A12 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 10, 1995 Only “dinosaurs” oppose | special rights for natives ANYONE CLINGING to the idea of a Canada where native people don’t have special rights is living in the past, according to the Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. ‘There 1s nothing to be gained by arguing against special rights,”” Ovide Mercredi told Rotarians and Chamber of Com- merce members at a luncheon here May 1. “That's dinosaur time. We moved beyond that a long time ago.” Aboriginal rights, although un- defined, are enshrined in the Con- siltation and have been reinforced by various court decisions. The concept is also fully ac- cepted by federal and provincial governments negotiating land claims. Mercredi says opponents of land claim settlements who call for equality — and no special rights for natives —- aren’t facing reality. People may fear setlements, says Mercredi, but the reality is that natives are the ones with the most to fear. ‘We have greater reasons to be fearful than the rest of the pro- vince of B.C.,” he said. ‘‘All the law will be weighted on your side.” “The negotiators will be there to represent the interests of the province, the federat government and the third parties.’’ Natives enter negotiations from a positions of weakness, not power, he said. "YOUR COLLEGE IN. YOUR COMMUNITY, in the pocketbook, $229 per month.” Warrantyt Here's your chance to hit the road in style. 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Successfil negotiations will depend on what Mercredi calls *‘the art of compromise.” Mercredi dismissed the idea that natives are out to “‘take back everything” and send Canadians back to wherever they or their an- cestors came from. “‘That’s an absurd concept, It’s a stupid idea.’’ ’ Natives make up only a million people out of Canada’s popula- tion of 27 million, he said. ‘*We will have to find ways to accommodate the interests of the majority,’’ he said. ‘That is in ef- fect the reality of negotiations. There’s no escaping that. “There’s no way of ignoring the presence of the city of Van- couver, or the city of Victoria, or the city of Terrace,”’ “You cannot ignore the reality that’s there,”’ But if the parties megotiate in good faith, he said, everyone will gain from the certainty that results from settlements. “It is in our collective interest to be fair to each other,’? Mercredi also predicted the ireaty-making process cannot be derailed by politics or elections. “The process is there. It will survive this government and the next government. There is no way of taking it away now.” Mercredi said the fact that na- tives claim 110 per cent of the province — because of overlap- Ding land claims —|s deceiving. ““That’s a starting point of ne- gotiations,”’ he said. *‘All our people know that, ‘We're all realists, Nobody in my camp expects that we can take all the Jand back, That’s un- realistic. And the feds and pro- vince simply would not agree to it. To natives elsewhere in B.C,, Mercredi said, the Nisga’a claim will be a signal of what's pos- sible. “It’s important to have a suc- cess,”” he said, But he said his visit to the Nass Valley last week didn’t make him more optimistic about a settle- ment. “Last year the spirits of the Nisga’a people were much high- er. Their spirits are a little dampened right now.’? 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