People view the Gwaii Haanas legacy totem pole before being raised in Windy Bay, B.C., on Lyell Island in Haida Gwaii on Thursday August 15, 2013. The 13-metre totem is the first monumental pole to be raised in the area in 130 years. It was carved to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement, a document that allows the government of Canada and the Haida Nation to co-manage and protect the region. Haida Gwaii is made up of more than 150 islands about 90 kilometres west of British Columbia's north coast. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckDARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Canadian policy-makers are at last openly facing up to the fact that many aboriginal treaty negotiations are in danger of going on ad infinitum, with no results.
There are grounds to infer, in some instances, that one or both sides are not negotiating in good faith, without genuinely exploring the possible give-and-takes.
In 2013, the Conservative government asked Douglas Eyford, a Vancouver lawyer, to consider how to accommodate native interests for the Northern Gateway pipeline project. His report was probably more favourable to natives than the Conservatives had hoped. Nevertheless, the government asked him to write another report, on a bigger topic – Canada's endlessly protracted negotiations toward new native treaties. Most of these files concern British Columbia.
As it happens, Mr. Eyford submitted his report just a few days after B.C. Premier Christy Clark suddenly announced that she was not appointing any new treaty commissioner, saying the whole process is too badly broken.
Mr. Eyford expressed himself more diplomatically, but said essentially the same thing. Out of 75 treaty "tables," only seven (four in B.C.) are approaching a final stage. At the current pace, treaty-making could easily continue until the end of the 21st century.
One devastating observation is that in some cases the process is prolonged because it "provides a constant source of funding and employment," which is "a disincentive to conclude negotiations." Or again: "Negotiations have indeed become a 'way of life' for many aboriginal communities."
Still, Mr. Eyford does not just offer a counsel of despair. Instead, he points out that some native communities have successfully made limited, non-comprehensive agreements with the Crown, on specific matters such as fisheries, mining, education and health care. For the time being, that's the way forward.
The frankness of Mr. Eyford, and the bluntness of Ms. Clark, might turn out to be a re-energizing shock treatment. Is it coincidence that on Thursday a group of five native communities on Vancouver Island signed an agreement in principle with B.C. and Canada, for both land and money?
The few concluded treaties should set a bracing example for Ottawa, Victoria and dozens of aboriginal communities. The process cannot be allowed to run in place forever.