VICTORIA - It's easy for First Nations and the B.C. and federal governments to agree that treaty negotiations are too slow, expensive and fraught with obstacles, but all sides have completely different views on how to solve the trouble.
The agony and ecstasy of the treaty process was on full display last week when hundreds of cheering people witnessed the signing of an agreement-in-principle on a southern Vancouver Island treaty that took 20 years of talks.
The convoluted plot line that has become the treaty process was evident at the Victoria-area signing ceremony when drums pounded, singers chanted and chiefs honoured the commitment and sacrifice of leaders who spent years at negotiating tables.
Premier Christy Clark's Liberals are refusing to appoint a new B.C. Treaty Commissioner until the entire process undergoes a review, while federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt is digesting a report that recommends Ottawa approach treaties with a greater sense of urgency.
Meanwhile, the province's largest aboriginal organization, the First Nations Summit, wants Ottawa and B.C. to send their negotiators to the table with powers to make decisions.
B.C. has more than 200 First Nations, but only four treaties have resulted from the modern-day treaty process that was launched in 1993.
