The Nisga'a Treaty is a triumph | Joseph Gosnell
Speech to the Canadian Club, Toronto, Ontario [05/15/00]
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The Nisga’a Treaty is a triumph. Ratified and given Royal Assent on Parliament Hill this past April 13, the Treaty also provides good economic news for potential investors and business partners.
Last week marked a turning point in the history of the Nisga’a people. At one minute past midnight on May 10th, the new Nisga'a Lisims Government came into effect for the first time, exerting its sovereign control over Nisga’a territory on behalf of its 6,000 citizens.
After more than a century of struggle, we are once again a self-governing people. Free citizens of Canada. Full and equal participants in the social, economic and political life of this province, of this country. With all the rights, and all the responsibilities.
No longer wards of the state, no longer beggars in our own lands, we are now self-determining and self-actualizing. Today, no longer disenfranchised, we are free to make our own mistakes, savor our own victories, and stand on our own feet.
This is all made possible because of the Nisga'a Treaty, which was passed into Canadian law on April 13, 2000.
The Treaty is a triumph for the Nisga’a people – and all Canadians – and a beacon of hope for aboriginal people around the world.
A triumph, I believe, which proves to the world that reasonable people can sit down and settle historical wrongs. Which proves that a modern society can correct the mistakes of the past. As Canadians, we should all be very proud.
Under the Treaty, the first in modern British Columbia history, we will collectively own about 2,000 square kilometres of land, far exceeding the postage-stamp reserves set aside for us by colonial governments. We are now governing ourselves through our own institutions, but within the context of Canadian law.
Clause by clause, the Nisga'a Treaty emphasizes self-reliance, personal responsibility and modern education. It also encourages, for the first time, investment in Nisga'a lands and resources, and allows us to pursue meaningful employment from the resources of our own territory, for our own people.
To potential business partners, it provides much-needed economic certainty and gives us a fighting chance to establish legitimate economic independence – to prosper in common with our non-aboriginal neighbors.
I don't have to remind this audience that economic certainty is crucial to the success of any business endeavor, especially in fluid economic times.
In the marketplace, companies who may wish to invest in the Nass River valley – my home in the rugged and beautiful northwest corner of British Columbia – are well aware of, and seriously concerned about, the economic uncertainty that surrounds this region as a result of unresolved land claims.
The bottom line is that political instability is always a strike against any area hoping to attract investment or generate and support a lively and successful business community.
That has all changed now. The Treaty has been ratified. Affording tremendous long-term, economic opportunities for the aboriginal and non-aboriginal business people who live and work here.
Many others agree. Recently, the Vancouver accounting firm of KPMG completed a Benefits & Costs analysis on the impact of treaty settlements.
It said, when all of the financial impacts are considered, the province can expect about a three-to-one return for every dollar spent. KPMG estimates the net financial benefit to British Columbia would be between $3.9 billion and $5.3 billion over 40 years.
Specifically, the Treaty will provide the Nisga'a people – our population now numbers about 6,000 – access to the economic and employment mainstream. These will include new economic initiatives in areas such as forestry, commercial fishing and processing, eco- and adventure tourism and world-class sportfishing.
Over time, as income disparity diminishes, savings in social expenditures, and less reliance on government support, will bring additional economic benefits. The Pacific Northwest will also see a significant employment increase as a direct result of the Nisga'a Treaty and others now being negotiated. In the years to come, Nisga'a Government will invest settlement money in the Nass and throughout the region, which will result in a much-needed economic shot-in-the-arm. Just to recap here: Under the Treaty, we will receive about $200 million, which we intend to invest for the collective good of the Nisga’a Nation.
While other experts confirm these findings, our own economic forecasts estimate that currently about $13 million is pumped into the regional economy of northwestern British Columbia each year by the Nisga'a and other tribal groups.
This is hugely significant. Because, throughout the Pacific Northwest, aboriginal people comprise about one-quarter of the total population.
Just what do these statistics signify? For one, that the Nisga'a are your potential business partners. Yes, we are open for business – are actively searching out new business partners to help us build a new nation. No longer wards of the state, no longer beggars in our own lands, we are self-determining and self-actualizing.
At its essence, the Nisga'a Treaty is about establishing a solid, certain framework for future relations between native and non-native Canadians.
I believe that in the context of such a framework, we can establish a social, political and economic certainty that will encourage investment in British Columbia and therefore be of enormous help to business communities here and across the province.
Now, I am going to shift gears and tell you about one specific Nisga'a initiative already making economic waves here in Prince Rupert:
It's called Wilp Syoon, our world-class sportfishing lodge. Built on floats, it can be towed to various locations near the mouth of the Nass River. Last summer it was anchored near Somerville Inlet. Wilp Syoon is an upmarket operation tailored to a successful international clientele. Our guests come from all over the world. Every summer we play host to software engineers from Seattle, management consultants from Germany and professors from Holland.
You may have seen these happy people at the airport, lugging boxes of ice-packed salmon onto the luggage racks. But not only do our guests come to relax and go fishing, they also come to learn about Nisga'a culture and tradition. At Wilp Syoon, we offer our guests a unique and authentic cross-cultural experience they will long remember.
When it comes to sportfishing, we don't promise they will all catch the biggest salmon but, I am pleased to report, most of our guests, escorted by Nisga'a fishing guides in Boston Whalers, usually "limit out."
Business was brisk in the summer of 1999. Our occupancy rate was 75 per cent. Our guests typically paid on average $2,500 for a five-day, four night package that includes air fare to and from Vancouver.
Now in the third of a five-year business plan, the lodge is on course to be self-sustaining next year. Like any new ecotourism initiative, we had our share of growing pains. That's why, earlier this year, we restructured Wilp Syoon as a limited company held in trust by the Nisga'a Tribal Council.
People like the software engineer come to Wilp Syoon to catch fish and relax in this beautiful part of the world. And while they are pleased to learn that Wilp Syoon has a satellite telephone, they are thrilled to learn there is no email, no voice mail and no digital paging in a place far beyond the range of even the most wired technologies. Our guests are hardworking executives who work hard and play hard.
Wilp Syoon stands as a real-world symbol of Nisga'a economic success. I am confident there will be more to come, now the Treaty is ratified. That’s why I have come here today – to reach out to potential new business partners.
In closing, I would like to leave you with a challenge.
Although there are recent signs of an economic upswing, these remain tough economic times for many who live and work in the Pacific Northwest. Accepting and understanding the structural causes of a harsh new economic reality has led many of us to a time of critical self-reflection.
Some people in northwestern British Columbia are asking the Big Questions about the economy and their jobs. In a fast changing world, some are also beginning to examine their own culture and their historical relationship with their aboriginal neighbors.
Indeed, invisible to many, cities like Terrace and Prince Rupert have become a kind of working laboratory for a racially integrated society – a prototype for a place where aboriginal and non-aboriginal people work and live together.
Visitors to our part of the world can see this for themselves. The streets teem with the faces of a dozen tribal groups; young aboriginal women wheel baby strollers past people whose ancestors came from Scotland, Norway and China. Something very special has been created in the Pacific Northwest.
But I have to be blunt here. Until now, this storehouse of human potential has been lost on some business leaders who appear to have little interest in the energy and ideas of the First Nations entrepreneurs who live among them.
If people are willing to think outside the box of racial bias, I am convinced we will all reap the benefit of scores of dynamic, new economic initiatives – made by aboriginal and non-aboriginal people.
And it is a very good bet that much of the driving energy will come from First Nations and a new generation of civic entrepreneurs.
In closing, I would like to invite each of you to visit us in the Nass River valley. We offer a hospitality you will never forget. And, for the anglers among you, the steelhead fishing in several of the Nass tributaries is considered the best in the world. As former fisherman, I know all the back eddies and souse holes in the river, from Kincolith to Meziadin. Let me be your guide.
Thank you.
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