Eight years and $150 million later and where are we at? Still at square one and at the dawn of a new era to the process. A new era that will cost all British Columbians (including First Nations) at least $4 million and presents them with a 16 question Referendum. A Referendum, which the BC Liberal government and party is presenting as a means to determine whether they have a mandate to continue with Treaties, also a means to better understand what they are supposed to be negotiating in Treaties.

Where have Gordon Campbell and others in his party been for the last eight years? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they were the official leaders of the opposition, and as the official leaders of the opposition they were to speak from an informed and educated perspective, not only from their perspective, but also from a grounded understanding of the BC public. If this BC Liberal party / government requires a $4 million referendum to understand the Treaty, the Treaty process that they have been speaking against for the last eight years and that Gordon Campbell and two of his associates filed a law suit on, then I have to question how well informed they were and are. They're going to spend $4 million of Bcer's money on a topic they have been speaking on for eight years (all while they're cutting health and social benefits to the elderly and poor).

The Referendum the BC Liberal government is proposing consists of 16 questions to address four major categories - Openness, Property and Interest Issues, Aboriginal Governance and Settlement. (The questions are now available for public consumption and were listed in the December 2001 issue of Kahtou.)

Question number 1 asks voters to respond by answering YES or NO to "Treaties should be negotiated in as transparent a manner as possible." Since the process began, newspapers, magazines, journals, brochures, flyers, public forums, television and the Internet have hosted article-after-article on the treaty, reporting the status of negotiations, varying opinions, costs, events, draft offers and agreements. Committees consisting of regional municipalities, private sector and industry interests have been established to collect their perspectives and provide information. Never before in the history of BC has there ever been a process where involvement from the public has been so highly sought after, information has been so readily available to the public, or a process or negotiation been so open to the public.

The Treaty Referendum is beginning to look more like an exercise in hate literature than a part of an openly and fairly negotiated settlement. One must begin to wonder if it would have been better to keep the principles of openness and fairness out of the Treaty negotiations and keep all negotiations closed. Perhaps First Nations and all other parties would have been better served. Where the BC governments have paid settlements of more than $30 million to private sector corporations whose head offices are out of country without public consultation, or knowledge that negotiations were even underway, there was less out cry. When NHL hockey players signed agreements for more $99 million, more than what has been offered to First Nations who are trying to negotiate settlements for resources which the government collects hundreds of million dollars on each year, there has only been praise.

The treaty making process is the most transparent negotiation process any BC government has ever participated in. All BCers have access to Treaty negotiation information and have had eight years to understand it - including the BC Liberal party.

This BC government is intent on going through with the Referendum, with or without First Nations. Despite the 16 question Referendum, my concern is no longer with the Referendum taking place, but now with the response by several First Nations to encourage Aboriginal people to boycott the process by not voting.

Not all First Nations or First Nation leaders feel the best response is to not vote. By not participating, the First Nation voice will not be heard nor counted.

BCers who have decided to vote in the Referendum will not have the benefit of information from a First Nation perspective; they will only receive and be able to vote from a base of information that is one-sided. 16 questions for a Referendum ballot is complex and burdensome ñ in order for voters to respond to these questions intelligently, they must become informed. This means that First Nations must participate in the process if we are to gain understanding or support for any initiative whether it is the Treaty now or another matter in the future. We should see the Referendum as an opportunity to educate the public and our own people on varying perspectives. And we should use this as an opportunity to make our vote count. Assume 100,000 people didn't vote. All that would be noted in the count are those who did vote. Now assume 100,000 people did vote some of the questions are easy to answer YES or NO to, others you could probably draw a line though YES and NO to create a non- or spoiled response. Now imagine what 100,000 spoiled responses would say.

What good is not voting going to do? What good is not participating going to do? Ask yourself, how can we, can you, best speak up against a Referendum we are unable to stop?

Beverley O'Neil is a citizen of the Ktunaxa Nation, President of O'Neil Marketing & Consulting and Numa Communications Ltd., as well as a freelance writer. Tel. (604) 913-1905 www.designingnations.com