Vancouver

Voices from the Lower Mainland, BC.

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The boisterous meeting in Vancouver was well attended and the area was well represented. The Chief Simon Baker room at the Vancouver Native Friendship Center was at points full to capacity, and attendance fluctuated as people came and left throughout the full-day session. Representatives were on hand from almost all of the surrounding Nations, a number of off-reseve organizations as well as special interest groups. In addition to leadership from Cowichan, Squamish, Sumas, Burrard and other Nations, there were representatives for off-reserve youth, women's support, health, and education. In all, there were over 22 different speakers who covered a wide range of concerns, opinions, and suggestions for the Trust.

Many speakers spoke passionately and from the heart. Anger and hurt was close to the surface, and these came out immediately from some in criticism for the lack of inclusion of off-reserve First Nations in the draft priorities and focus of the Trust. While people were passionate, many spoke from their perspectives and had the opportunity to hear from other people with a different and perhaps opposite or complementary perspective. In juxtaposition to the concerns of off-reserve leadership, the leaders in the room from surrounding nations were in support of capacity building for First Nations, and had the opportunity to voice their realities and priorities. The rich mix of off-and-on reserve representation resulted in a very healthy forum for discussion and also served as a "reality check" of the realities of Vancouver's large off-reserve population.

A phrase often heard throughout the day was "where are our leaders?" Many in attendance were disappointed to find no First Nations members of the Trust or leadership council at the meeting. There were a number of higher-level political questions fielded, targeted at Provincial leaders as well as upper-level First Nations political leadership.

The fact that First Nations are already fractured and fragile was a concern raised by a few attendees. There were those that appealed for more communication and understanding between all First Nations, on or off reserve. Concern was raised by more than one that the $100 million may serve to further drive a wedge between First Nations. It was mentioned that the existing divides between men and women, youth and elders, and on and off reserve are all products of colonization and indian act. A couple of Chiefs underlined the importance of Nations working together to more effectively work with government and developers (Squamish/ Lil'wat was cited as an example).

A partial recap of the main issues raised:

The off-reserve population makes up the majority of First Nations and it is unwise to leave us out of the picture.
Capacity building dollars are needed in First Nations. First Nations are woefully low on capacity and unable to respond to referrals and opportunities and are at a disadvantage.
Need to include youth on the board (at least 2)
Need have gender balance on the board (50/50)
Lack of support of women
Healing is sorely needed. Suffering is real, immediate, and is taking a huge toll. First comes the well-being of the individual then comes the well-being of the Nation.
The Provincial Government is not on the same page with the New Relationship, they are still doing business the old (oppressive) way with First Nations in all areas.
Better communications should be the top priority
We must focus on coming to understanding each other and working together
How can we increase the money to deal with our issues
In general, leadership from First Nations were in support of the priorities of the Trust

When it came to the question of spending the money now or investing it over a longer term, attendees were split, with each faction having a distinct argument. In general, the arguments fall into two camps: Spend it now because we need it now, and invest it because it is not enough and we need more.

In conclusion, the Vancouver meeting was powerful, with a healthy discussion that easily could have filled more than one meeting.

Quotes:

"if we start look ing at this as money for program funding it is woefully inadequate and won't be much good to anyone." - Squamish rep.

"as a FN living off reserve, I see very little effort being made to provide services for [FN off reserve]" -Urban FN

"the majority Aboriginal people live off reserve, and the majority of funding goes on reserve" -Urban FN youth rep.

"there is no youth representation on this trust board, and there should be" - Urban FN youth rep.

"How many of our communities are totally dependent on govt funding? ...easy answer, almost all of them." - Urban FN rep.

"The total alleged value of development projects in BC is in excess of 100 billion dollars... 100 million is of course ... 1 tenth of 1% (.01) of 100 billion dollars... If you can arrange to keep the Aboriginal leadership of this province quieter ... and it only costs you 100 million, well that is cheap at twice the price, isn't it?" - Urban FN rep.

"ignoring the [off reserve] majority is dumb, dumb, dumb, and it will cost you big time, I guarantee it" - Urban FN rep.

"What we need to do as aboriginal people is start to heal ourselves because we cant start to capacity build [without healthy people]." - Regional chief

"[I would start with] better communication between all of us, and a structure" - Squamish chief

"I support idea of creating a First Nations bank ... so funds can be used to leverage further funding" - Cowichan chief

"Through the success of the individual comes the success of the nation" - Urban FN rep.

"we have been researched to death... we know what the issues are." - UNN rep.

"what poor individual, poor band, will be able to send a rep to this group to have input?" - Urban rep.

"This process is geared toward non-Aboriginal ways" - elder.