Officials have set a new date for a Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation treaty vote, while protestors at the site continue to hold their ground.
The new vote is scheduled to take place from 10 am to 8 pm on Tuesday, July 10 at the Salish Centre in Tla’amin.
Protestors set up a blockade before the vote scheduled for Saturday, June 16 and prevented community members from casting ballots in the final poll of the treaty ratification vote. Polls had already taken place in Vancouver, Victoria and Tacoma, Washington.
Vern Pielle, president of the Sliammon Treaty Society, served an injunction on the protestors on Friday, June 22. Tla’amin Chief Clint Williams accompanied Pielle, as well as two RCMP officers.
The court order was served peacefully, Williams said, and the RCMP are giving the protestors an opportunity to leave on their own. But the protestors were still there Tuesday morning.
Williams said he did not want to take this measure, but he had to, to ensure that the remainder of the Tla’amin people had an opportunity to vote safely. “They’re telling me that I’m taking their voice away by removing the blockade, but they are taking 200 to 300 people’s voices away by not allowing them to vote,” he said. “The only fair thing I could think to do is to have people vote on it.”
Some protestors travelled to Vancouver on Thursday, June 21 and held a press conference at the Union of BC Indian Chiefs’ office. Brandon Peters, a Tla’amin member who opposes treaty, read out a three-page statement that outlines the concerns protestors, who call themselves Protectors of Sliammon Sovereignty have, including allegations of ineligible voters and bribery. Williams and other Tla’amin representatives deny the accusations.
Peters told the Peak the protestors have hired a lawyer and are examining their options. He said he expects protestors will stay at the blockade until they are arrested. “If they want to arrest some elders, they can go right ahead, because I’d say a majority of the people holding the blockade up are elders,” he said.
In 2001, a majority of Tla’amin members voted down an agreement-in-principle, Peters said, but in 2003, chief and council passed a band council resolution to continue in the treaty process. Peters said four elected officials signed the resolution, but he alleged that three of them had a conflict of interest because they had relatives who were employed by the treaty society. “They shouldn’t have been allowed to vote on it, because they were in conflict,” he said. “The treaty should not have continued.”
Peters also said there were no plans for the new vote date, as protestors are taking it day to day. “They keep saying that we’ve stepped on democracy. We’ve come to the conclusion that our democracy was held up to begin with. In 2001, when we voted no, we said no, but chief and council decided that our voice didn’t count anymore and pushed it through. Really, we should have blockaded in 2003 but we’re doing it now.”
Mary Polak, BC’s minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation, said the province was hopeful that “people actually have their opportunity to cast their vote” on July 10.
Polak said she was aware of the concerns raised by the protestors. “To be honest, most of them are pretty wild allegations and it’s unfortunate that they’ve been given as much credence as they have. As far as I’m aware, there were no things that were problematic indicated at any of the other polling opportunities.”
The decision about the blockade staying there is one that the RCMP has to make, Polak added. “On the other hand, one of the things that I find very disturbing is that in any place in Canada we would allow a polling station to be blocked and people to be blocked from voting. I can’t imagine it happening in any other circumstance. Certainly it wouldn’t be allowed to happen if it was a provincial, municipal or federal election.”
The ratification committee is overseeing the voting process, in consultation with the chief electoral officer. The committee has said that the votes already cast are valid and are in the custody and control of the chief electoral officer.
The treaty has provisions for self-government, economic development, resource revenue, forestry and fishing rights, as well as about 8,322 hectares of land and nearly $30 million over 10 years.
