Grand Chief Stewart Phillip blasts BC government as "unethical" over sell job for vote on Tsawwassen First Nation treaty
Bill Tieleman 24 Hours/billtieleman.blogspot.com Vancouver Canada July 17, 2007

... Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is condemning as "unethical, inappropriate and totally unacceptable" B.C. Liberal government efforts to convince Tsawwassen First Nation members to vote yes in a July 25 treaty referendum. Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, was reacting to news that the province is sending 40 Tsawwassen members on a trip and promising $15,000 cash for some elders if the treaty passes. "They're interfering with the vote. I think it's inappropriate, unethical and totally unacceptable what the government is doing," Phillip told 24 hours in an exclusive interview. "It's to buy their yes votes." ...

Debacle in Delta
Rafe Mair TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada July 23, 2007

... The SFPR [South Fraser Perimeter Road], so critical to expanding Deltaport now but especially in the future, requires a deal between the government and the Tsawwassen Indian Band. This week band approval -- skillfully managed by the government -- will come. Nothing illegal here, just some good, old time politicking. And when it comes to buying electoral certainty, the Liberals are in a class of their own. Here are a few of the moves made: ... For the most part, the negotiations and monies expended by the Campbell government have been done in secret. ...

Tsawwassen First Nations treaty opponent Bertha Williams requests United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights monitor and scrutinize treaty vote
Bill Tieleman billtieleman.blogspot.com Vancouver Canada July 24, 2007

I am very pleased to publish a letter sent July 23, 2007 by Tsawwassen First Nations treaty opponent Bertha Williams to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking for the UN to monitor and scrutinize the treaty vote to be held July 25. Bertha Williams has sent me this letter and given her permission to post it. This is an important document and an effective criticism of the approach taken to this treaty vote by the BC and federal governments.

Dr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
1211 Geneva 10 - Switzerland


Tsawwassen Traditional Territory

Dear UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, Dr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen:

My name is Bertha Williams and I am a member of the Tsawwassen First Nation and we are located just south of Vancouver and at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to Vancouver Island. We have Aboriginal Title to our traditional territory and waters, which cover much of what is now Vancouver and reach all the way to Vancouver Island. Our elected Chief and Council have been negotiating with the Canadian and British Columbia governments and have arrived at a Final Agreement. ...

People are not informed about the real content of the agreement they are voting on, but rather the provincial government is paying for the preparation of propaganda material that points to the few mainly cash incentives of the agreement, but fails to point out all the downfalls, such as the extinguishment of our Aboriginal Title to our territories, the loss of the tax exemption and the long-term loss of programs and services that will all result in the further impoverishment of our people. Such an important vote should be held following basic principles for constitutional votes and should be monitored independently. After all, our people are the poorest people in our traditional territories and poverty can be and in this process is being used to manipulate our people to give up their most valuable goods: their land and their resources. Our people continue and will continue to live under third world conditions. Taking into account the potential for manipulation under these circumstances, a similar vote in a developing country would be subject to election monitoring and international scrutiny to ensure that minimum procedural guarantees are met, no cash incentives are offered, no threats are made and that there is no election fraud. None of these international standards and principles are met in the context of the Tsawwassen vote, actually the governments are providing the cash incentives and additional sums through PR campaigns. I therefore implore you, as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, to closely monitor and scrutinize this vote and to raise concerns regarding the failure to meet basic international standards for constitutional votes and for dealing with indigenous rights, with the government of Canada and at the international level. ...

Lone voice defies TFN treaty manipulation
YouTube 5 min. 21 sec.

Memo to NDP: Oppose! Tsawwassen treaty another missed chance
Rafe Mair TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada July 30, 2007

... Ms. James has been sleepwalking these past several months. The Campbell government is bound and determined to destroy the municipality of Delta, a historic area incorporated November 10, 1879, a mere eight years after B.C. joined Canada. It had been a farming community long before that. Many pioneer families still live there and farm there. Now the South Fraser Perimeter Road, connected to a much expanded Deltaport, will scar the community both physically and mentally. Burns Bog is threatened and destruction of other wildlife preserves assured. To do all that Campbell government first had to settle with the Tsawwassen Indian Band, which has elected to accept the settlement after the government financed a hijacking of the electoral process by paying money to former band members who now live elsewhere and rewarding elders with $15,000 each. Where the Hell has Carole James been? By her own admission she's taken a "wait and see" position notwithstanding the fact that the Campbell government has blatantly lied about the purpose of the treaty negotiations and has never put the overall project to the people of Ladner. Ms. James is, of course, entitled to whatever opinion she holds. But, as Leader of the Opposition she must have some opinions on all issues and exercise some leadership. ...

BC Green Party leadership candidate Ben West calls Tsawwassen Treaty a "terrible model" for settlement, disagrees with Green Party, Interim Leader
Bill Tieleman billtieleman.blogspot.com Vancouver Canada July 27, 2007

... Gordon Campbell has forced British Columbians into the perceived position of being either pro-farmland or anti-native, and that's not right and it's not leadership” said West. “The government is taking advantage of legitimate Native desperation for a better future, to advance unsustainable projects like the Delta Port expansion - something that's not supported by local communities.” West takes issue with the terms of the treaty deal, specifically the inclusion of 207 hectares of prime ALR farmland that will instantly revert to the Vancouver Port Authority in exchange for financial compensation to the Tsawwassen people, before being paved to make way for the province's planned Delta Port expansion. “The Tsawwassen people could have been properly compensated without taking prime farmland out of the ALR, paving it, and then paying them for it,” said West. “Members of the legislature need to come back to the table with a richer offer that truly respects, and properly compensates the Tsawwassen people; an offer that ultimately secures a more sustainable future for the province and that offers a fair and sustainable model for the future of BC's treaty process.” West points out that if the treaty is approved in the provincial legislature, it will represent a huge blow to the sustainability and food security of British Columbia at a time when food and climate change experts are stressing the importance of local food production. ...