Recognition Act Set To Be Tested In Upcoming Election
By Ben Meisner
Two things loom large heading into the election for Tribal Chief for the Carrier Sekani. The matter of the reconciliation and recognition act and the matter of who will carry the ball into the court of Alcan Rio Tinto in the next round to try and get some serious compensation for the flooding of thousands of acres of land to create the Kenny Dam .
When it comes to the Reconcilliation and Recognition Act, David Luggi, reigning Chief, has not backed down on his opposition to the idea. The Act would set up a new group of native leaders effectively taking control over what the average band would like to see done when it comes to negotiations.
He sees the new group as no more than another layer of bureaucratic nonsense that will do little to solve the problems of the average family that he represents. He has further argued that setting up a new level of native heads will do more harm than good.
On the opposing side is Ed John who is one of the driving figures behind the proposed new super native group that would fold about 200 odd native bands into one autonomous group of 30 in which people like John would exert much power.
The second issue involved in the upcoming election is Luggi’s belief that he can take Alcan (Rio Tinto) with a view to receiving much more than the few dollars offered the natives when they were force d to leave the reserves on the sides of the proposed Kenny dam.
The Recognition and Reconciliation Act is a long way from becoming law. First it was the business and mining community who mounted opposition to the proposal, Luggi started a campaign against the super group soon after it was announced and he has received a lot of play in that opposition.
Election night for a new tribal chief will be very interesting.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s’ opinion.
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Posted by: Andyfreeze on July 8 2009 7:38 AM
Ed John heading up the new super groups speaks volumes IMO. I wouldn't trust anything that guy puts forward as a solution. He has always been about personal advantage as far as I'm concerned and uses the poverty of his people to advance his own cause. It should come as no surprise that the reserves he has represented are the most dysfunctional in the province. The 'party' elites have always liked him though, because he is a 'player' that plays their game.
IMO the natives would be smart to keep it local where they can control their own future unique to their own challenges and with the freedom to build their own win-win agreements with their potential economic partners. Ditto for their land claims and the exercise of their rights in situations like the Kemano dam injustice. One only has to look at the McLeod Lake band to see how local bands can build win-win relationships with their neighbors and economic partners.
I'd like to see more civics education for the native people challenging their current perspectives, and encouraging their curiosities in what they can do individually to help their own local communities from the grass roots up, rather than from the circle of self serving chiefs down.