 90% of
the population of ali of France,
and then took over, corralling the
surviving Frenchmen on reserves.

And if, after that, the British
had invaded and won, you’d have
the beginnings of a parallel.

“But not until then.

There is no end of questions to
be asked about the meaning of the
“third level of government’’
promised by Joe Clark.

Agreeing to some form of
native self-determination is purely
an initial step. From here on,
there are more questions than an-
swers.

What about native police and
courts? Where will the Supreme
Court stand in relation to such
courts? Will the reserves become
free trade enclaves for cheap
booze, cigarettes and gambling —
or whatever?

Who is going to pay for what?
And who will assume jurisdiction
over non-reserve natives? What
rights can whites expect if they
run afoul of native laws?

Recently, I listened to Ovide
Mercredi, grand chief of the
Assembly of First Nations, ad-
dress a group of businessmen.

His answer to the question of |
what self-government means was:
That’s up to us. When we figure it
out, we'll let you know.

Which is, of course, the whole
point of the exercise.

Tax Deadline for Property Taxes.
is Friday July 3

Property tax statements have been mailed to property owners in the three North Shore
municipalities. Please contact your municipal tax office if you have not yet received a state-
ment. If you are a new home-owner, you shouid be aware of your responsibility for payment

of the 1992 taxes.

Making your payment

For your convenience, payment can be made by a post-dated cheque. Save the late payment
penalty, and avoid line-ups, by having your payment in early. Drop your cheque, dated July
3 or earlier, in the mail or deliver it to municipal hall.

Late payments

A5% late payment penalty is added to taxes unpaid after July 3 and a further 5% added after

September 2.

Provincia! Home Owner Grants

Applications can be made whether or not current taxes are paid. It is to your advantage to
apply before the tax penalty date of July 3, to avoid the penalty being calculated on the grant

amount.

Tax Defermeni

Yeu may be able to defer payment of your taxes, through the BC Land Tax Deferment program
if you are aged 60 years or more, or have a disability and qualify for GAIN, or are a widow
or widower. Your municipal tax office has forms and more information.

Numbers to call

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355 W. Queens Rd.

@ For profess ional help please call 421-8000

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