Motion to remove ‘unceded’ from SRD territorial acknowledgements defeated
Cortes Currents
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Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A Strathcona Regional District motion to remove the term ‘unceded’ from acknowledgements of First Nations territory was defeated, in a 8 to 6 vote, at the Wednesday, Feb 9 Board meeting.
The motion arose during a discussion of the SRD’s First Nations territorial policy.
Regional Director Gerald Whalley, who made the motion, explained, “Our provincial negotiators don't use the word ‘ceded’ for a very specific reason. We shouldn't use it either. “
The seconder, Regional Director Jim Abram, added, “Traditional territory is very easily defined. It's what is defined by the First Nation and the province as the traditional territory of any First Nation. The ‘unceded’ part gets mixed up with the treaty process, which we shouldn't really be commenting on.”
Speaking as a former lawyer, Campbell River Director Claire Moglove described the word ‘unceded’ as ‘a statement of the reality of the situation.’
“Once treaties are finalized, the word ‘unceded’ will come off the table. This word unceded is hugely important to this process and in my opinion, if it's not there, our policy will not be worth the paper it's written on,” she said.
Mayor Julie Colborne of Zeballos agreed, adding that there are both ceded and unceded territories in the SRD.
“Anything that is not acknowledged and finalized under treaty retains that unceded designation,” she said.
Abram responded, “There is alleged and saying something is true. Unless you know it is true: then it’s alleged, It is not true. This is the same situation.”
The only First Nations Director on the SRD Board, Kevin Jules of the Kyuquot/Checlesaht First Nation, said, “It feels like we are beating a dead horse here. This has been talked about over and over and over again. It was brought to the First Nations relations committee. It was voted on and I don't see why it's why it's such a big problem.”
Chair Brad Unger asked if anyone was opposed to the motion.
Eight of the SRD’s fourteen directors (Anderson, Baker, Colborne, Davis, Evans, Jules, Moglove and Unger) voted against the motion to remove the word ‘unceded’ from territorial acknowledgements. The motion was defeated.
Image credit: Looking across from Campbell River to Quadra Island in the unceded territory of the First Nations - Photo by David Stanley via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)