Al? - The Terrace Standard,

Wednesday, April 7, 1999

Treaty opponent still waits
for action on his complaint

ONE NISGA’A who
doesn’t Like the Jand claims
deal negotiated with the fed-
eral and provincial govern-
ment says it’s been months
since he sent a complaint
about the way a ratification
vote was handled last -No-
vember, — i

Frank Barton, a long time
critic of the way negotia-
tions had been going prior
to the.ratification vote. last
November, says he has yet
to gel a response from the
federal government on What
he says was wrong about
how the voting took place.

Those Nisga’a who did
vote last fall cast ballots in
favour of the treaty.

Barton claims net enough
effort was made to find and
enrol Nisga’a not living in
the Nass Valley.

“T know of lots of Nisga’a
who weren’t on the voters’
list,” said Barton.

*T have five family mem-
bers myself who never
teceived a letter from the
eligibility and enrolment
committee.’’

And he says not enough
information was given at
meetings held to explain the
treaty before the ratification
vote.

Barton fears that any
settlement benefits won’t
flow as easily to Nisga’a
living outside of the Nass
Valley than those living
within the valley.

**They’ll be left out of so-
cial programs, — schooling
and education funds,” he
said.

By not making more of an
effort to find eligible
Nisga’a, Barton says the
voting result was skewered
in favour of those suppert-
ing the treaty.

Barton is also upset that
his village’s lands — Kin-
colith — weren’t included
within the area that will
form the core lands of the
Nisga’a called for in the
treaty.

‘Barton says there was too

‘close of a relationship be-
tween the Nisga’a Tribal
Council, the political body
of the Nisga’a which negoti-
ated the treaty, and the
ratification committee set up
to enrol. Nisga’a and to
manage the vote.

And. Barton says one
treaty provision — to give

Nisga’a
leaders
tackle

Ottawa

WITH DEBATE on the
Nisga’a treaty now working
its way through the provin-
cial legislature, members of
the Nisga'a Tribal Council
have turned to the next
phase of their claims place
journey.

Key members of the tribal
council recently visited Ot-
lawa in preparation for the
introduction of treaty Iegis-
lation into the federal parlia-
ment, ,

And helping them along in |

the ‘lobbying effort is a
booklet in French and in
English :. containing the
speech made by tribal coun-
cil president Joe Gosnell to
the provincial. legislature
Dec. 2, 1998,

The tribal council had
2,000.copies of the glossy
booklet printed.

Copies were distributed ta
each Member of Parliament
and to cach Senator.

Other “government offi-
cials also received copies
and. a... number = were

delivered to the University ©

of Ottawa, a bilingual in-
stitution. ,

There's no firm date yet
on when the treaty legisla-
tion. will be introduced in
Ottawa.

But Nisga’a officials are
hoping ratification will take
by the time parliament
takes its summer recess.

 @MeédicAle

gpraks POR you |
' 7-800-668-1507

owwwomedicalert.ca ”

$15,000 to every Nisga’a
over the age of 60 —
amounted fo an inducement
to vote in favour,

“But I will take it," said
Barton, 62. *‘T will take it,
make an issue of it and hold
it up to them‘and say this is
what they used to get people
to vote.’” me
- Barton said he sent his 16-.
page complaint to the feder-

al solicitor-general’s .depart-.

» PRAM peters ony aciertled pram on rat ncdite
GST AT MILESINTTERNATIONAL HOE DINGS HV,
LOVALTY MANAGE

“ment in Ottawa and that it
has yet to respond,

He also sent a copy just
receully to newly-appointed
provincial aboriginal affairs
minister Gordon Wilson.

tek kok
A REPORT prepared for the
provincial government - on
the ratification vote lists
some problems with the way
it was handled, but says the
overall result.was valid. -

Consultant Tom Chamber-
lin did note the ratification
committee’s relationship to
the tribal council was in-
tended to be at arm’s Jength.

“This was very difficult
because of kinship ties,
custom, and most important-
fy, because the budget
(never in fact approved) was
under direct Nisga’a Tribal
Council control,’? — said
Chamberlin.

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