Canadian Railroads > BC First Nation "Evicts" CN

A northern BC first nation has given CN until August 4 to stop operating across their lands, though first nation spokesperson Clifton Percival "says timber sales, fishing licenses and rail shipments can continue after the Crown has obtained the consent of their chiefs." Of course, one cannot evict unless one is the legal owner of the property, which -- together with the legal definition and extent of "consent" -- is precisely the matter in question here. See:
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/First+Nation+evicts+Rail+logging+companies+fishermen+from/10018438/story.html

I predict we see even more of this.

HMMMMM???? The word ransom/tolls comes to mind; BUUUUUTTTTT:

As trhe crown owns the everything underground that may
simply backfire on the first nations.

Not trying to start an argument but looking form the
outside in mind you.

As has often been discussed unless/until the Crown gets some backbone and stops this kind of nonsense it will only get worse. What's needed is to arrest a number of their " chiefs", put them away for 10/15 years and then the silliness will come to a screeching halt.

Ross Rowland

Maybe in Texas Ross, never gonna happen up here. ;-)

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

The Northern Gateway pipeline is still grinding along, too.

Getting one chief/nation at a time on board with the idea. Because the heritage lands cover such a big area, simply going around a recalcitrant group isn't often an option.

(NY has been grappling with many of the same issues for 200 years, without a lot of success. Various angry bands have blocked the NS / Conrail Southern Tier line and the NY State Thruway, I-88 etc when they feel it is appropriate. The Mohawk nation is effectively exempt from US and Canadian border controls, export rules, etc. And has been for just about forever.)

Sure lock them up, the best thing that will do is serve as a catalyst for the rest of the Natives to go even harder at the people in power as a retaliation for their perception of a heavy handed government. The process has been broken for generations dating back to when settlers arrived and took whatever land they wanted or the government gave them. The real issue is no one has taken the real time to make real treaties with these folks and with time comes knowledge and for the Natives that means power. Now more then ever big business and the government are needing land claim agreements to be made so the business of the economy can continue. So sit down and get a deal done already.

A.J.

Posted from Android

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As has often been discussed unless/until the Crown
> gets some backbone and stops this kind of nonsense
> it will only get worse. What's needed is to arrest
> a number of their " chiefs", put them away for
> 10/15 years and then the silliness will come to a
> screeching halt.
>
> Ross Rowland


Where is John Wayne when we need him?

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Replies to this thread tells me a lot about people. Sad, but that's society today i guess.

I hope you picked up on the sarcasm in my comment.

The native groups in North America were cheated and swindled for decades. Telling the remaining tribe members to "get over it" is both callous and cavalier. Those of us alive today cannot un-ring that bell but we can attempt to do what is right and facilitate growth and independence and prosperity for the native tribes.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Much of this issues from a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision which decided that certain First Nations in fact had some land claims based upon an 1800's Treaty between their Nation and the Government of Canada not being properly observed.

This was an appealed decision resulting in the overturning of a prior interpretation by the Supreme Court.

Judges in Canada are appointed by Government, not elected and during the past decade of Conservative rule, Prime Minister Harper has made every effort to appoint as many conservative friendly judges as possible to the Supreme Court. Despite this, the Court ruled in favour of the First Nation and the decision will have considerable consequences for the energy industry which are the strong supporters of Harper and the Conservatives.

Some of the original treaties were well written and have survived the test of time, others have not.

Putting emotion aside, our Constitution requires the "Rule of Law" and that when there is an error in important legislation, it is the duty of the Courts to carry out "due diligence" to correct such miscarriages.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/14 10:34 by eminence_grise.

I was exposed to this professional victims issue while I was stationed in Victoria,BC. We had hired an Indian young man to work for us and not long after he came to work for us he was caught drinking on the job and terminated. Shortly thereafter several valuable tools were discovered missing from his section and I went with his immediate supervisor to his home on the reservation to see if in fact he had taken the tools. Low and behold we did recover the tools and the squalor I witnessed was eye opening.

When we went to the local police to file a complaint they basically told us to not waste our time as the Indian's were nearly bullet proof and it would take years before the system would even hear the matter. The Constable told us that they avoid going into the reservation whenever possible as the alcoholism and drug use is so rampant that it's a very dangerous place.

Bottom line is that decades upon decades of making these people more and more dependent upon government programs has completely drained them of any self pride and energy for self improvement. Just go to your nearest reservation and ride through it for 10 minutes to see with your own eyes what this has produced.

The cure, when it comes will not be easy nor painless. It must include weaning these people off the welfare programs that keep them enslaved and thus forcing them to reignite their natural instincts for survival and self betterment. Until that's done the downward spiral now being witnessed will only get worse.

IMHO-Ross Rowland

The US has a similar problem with Indian treaties, and their violation.

One big issue is the 13 original states plus the Northwest Territory (OH MI etc) are subject to a 1792 law that affirms the boundaries of Native American tribal lands existing in 1792. Any sales, gifts etc to non-Indians had to be approved by Congress, and almost none were. But the land was sold, taken, etc.

The result was a ten year cloud over land sales on Cape Cod (is this a valid title?), challenges to International Paper's land properties in Maine, etc. Settled with huge payments to trust funds for education, health, programs. Any newer challenges go to a board which reviews claims and assesses the viability of the situation. Some of the Palisades Park in NY (and the CSX river line easement), some of the Harriman Park, etc has been challenged.

Western land thefts/seizures are under a different part of the US Code.