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‘FRANK DISCUSSION’ NEEDED
ppression costs

ativ

Dear Editor:

It was with great interest that 1
read your editorial of Nov. 26,
1986 in which you comment on my
recent speech to the North Van-
couver Chamber of Commerce.

While the article was quite fat-
tering, | feel } must correct several
factual and legal mis-perceptions
contained in it because these views
tend to confuse and distort the
relationship between our peoples.

Your statement that British
Columbia never made treaties with
Indians is incorrect. There are, in
fact, 14 treaties in Vancouver
Isiand. These treaties were made in
the 1850s. There is also Treaty
Eight in the northeastern part of
the province.

Moreover, your statement that
Governor Douglas simply grabbed
our fand is incorrect. [It was Gov-
ernor Douglas, who recognizing
the legal necessity of treaties wi h
the Indians, entered into the Van-
couver Island treaties.

{t was during the regime of
Governor Trutch that the colonial
government denied that Indian
peoples could possess rights to

lands they had occupied for cen-
turies,

Your perception of the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 and its con-
sequences on our and and gov-
ernments is equally interesting.
You seem to view the proclamation
as some kind of political commit-
ment akin to a promise made dur-
ing an election campaign and hav-
ing no legal effect.

The Roy2} Proclamation of 1763
was proclaimed pursuant to the
royal prerogative. It has the force
of law in the same way as a statute
does. Moreover, it is a constitn-
tional document that speaks of the
relationship that must exist be-
tween Indian and non-Indian
societies in Canada.

As a law it proclaims that the
Indian ‘‘Nations’’ should not be
molested or disturbed in the
possession of our lands. It goes on
to provide that “if at any time any
of the said Indians should be in-
clined to dispose of the said lands,
the same shall be Purchased only
for Us, in Our Name”’.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763
is constitutionally recognized in

Phone users at disadvantage

Dear Editor:

One can only speculate what
peculiar system of logic governs
B.C. Telephone Company’s billing
procedures.

Here on the North Shore,
subscribers pay $12.05 for an indi-
vidual line that gives access to only
six toll-free exchanges, whereas
lucky Vancouver phone users may
dial no fewer than 19 toll-free ex-

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West Vancouver

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"NEXT 0 SEABUS:

~ | seapus |

Section 25 of the Constitution Act,
1982. Our aboriginal and treaty
rights are recognized and affirmed
in Section 35.

We are governed by the rule of
law. Governments as well as
private citizens must abide by the
law of the land.

In truth, we have not been feft
unmolested in possession of our
lands. We have not ceded. We
have not made treaty. We have not
been conquered.

The lands were simply taken. If
this amounts to an expropriation,
which is highly doubtful, then the
law requires that compensation be
paid.

You talk of an income
redistribution scheme as if we are
asking for some sort of charity.

Nothing could be further from the
truth, We are asking that gov-
ernments in this country finally
abide by the law.

Finally, we realize that the cost
of this is potentially high. That is
why we want fo negotiate.

We believe there are a variety of
ways to resolve these issues in a
manner that is to the long term
benefit of all British Columbians.
However, these cannot be explored
without open and frank discus-
sions and a sincere commitment to
change the status quo.

To keep us in our present state
of economic and political oppres-
sion is to ensure a far greater cost
for Indians and non-Indians alike.
Chief Joe Mathias B.C. Vice-Chicf,
Assembly of First Nations

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