Teachers Join First Nations in Opposing

Treaty Referendum

Delegates to the B.C. Teachers' Federation Annual General Meeting voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose the B.C. Liberal government's upcoming treaty referendum.

"I'm proud of and impressed by the delegates who have overwhelmingly rejected Mr. Campbell's unjust and divisive approach to Aboriginal people," said BCTF President David Chudnovsky.

Teachers agreed to support the position taken by Aboriginal communities in resisting what they see as the government's misguided referendum. They will also write to their MLAs and MPs objecting to the process as an injustice to Aboriginal people and urging them to put a stop to the referendum. They will work through the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the labour movement, and community groups to voice their objections and express their solidarity with First Nations.

In addition, they will launch an appeal to the United Nations about the injustice of the referendum process, which seeks to legitimize a process that incites racism and will deepen divisions within British Columbia society upon racial grounds.

Vancouver teacher Christine Stewart, of the Nisga'a Nation, said that the vote "was very emotional for those of us who are at the forefront of the long struggle for equity and justice within B.C. society."

"It was important for us that our colleagues have seen through the smokescreen of Campbell's rhetoric about this referendum being an exercise in democracy," she said. "They understand that to subject the rights of a minority to majority rule is fundamentally anti-democratic, and an example of the ongoing colonialism we continue to face."

The BCTF, the First Nations Education Steering Committee, the First Nations Schools Association, and other members of the B.C. Education Partners' Group have jointly published a teachers' guide and a parent's guide to the proposed referendum on the treaty negotiation process. For information about the guides, please contact the First Nations Education Steering Committee at 1-877-422-3672.