Excerpt: The treaty society board does not have a mandate to - TopicsExpress



          

Excerpt: The treaty society board does not have a mandate to return to full-scale treaty negotiations without clear direction of the Gitxsan people. Given the recent Tsilhqot’in decision at the Supreme Court of Canada, the treaty society board has an obligation to convene meetings open to all Gitxsan people where we have the opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of a title action and treaty terms. We will never be able to achieve reconciliation of our title without transparency and full community involvement. We gave treaty negotiations a chance 20 years ago. Nothing came of it. If we are to embark on negotiations again, the Gitxsan people must be able to carefully and diligently consider their options. There are many who favour returning to court, as I do, where we have a strong case. In effect, the legal landscape changed as a result of Tsilhqot’in and the granting of a declaration of their title. And so, the Gitxsan should now look at the litigation option with greater optimism and, instead of negotiation, should reconsider going back to court. Neil J. Sterritt 150 Mile House, B.C. (Editor’s note: Neil Sterritt is a Gitxsan person, and was the leader of the Gitxsan-Wet’suwet’en Tribal Council during the 1980’s when the Delgamuukw case was launched. He was also an expert and lay witness during the trial, and was on the stand for 33 days.)
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:06:39 +0000

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