Mayor's Report - October 1999

Negotiations are finally beginning to move forward in the Lower Mainland with the Tsawwassen Treaty Table proceeding to substantive discussions. However, after more than five years of the BC Treaty Commission process, one signed agreement-in-principle (Sechelt), and two tables at the agreement-in-principle stage (Tsawwassen and Tsleil-Waututh), it is disturbing that the Province has not yet established a model for native local government. This is unfortunate since the model established for native local government will be a key factor that determines the success or failure of treaties in the Lower Mainland.

As everyone knows, the Lower Mainland is a highly urbanized region with a complex mosaic of jurisdictions. As a consequence, careful design is necessary to maintain the equilibrium of both region and society, and emphasis must be placed on the following principles:

• Equality for both native and non-native citizens and local governments;
• Democracy for both natives and non-natives living on treaty settlement lands;
• Equitability of "authorities" for native and non-native local governments; and
• Consistent adherence to the laws of Canada and British Columbia.

A patchwork of separate self-governing native enclaves within the region, having superior powers to neighbouring local governments, and not having a shared responsibility to the region, would be a recipe for on-going problems. The Regional District's preference is "for treaty settlement lands to become subsets of the municipalities in which they are located", and there are a number of reasons why this principle is being articulated by the GVRD:

• Maintenance of existing boundaries, including rights-of-way and access;
• Administration of taxation on treaty settlement lands on the same basis as on other lands for regional services in those municipalities;
• Harmonization of standards and regulations including environmental, air quality, waste management planning, treatment and disposal; and
• Maintenance of community "vision" through official community plans and regional context statements in order to meet the Livable Region Strategic Plan objectives for the region.

As for the question of democracy, non-native leaseholders on the Tsawwassen and Musqueam lands presently cannot vote for their respective band councils. The concept of "No Taxation Without Representation" makes this an unacceptable situation. Our Federal Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, suggests that being able to vote for an MLA and MP is adequate representation. A lot of good that has done for the Musqueam leaseholders! When the issue is local property taxation, the elected representation must also be at the local level.

In July the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC) released its "First Principles" document that has now been endorsed by a majority of its 23 member municipalities. This is an exceedingly important document that details some 35 principles as key concerns that treaty negotiations must consider. The Province needs to carefully consider these principles as it develops a model of native local government.

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