Tsawwassen First Nation votes on historic treaty

The 358 members of the Tsawwassen First Nation finished voting at 8 p.m. PT Wednesday on whether B.C.'s first urban treaty will be ratified, as they moved toward ending a process that started 14 years ago.

Results were expected later Wednesday evening.

If the members vote to ratify the treaty, the First Nationwill get $40 million, a share of the Fraser River salmon catch and 372 hectares of Crown land south of Vancouver, near the mouth of the Fraser River.

Grand Chief Ed John, one of three leaders of British Columbia's First Nations Summit, said the negotiators, including Tsawwassen Chief Kim Baird, have concluded their work and it's now up to the community to decide on its future. Rather than taking sides, he's hoping for a good turnout for the vote.

"I don't have an opinion either way," said John. "We've always fought for every community to make decisions for themselves. It's not up to me to say this is a good deal or a bad deal. That's up to the community to decide. We've always taken that position with respect to every other arrangement in this province."

It's an important vote for the province, said John, but he doesn't think it will become a template for future B.C. treaties because the issues vary fromFirstNation to First Nation.

At least one member of the Tsawwassen First Nation feels she hasn't been given enough time to really know what she's voting on.

Bertha Williams, who recently lost the election for chief of the band, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the deal.

Treaty 'shoved down our throats'

She said Wednesday morning that the provincial government hasn't given band members enough time to read the proposed treaty, which is more than 24 chapters long.

"There's document after document that the band members were given," said Williams. "The treaty process has been going on for 14 years and [the agreement] in December, and from that time on I think this whole treaty document has been shoved down our throats. We were railroaded into voting yes."

Williams said the provincial government has been pushing for the vote to pass, peppering the nation with information, offering cash incentives and flying members up to the Nisga'a First Nation to see their self-government in operation.

And now, Williams said, members are being swayed by the government's promise to pay elders $15,000 if the treaty is ratified.

"So I see that as a direct manipulation of the treaty vote," Williams said. "There's consultation meetings that I view as not consultation. They're just reading from the chapter. So any of our input was basically meaningless and just kind of way over our heads; too much happening too fast."

Off the reserve, support for the deal is divided. The provincial government has been a strong supporter, but local politicians have spoken against it.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson believes the Tsawwassen First Nation will ratify the treaty, but she said the city is worried about losing farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve to the new territory.

"I think that was a very major stumbling block for many people, and now that the dust will settle, I'm sure we'll carry on as neighbours," said Jackson on Tuesday.

Members of the Tsawwassen First Nation voted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT at the Tsawwassen Band Recreation Centre. Band staff expects to have the results of the vote on the treaty by 9:30 p.m. PT.