[National Post Online] July 25, 2001 Business leaders exhort Ottawa to make progress in land-claims crisis Fear of blockades: Nault, native leaders, provincial officials meeting today Justine Hunter National Post OTTAWA - The federal government needs to forge ahead with native claims negotiations in British Columbia to prevent economic rot, business leaders warn. Today Robert Nault, the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, will meet in Victoria with native leaders and provincial officials in an effort to kick-start land claims talks. The atmosphere in the meeting is expected to be tense, as B.C. native leaders have formed a "war council" to battle the provincial government over its planned referendum on land claims. First Nations leaders say they are prepared to cripple the economy with a campaign of civil disobedience if the vote proceeds, and business leaders are taking the threat seriously. "We are going to face total economic stagnation until progress is made," said John Winter, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce. "I think Ottawa, more than anyone, has to shoulder the blame for the problems we are having in the treaty process, the lack of progress. I don't think they are particularly committed to the process." The First Nations Summit has vowed to "create maximum economic uncertainty" if the new Liberal government in British Columbia sticks to its plan to give voters a say on the principles of treaty negotiations. Native leaders oppose the referendum as a divisive vote on minority rights. Jerry Lampert, president of the Business Council of B.C., said the province is on the verge of an economic turnaround and cannot afford even the threat of disruption by native communities. "The business community is very concerned about the threat in terms of current operations but also about any message that is sent out there to the broad investment community at a time when the new government is trying to signal that the province is open for business," he said. In British Columbia, only a fraction of First Nations have settled treaties so most of the province is still subject to land claims. Only the Nisga'a have secured a modern-day treaty but that settlement was achieved outside of the treaty process that is currently handling more than 120 land claims in the province. "From our point of view, the treaty process has not borne the results we had hoped it would bear," Mr. Lampert said. "Within the treaty process, we have no treaties after 10 years. So it's frustrating for native leaders and it's frustrating for business people who are looking for that certainty." The province expects to complete the referendum this year, and has curtailed what it will discuss at the treaty table until after the vote. While the business council has not formally adopted a position on the referendum, Mr. Lampert, who has spent years trying to cultivate partnerships between the business community and aboriginal communities, warns the referendum likely to be divisive. "I just worry that no matter how much goodwill might be placed on specific wording, that in a referendum process things have a way of going sideways on parts of the question, because the worst of emotions tend to come out in these activities," he said. The federal government had no comment. ______________________________________________________________________ Other Stories by this Writer ______________________________________________________________________ 7/27/2001 - Proponents of new left to include the NDP 7/24/2001 - Natives' 'war council' threatens to shut B.C. 7/23/2001 - NDP faces rebirth without labour 7/20/2001 - Natives aim to exploit Liberal rift Copyright © 2001 National Post Online | Privacy Policy | Corrections National Post Online is a Hollinger / CanWest Publication.