Conservative heavies breaching party policy
by backing Westbank deal to tax non-natives

by Mark Milke

Published by Vancouver Province, March 25, 2004

In 1999, Nisga'a treaty critics -- this writer among them -- argued it would create an unconstitutional third order of government and reduce non-natives living on Nisga'a land to serfs without voting rights in local government.

For the Nisga'a, the agreement cemented a form of government that would be largely unchangeable even if it was found not to work in their favour.

As Gordon Gibson has noted elsewhere, only one court found there was room for a third order of government in Canada. That B.C. Supreme Court judgment was never appealed because the plaintiffs, then opposition politicians Mike de Jong and Geoff Plant, didn't bother. They said they couldn't sue the provincial government they had just become a part of.

But no other court -- including the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark Delgamuukw case -- has yet found that the sovereignty reserved exclusively to federal and provincial governments can be divided. The province can, for example, delegate power to cities, but cities themselves have no constitutional rights.

But never underestimate the creativeness of bureaucrats and politicians. Fast forward to 2004 and similar to Nisga'a, we're about to see 400 Westbank First Nations members get the right to permanently tax 8,000 non-native residents and to do so without representation. Even the Nisga'a agreement required government consult with non-natives living on that reserve. But the Westbank agreement dispenses with even that fig leaf. This sets back the principle of no taxation without representation by centuries and it does so on the basis of race, or, if you prefer -- ethnicity or ancestry.

As with Nisga'a, the deal also traps natives into a form of government that will be virtually unchangeable. It will also make the government unaccountable to the many Canadian taxpayers who pay the bills.

Meanwhile, look to the Westbank Nation to duplicate existing services already provided by both levels of government.

The Reform party properly attacked the Nisga'a treaty as racially, constitutionally and institutionally flawed. Yet the Westbank deal is supported by many Conservative Party MPs including leader Stephen Harper, Indian Affairs critic John Duncan and Okanagan MPs Stockwell Day and Werner Schmidt -- all of whom should know better. Too bad none of them read the agreement before deciding to support it last November.

In addition, Harper has punished Delta MP John Cummins -- stripping him of the Fisheries critic portfolio -- because Cummins had the good sense to oppose the Westbank agreement and to propose sensible amendments.

How ironic. Just as many Canadians tire of the patronizing Liberal approach on many issues --including race-based double-standards that go beyond what is constitutionally required -- the Conservative's leader throws away a principled position to which an increasing number of Canadians are attracted. Harper is smarter than this and shouldn't let his pride or that of his Indian Affairs critic trump wise policy.

(Article reproduced here upon permission of the author)

Mark Milke is a Calgary-based author and freelance writer: mmilke@telus.net