October 7, 2016

"… one of Metro Vancouver's worst urban planning mistakes"

PT: Kenneth Chan weighs in on Tsawwassen Mills from a planning perspective in the Daily Hive – one of the first media commentators to touch the highly sensitive nature of the issue.  But really, given the disastrous consequences of such a development and the possibility of other choices, what’s taken so long?
 
t-mills
There is no question that the returns from the continued agricultural use of the lands would be severely limited, whereas commercial and real estate development generates significantly more jobs and tax revenues for the First Nation, allowing its members to enjoy a higher quality of life and exercise their full aboriginal rights.

But on a whole for the Metro Vancouver region, the economic return from this type of economic development is limited when examined on a macro, long-term scale.

Putting the land to better use

TFN has used precious, soil-rich farmland to build commercial and residential developments, types of economic development that could also be built within the existing urban containment boundary – ideally near transit. And above all, it falls out of line with the regional district’s efforts to prevent the expansion of urban sprawl and instead focus growth in dense areas.
If the lands were to be exclusively used for industrial purposes, an economic case could be made for the use of these agricultural lands, albeit it would be a highly controversial one. ..
At the very least, such a site should have been used for a type of development found nowhere else in the region, perhaps even a large world-class amusement park given that Tsawwassen sees far more sunshine and less precipitation than anywhere else in Metro Vancouver. …
While the Tsawwassen First Nation’s lands are used in the most efficient way to achieve the band’s goals, the same cannot be said for the best interests of the region.

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  1. If the best we can come up with for a “higher and better use” for the TFN lands is a “World Class amusement park” then we surely have no grounds for criticizing the Tsawwassen First Nation for their choice of projects. Leaving aside the fact that our weather is horrible by world amusement park standards, there is little to be gained over a shopping mall by a business model that absolutely depends on more traffic of all kinds, particularly cars. The best you could say about that prospect is that the provincial government could probably be talked into expanding transit in that direction.

    1. Well not exactly… I focused on the need for more industrial zoning in the region (the coming shortage issues are very real as cities are eating up the zoning for residential and other non-traditional industrial uses). Then I suggested that if it’s not used for industrial, at the very least use the site for something that’s unique to the region – something that can’t be found/built elsewhere. You can build retail anywhere, but the same can’t be said for an amusement park.
      A theme park would generate far more jobs than another mall, and the tourism potential is arguably more significant. South Delta is far drier and receives more sunny days than any other place in the region. The weather you get here can be a night and day difference with Hastings Park (much more rain prone as it’s closer to the mountains) and Surrey (experiences more extreme conditions in summer and winter). Not that it’ll happen, but Tsawwassen is probably the best metropolitan area location in the country for a year-round theme park.

  2. Tsawwassen is part of Metro Vancouver and has a seat on the board of ditectors. What did the Metro Vancouver board say when this was presented to them, years ago? Did they say they would encourage Translink to increase service to the development? Did they suggest anything else regarding the site?
    It’s not as though this just popped up like mushrooms. This has been in the works for years.

    1. How does the Tsawwassen FN land use plan link to the Metro Regional Growth Strategy? Other municipalities submit Regional Context Statements to tie their local plans to the joint Metro plan.

      1. @Jeff:
        The Tsawwassen First Nation issued a Press Release in April 2010 stating that that a vote had approved the development of the land to create Tsawwassen Mills (2010.04.15-TFN_lease_approval_vote_04.15.10.pdf).
        One year later in April 2011 the Tsawwassen First Nation issued another Press Release describing the agreement signed with Ivanhoé Cambridge and Property Development Group to develop 70 hectares (175 acres) to “become one of British Columbia’s signature shopping locations”. (2010.04.15-TFN_lease_approval_vote_04.15.10.pdf)
        In November 2013 Metro Vancouver reported:
        “**For the purposes of Metro 2040, Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) is considered a member municipality Upon adoption of Metro 2040, TFN’s land use plan was deemed to be consistent with Metro 2040 and submission of a RCS [Regional Context Statement] was not required. However, if TFN amends or replaces their existing land use plan, it will include a statement equivalent to a RCS ”
        So what we read is that Metro Vancouver accepted this development as being consistent with the Metro 2040 Regional Growth Plan.

    2. Canadians are far too timid when it comes to anything native today. Appeasement and reconciliation about deeds 100-200 years ago weigh heavily on the elected politicians’ shoulders and they shut up, not representing the VAST majority of people that want a solution and equal treatment of all Canadians. Double speak at its finest, or the usual “hush hush, don’t say anything”. Most immigrants find it appalling actually, especially those that came with nothing (like me) and see the endless coddling, never ending handouts and never ending “consultations”.
      This comment will probably be deleted as too offensive.
      Interesting that our former Prime Minister Chretien was actually tasked by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the late 1960s to find a solution to the “Indians” and he almost succeeded in abolishing the Indian Act. More on this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_White_Paper and elsewhere. Brief summary: “The White Paper would abolish the Indian Act, which the federal government viewed as discriminatory, dismantling the special legal relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state in favour of equality, in accordance with Trudeau’s vision of a “just society”. The federal government proposed that by eliminating “Indian” as a distinct legal status, the resulting equality among all Canadians would help resolve the problems faced by Aboriginal peoples. After opposition from many Aboriginal leaders, the white paper was abandoned in 1970.”

      1. You showed up here with a college degree (who paid for that btw?) and a white skin, from a country repaired from its idiocy by money made from stolen land — on terms any First Nations would be happy to have then or now. Don’t even dare to compare your experience with that of natives.
        Your comments aren’t merely offensive. They are ignorant (in the classic sense of the word) and repugnant.
        I’m an immigrant. I find your statements appalling.

        1. What does my skin color matter ? Many (non-white) immigrants come here with nothing and built very successful careers. The land was stolen, huh ? Yeah, that happens in wars and occupation the world over. It was 200+ years ago. Get over it. That is why it is now called BRITISH Columbia I guess.
          Far too easy to blame the white man and complain and complain and complain rather than improving your life like many indigenous people have done, after realizing the situation with more and more immigrants here who care diddly squat about Canadian history or indigenous people. Many immigrants to BC have never been east of the Fraser Valley and French is a foreign language to most.
          The result is this mall, as one of many bad examples of “appeasement” and perpetual (useless & far too expensive) guilt.
          The idea that some are better than others with more rights sits not very well with me and most immigrants and many Canadians. It is 2016, afterall ! What is the solution ? More casinos ? More malls like this ? As long as an honest debate is suppressed – by blogs and politicians or the media – the problem will not go away. It just festers in the underground.
          Trudeau Sr and Chretien were on the right path. Too bad they didn’t push it through as Trudeau Jr certainly won’t. As long as city planning is afraid of even discussing it the solutions will be bad, like this 1960s motordom mall. But hey, at least they used drums on opening days. Hurray !

        2. Homo sapiens has progressed by conquering other tribes for its whole history. That doesn’t excuse atrocities like residential schools but it’s time to put terms like stolen land to bed. Welcome to human history. Who seeks reconciliation for the Picts?

        3. By the Picts are you referring to the people who lived in what we would call modern-day Scotland… that place with its robust movement to claim independence from the UK?

        4. They still have their land and self-governance. The comparison doesn’t work.
          Nonetheless, isn’t it interesting that the best examples you can bring up for your position are centuries old? I know humanity hasn’t progressed very far in that time when it comes to behaving according to their professed ideals, but we have travelled a little way down the road toward behaving with grace and compassion. Do try to keep up.
          It’s not a repudiation of Canadian values to seek recompense and solutions to the issues colonization brought. It’s an exemplification of the things this country supposedly stands for.

        5. I must say Chris I find your moral dilemma fascinating. What happens when someone who has bought into the Left’s bag of tricks wholesale finds environmental and racial aggrievement collide. You’re basically forced to condone the actions of 500 people trashing the environmental planning process for the other 2.5 million, based on the politics of victimization. The whole reserve system leads to this, a few lucky bands get to cash in, the rest suffer in economic backwaters. Integration would have been a better solution.
          Humanity has traveled a little way down the road of grace and compassion? Ask the people of Aleppo about that.

        6. Chris: Your attempted diversion is very weak. Many of those early people ended up pushed west to Wales and south into France. The Bretons. They do not still have their lands. There are examples, as Bob clearly notes, all over the world. Ever heard the history of California?

        7. Bob:
          I’ve expressed zero support for the Tsawwassen mall project. Don’t project positions onto my condemnation of Thomas’ misinformed reading of West Coast history.
          Nonetheless, if you feel that it’s OK to take land and rights from insufficiently weaponized cultures that is your right. As I say, some of us have moved past this out-of-date attitude.
          Eric:
          You’re using past wrongs to rationalize present inaction. I’d reflect on that if I were you, but nobody’s holding their breath on that I suspect.

        8. Aleppo was subject to two conquest attempts by Western ‘crusaders’. Now some countries in the West try to help the people there. As I say, some of us have moved on from medieval thinking. Just not enough clearly.

  3. “What does my skin color matter?”
    Sir, if you don’t know the answer to that question there is no point in your opining on North American society.
    “It was 200+ years ago”
    Proof you have no idea of the history of this province.
    “That happens in wars and occupations”
    In which war did England defeat the indigenous people of the coast?
    You know nothing of the history of this land and dare to lecture on it? Foolishness and bigotry are exemplified by your fact-free comments on the issue and local history.

    1. Chris: You seem to be strongly in support of some sort of classification of people by, let me get this straight, the colour of their skin? I thought we were past that.

      1. Not at all Eric. If you don’t understand that skin colour remains an issue in this day and age, I don’t know what to tell you. Recognition of something doesn’t equal support for it.
        TL:DR? Troll much?

        1. What you’re saying is that if one is colour blind that makes them racist?
          You’re pedalling backwards, son. Science Magazine reports that; “The average African-American genome, for example, is 73.2% African, 24% European, and 0.8% Native American, the team reports online today in The American Journal of Human Genetics. Latinos, meanwhile, carry an average of 18% Native American ancestry, 65.1% European ancestry (mostly from the Iberian Peninsula), and 6.2% African ancestry.”
          You are not going to try and separate people into groups, are you?
          What you should be thinking about is whether nomadic collective rights exist, and if they do how they blend with individual rights. If the Roma have traveled from India all the way across many countries to as far as Ireland they cannot possibly claim ownership to all those countries they went through, even those of them that settled down became nomadic no more. The mother of rock singer Robert Plant was a Roma. He’s not claiming to own half of central Europe.
          If the Beringia peoples traveled here, and on down to South America, from Asia this is no different.
          Is ownership conferred on the first to raise a flag? Does the US now own the Moon?
          http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-072912e.jpg

        2. “What you’re saying is that if one is colour blind that makes them racist?”
          No I’m not saying that. My statements and their meaning are fairly clear. As are yours Eric. You condone inaction because of past mistakes. That’s on you to defend.
          (Ain’t your son Daddio. Thank Jebus for that)

        3. @Chris: What is the solution if not equality and assimilation into the nation called Canada ?
          The claim that native bands own all of BC and as such need to be consulted more than other Canadians on almost every major project is offensive to me.
          Our Canadian constitution has some serious flaws.

  4. “As long as an honest debate is suppressed”
    Honest debate requires a common set of facts and people who familiarize themselves with them. Debating with fairy tales of wars won (that were never fought) and sweeping generalizations that don’t stand up to scrutiny is called propaganda, not dialogue.
    You live near UBC. Go to their excellent museum and familiarize yourself at least minimally with history of this country and it’s shameful treatment of first peoples and then you won’t look like an ignorant racist — which is exactly the impression you are providing at the moment. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and presume your comments are made from an honest lack of knowledge of the actual realities of North American colonization — and the attitudes and injustices that are being addressed and in some tiny part redressed by the recognition of the facts of that era and their impacts.

    1. I am the opposite of a racist. I want equallity.
      Nations defend themselves. They didn’t. That is what happened. “Their” land was huge and very sparsely occupied. Better equipped, real nations came and took it. A bloodless war if you will. Where is the thank you for that ? Unlike in the US or S-America far less or no killing happened in the British dominion, now BC. They – we all – are now Canadians, or are we not ?

      1. Your knowledge of Canadian history is sparse. Your ideology is broken.
        Those who claim might makes right rarely wish to see this philosophy visited upon them I’ve found.

      2. Thomas Beyer a bloodless war, and no thank you. Well if you want a thank you for the reserve system, the Indian act which was the model for apartheid policies all over the planet, introduction of smallpox which wiped out over 90% of the Haida people, withholding the vote for decades and decades, residential schools go ahead and ask for one. Good luck. Go tell the Haida they aren’t a nation and never have been with a 13,000 year history as a people. At the same time, tell them they are Canadians. See what kind of answers you get. Have you ever spent any time at all talking to people from First Nations?
        Immigrants who come from democracies, places with private property, businesses and sophisticated systems of trade will assimilate far more easily than people from a communal hunter gatherer society that seeks to step lightly on the land and preserve a way of life. Don’t compare any immigrant to an indigenous person, it’s the height of ignorance.
        White privilege – it’s hailing a cab in a major American city faster than a black man that was born there, it’s being 18 years old and running to a policeman for help without a second thought, it’s shopping without being assumed to be a potential thief.
        Like so many misguided people, you think your hard work and character are the only factors which led to your position in life. Even with no money, you had inherent advantages over most of the population of the planet. Sadly, you suffer from the common delusion that you have hit a triple when like the vast majority of white Canadians you were born on third base.

  5. Recriminations aside, we should regret the lack of integration between FN planning and activities and those of the rest of the region. This applies to all FNs in the region, as well as other regions with shared occupancy by FNs and Canadian governmental structures. And we should endeavor to do something about it.
    The then government’s failure to achieve their objectives in the 1060s efforts are just another example of the lack of integration. A solution is of course not easy, although more integrated planning could be at least partially resolved without resolving the larger issue of sharing the chunk of territory our governments call Canada.

    1. Now that’s certainly bad planning in action. In contrast those going to Macarthur Glen had the option to adjust their mode of transportation. Four hours! I never understand the need of some people to be first to see a mall!

      1. Perhaps that would have been an opportune time to hand out leaflets with the question: “Do you support special treatment of indigenous people or do you support constitutional amendments to give every Canadian the same rights regardless of heritage ?”

        1. Be specific about the ‘special treatment’ to which you are referring and provide links to government documents enumerating those privileges. I bet you cannot do that and that further, it’s proof you are operating under misapprehensions and a position that would charitably be describes as ‘low-information.’
          If you are so keen to discuss this issue you will want all of us to understand the specifics of your position so that we may better see your perspective. If you aren’t interested in providing this basic foundation for an ‘honest debate’ then please discontinue lecturing the rest of us about so-called ‘bloodless’ wars (bloodless? Really? Crack a history book wouldja?)

        2. As I mentioned above Chris; “In November 2013 Metro Vancouver reported:
          “**For the purposes of Metro 2040, Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) is considered a member municipality Upon adoption of Metro 2040, TFN’s land use plan was deemed to be consistent with Metro 2040 and submission of a RCS [Regional Context Statement] was not required. “…and, as Jeff Leigh says (above); “Other municipalities submit Regional Context Statements to tie their local plans to the joint Metro plan.”
          So, the mall went ahead without further comment from Metro Vancouver, even though it certainly seems to forcefully contradict more than a couple of the goals of the Metro Vancouver 2040 Plan. It’s difficult to see how Metro Vancouver says that the TFN plans are “consistent” with Metro 2040.
          http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/metro-vancouver-2040/goals/Pages/default.aspx
          While every member of Metro Vancouver has provided a Regional Context Statement, as Jeff tells us, the TFN has not and this is deemed acceptable.
          How would you interpret this? Oversight? Inconsistent? Extraordinary? Special? Understandable? Reasonable? Unusual?
          As Metro says: ” agricultural land is protected and the business sectors dependent on these lands thrive, while commerce flourishes in Urban Centres …”
          Is it just politics as usual to plonk down 6,000 parking stalls and 200 shops on, what was, farmland?

        3. Are you speaking on behalf of Thomas Eric? My question is because I wish to gain a better understanding of his level of knowledge on First Nations issues. Your level of knowledge of regional issues or desire to debate it doesn’t interest me. As you well know from having chosen to ignore calls to answer questions from online commenters it’s not mandatory nor partic. unusual to choose the topics we wish to engage on.

        4. I am a strong believer in empowerment and self-reliance, along the lines of Calvin Helin and other native leaders. It seems quite clear that the patronizing attitude of those that wish to perpetuate a state of segregation and dependence, is not working.
          Gordon says this mall will have “disastrous consequences”, but the TFN are trying to improve their lot with business and revenue earning developments, outlets for their own crafts, employment for their people, etc. yet Metro Vancouver let them join the club and seemingly go against established policies and procedures without comment. Is this what the GVRD does? Just make nice long mission statements that have no meaning except as wish lists. Were there discusssions regarding alternative developments that could have been more in keeping with Metro objectives?
          As I wrote before, why are people now coming out and pretending to be shocked at the magnitude of this mall? The only news is that it is now open. It hasn’t been a secret for years. Anyone that is surprised just hasn’t been paying attention.
          The mall certainly sticks a sharp pin in any importance anyone ever had about the Metro 2040 Plan.

        5. “The mall certainly sticks a sharp pin in any importance anyone ever had about the Metro 2040 Plan”
          If by that you imply that it deflates that importance, I differ. I think it does the opposite. The challenges highlighted by this and other similar developments mean we need to put more focus on regional planning, not less. And transportation planning. And how the two relate to each other.

        6. Jeff, your optimism is charming. Any municipality or developer can clearly see that this mall sets a precedent and could be used as an example, a very large example, that Metro 2040 is just a nice big wish list. Not set in stone.

  6. The Canadian constitution specifically gives special rights to Aboriginal people. More here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_Thirty-five_of_the_Constitution_Act,_1982 or here http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/constitution-act-1982-section-35.html
    This very mall here is a prime example of these special rights, Chris. If it had been in Delta, Surrey or Tsawwassen proper it would have never been approved, especially paving over valuable ALR. But hey, we suck and blow at the same time. We have a comprehensive Metrovan 2040 plan which preaches higher density and more public transit but at the same time violate it by granting special treatment/advancement of indigenous people. Perhaps we can have both and to me that is called equality, or constitutional amendment, or at least an honest discussion, but not this “hush hush, maybe no one will notice” approach to urban planning. As such this debate is vital in a urban planning related blog.
    re wars: pretty bloodless, an occupation really, compared to our American and S-American brethren. Where is the acknowledgment of that ? Is reconciliation a one-way street ?
    Again, Chris, what is YOUR solution here besides the current constant appeasement, “consultation” and preferential treatment based on ancestry ? More malls like this ? Real nations with borders and their own currency, tax system and hospitals ? With more and more immigration into Canada we need to appreciate the fact that this problem will not go away easily as more people via for limited land and resources.

  7. Please be specific Thomas. You are the one claiming ‘special rights’. Which ones are you referring to?
    “what is YOUR solution here besides the current constant appeasement, “consultation” and preferential treatment based on ancestry”
    I am comfortable with the process as it is currently unfolding, although I think the government could move with greater speed. You wish to overturn the process and choose your language to reflect your perspective. I don’t see any preferential treatment, so I offer no solution to a problem I don’t believe exists.

  8. re wars: pretty bloodless, an occupation really, compared to our American and S-American brethren.
    If the best you can do is excuse what happened in Canada by referencing genocides I think you are really in need of gut-check.

  9. Am I the only one who thinks Duany/Century’s Southlands just across Highway 17 is a valuable comparison?
    The Southlands plan seems to me to have been drawn on a sensitive philosophy for developing agricultural land in the 21st century, based on learning from communities globally in similar climates, and considering current trends and market demands (walkable urbanism, real food etc.). It has fallen at hurdles that the TFN wouldn’t have to face, being scaled back based on community fear of loss of agri land.
    I’m not saying TFN should copy-paste Duany’s plan, nor even necessarily engage him, but on signing their treaty, I believe there were transition funds made available. Couldn’t those have been used to engage a local New Urbanist planner to help craft a streetscape, an architectural vernacular even, that similarly learns from and marries the TFN building and community traditions, and those of regional FNs, and those of communities globally in similar climates? Such plan could ensure a clear 20 year investment trajectory, with profitability a human scale at each phase. The TFN members can own and profit from key buildings within an excellent urban environment.
    —-
    I mean, the reason it’s not a fair comparison maybe, is that the real comparison should not be “what would Duany do”, but what 400 Delta suburbanites would do with the treaty money and land. And chances are a get-rich-quick mall would be it.

      1. And if this sort of thing was considered and rejected, I’d be fascinated to know why. Maybe it’s simply the math. Maybe the Quebeckers at Ivanhoe Cambridge write the bigger short term cheques.

  10. A privileged white man feeling affronted and whining … It’s revolting. Your shamelessness knows no bounds.
    Try growing up on the rez.
    Punch in Missing and Murdered. See what comes up.
    How about Saskatoon freezing deaths.
    Or the Highway of Tears.
    Or Pork Chop Pickton and the contemptible failure of police to act.
    You got yours and are grubbing to get more. Now you want First Nations to shut up and get on with life. Forget the past. Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe the present is still too real.

    1. A choice. No one is forced to live on reserves. Let’s stop blaming the white man, please. Many immigrants come here with nothing from war torn or utterly impoverished regions of the world and build decent lives with zero handouts, starting with minimum wages and working their way up. The perpetual dependency of some indigenous people is degrading and one of the core reasons for native abuse on reserves. Many reserves are not sustainable and people ought to move.
      The mall is just one of many examples in this country that equality of all races is the way to go, not pretense of “more money” or “more land” or “more consultation” or “special rights” will solve things. The racist Indian Act ought to be abolished and the constitution changed. Until this happens, the whining will continue as too many people on both sides make far too much money perpetuating a broken system.

    2. @TicTacTrump
      Beyer’s opinion on this basically demands he do zero self-education on the topic. An intelligent person can’t hold his positions once they have a fuller understanding of the history of Canada from pre-colonial times to present while claiming at the same time to hold a belief in pesky things like property rights, the rule of law, and the right to self-determination.
      On the other hand, they say anyone can make money in real estate with very little knowledge. Here’s an object lesson in that reality.

      1. Some people, like me, believe in equality. Others are stuck in an ancestry based past of “some are more equal than others”.
        It is 2016, afterall. Time to move past the actual, imagined, alleged, real or exaggerated past injustices and events !
        Is this one nation, or not ?

        1. “Some people, like me, believe in equality. Others are stuck in an ancestry based past of “some are more equal than others”.”
          Like the Canadian government? Which won’t let people born in other places vote without swearing an oath of allegiance, yet offers this right to people born within its imaginary lines without reservation.
          I’m disheartened by your lack of knowledge about First Nations past, present, and future Thomas, but delighted to hear you share a viewpoint with Karl Marx and reject the idea that nationality or race are what define us.

  11. “Many immigrants come here with nothing from war torn or utterly impoverished regions of the world and build decent lives with zero handouts, starting with minimum wages and working their way up.”
    Many indigenous people come from violence-ridden, impoverished regions of Canada and build highly successful careers and businesses, starting with minimum wage and working their way up.
    You are trying to compare individual best-case scenarios with the totality of the First Nation’s experience in a bigoted and biased country. Apples to oranges.
    For this to work, why don’t you compare the state of affairs in those places from where we welcome refugees? Let’s use Syria as an example. Their best and brightest are able to get away from a country where lawlessness and violence is endemic. Why isn’t that country’s condition a condemnation of the Syrian people, yet the shit conditions on a reserve are fodder for an indictment of First Nations?
    Once you look at the world through logical eyes it becomes clear that even with the horrific injustices visited upon indigenous people globally, these cultures continue to strive, thrive, and work for a better world for their children. Meanwhile, the ‘white man’ with all his advantages, can do little more than put up some more ticky-tacky boxes and dump some plastic in the ocean — or would that also be comparing the best with the worst? Do you see the flaw in this line of argument?

  12. Let’s dispel this fabrication that the bad stuff happened long long ago and lets let bygones be bygones.
    What’s the latest news about the RCMP having to pay $100,000,000.00. A hundred million dollars! … to their own female members for harassment and abuse – members of their own red-jacketed bully tribe.
    Actually, they don’t pay anything. We do. Our taxes are wasted because of these arrogant bully mysogynists.
    And who polices the reservations? How do they treat those who are not their own? With minimal education they make absurdly fat salaries with juicy pensions as an occupying force upholding the British Empire. Why waste money on housing and education.
    Remember the Oka Crisis. It’s not long ago. The Canadian Military brought in to protect the building of a golf course. A stinking golf course! Drumpf would definitely be on board for this. He loves golf courses.

  13. The central issue ignored by the critics of the recognition of aboriginal rights is the legacy of residential schools, the ultimate legislated racial discrimination. It ended only ~25 years ago, and the effects are still with us and will remain so for at least as many generations as it damaged.
    There is silence on it by those who would incoherently call new laws and policy toward reconciliation “race-based,” usually preceded by an obtuse all-encompassing comment on political correctness (whatever that is), like it was a codicil on recorded history.
    So our constitution is flawed, is it, Thomas? What is the alternative? Would you think it was perfect if it forced indigenous people to capitulate and playact being a defeated people? Are the acts of stealing their land, appropriating their livelihood, breaking up families, submerging their culture and religious beliefs made “legal” only because a stronger, more dominant society aggressed its way onto the continent? That very old patriarchal view is, in fact, the central flaw in all this.
    The Constitution Act of 1982, the Delgamuukw supreme court decision of 1997, and the Tsilhqot’in decision of 2014 all recognized aboriginal rights and confirmed time and time again that these rights were not extinguished by confederation or any other European model of governance.
    These decisions were 150 years in the making. The laws of this country now incorporate the continuing historic occupation of the land by indigenous people as fact. This is 21st Century Canada. These laws are unique to Canada and are the attributes of one of the most culturally mature societies on the planet. Another sign of maturity is that we now not only accept but actively promote the betterment of First Nations well-being while sometimes criticising their choice of discredited economic models, like megamalls.
    Some of the above comments cavalierly tossed historic examples of ‘decimated’ people into the air as though citing these selective snapshots of human violence actually justify discrimination against aboriginals in Canada today. Well, let’s see a few more. Scotland is about to hold another referendum on independence 1,864 years after the Romans approved Hadrian’s Wall to keep them confined, and 271 years after the battle of Culloden where the English defeated Scotland’s aspirations for the throne and independence. The Scots – and Irish and Welsh and perhaps the majority of people who descended from druids – are still with us.
    Empirical evidence is on First Nation’s side, accompanying the law. The earliest Coast Salish communities (Sto:Lo villages in the upper Fraser Valley) were carbon dated to approximately 1,450 years before the Egyptian pyramids, 4,200 years before Hadrian’s Wall, 5,350 years before the beginning of the Ming dynasty, 5,730 years before Culloden, 5,850 years before confederation, and 5,960 years before the patriation of the Canadian constitution. Oral history places indigenous people in this land after the last ice age, representing well over 15,000 years of continuous occupation.
    Further, aboriginal families are part of the only group in Canada who can trace their genealogy to one single location for millennia. To genealogists this is utterly amazing. As a mixed-heritage European Canadian, I can only go back to the 1800’s before the threads are lost.
    There were many abhorrent opinions on aboriginal peoples in the comments following the post on Tsawwassen Mills, and they can also be found in many other sites that focus on xenophobia. But there is no defeating the law of the land. No going backwards into previous centuries. No imposition of past violent history and mores of the old countries. No further attempts at assimilation. First Nations are now officially equal partners in building our country, and it’s time for the critics to accept this fact.
    Welcome to the New World.

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