Its a safe bet that when the provincial election rolls around next May, Stewart Phillip wont be casting a ballot for Premier Christy Clark and the Liberals.
Phillip is more publicly known as Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.
Maybe you read about him in these pages before.
I caught up with Phillip last week as he was leaving the Musqueam Indian Bands protest that saw 150 people block the north end ramps to the Arthur Laing Bridge for almost three hours.
The action was over a land dispute in Marpole, where intact human remains believed to be ancestors of the Musqueam were discovered during an archaeological dig on private property slated for a 108-unit condo project.
The Musqueam have proposed a complex land swap that would see the band acquire the land and turn it into a public interpretive park. The developer would get another piece of land elsewhere in the city.
As Ive reported over the past two weeks, the Musqueam, the landowners and developer, the city and the provincial government say theyve been working towards a solution. The final say, as Ive been told by all parties, rests with the provincial government, which appointed a facilitator in the dispute.
So what does Premier Christy Clark think about all this?
Well, apparently Im not on her speed dial, so I quote from my CKNW colleague Marcella Bernardos report June 1 where Clark told her its not a provincial issue, its not Crown land.
Huh? Now Im really confused. But Phillip is not.
Its a direct consequence of the non-response from the province of British Columbia, he said when asked about what prompted the Musqueam to take over the Arthur Laing Bridge May 31. Without question, the province of British Columbia, under the leadership of Christy Clark is missing in action. They absolutely refuse to engage this issue. They made a lacklustre attempt to involve a facilitator who immediately went on holidays after his appointment and recently declared that he is unable to bring about a resolution.
And there was more: The province of British Columbias policy towards First Nations is, in my view, non-existent. Theyve refused to engage a number of important issues and, as a consequence, a fundamental human rights issue such as the desecration of burial sites is allowed to simmer and to escalate.
Phillip added the Musqueam people are well known for their ability to negotiate arrangements. He urged the provincial and federal governments to wake up and take notice of the escalation to the protest.
You would have thought Canada would have learned its lesson at Oka and Ipperwash, he said, referring to the high-profile disputes in eastern Canada, where one person died in each protest. The fundamental underlying issue in both of those conflicts was desecration of burial sites.
Do you think the Musqueam protest could escalate to that level?
I think todays action is without a doubt an escalation and, as I say, the province and Canada need to wake up and grasp their responsibilities and work towards a resolution. The Musqueam are willing, theyre waiting at the table, there are vacant chairs there.
So what do you think, Madame Premier?
Call me.
You know the number.
Twitter: @Howellings
