Douglas Todd: How does Indigenous reconciliation square with big business?
2022/09/08 Leave a comment
Leaders of the 4,000-member Squamish Nation, who are behind one of the most dense property developments in Canadian history, have signed an agreement with Vancouver councillors saying one of the five aims of its 11-tower Senakw project is to “promote further reconciliation between the Nation and the City.”
But to what extent will this Indigenous-controlled multi-billion-dollar skyscraper project, which is unprecedented in North America, actually contribute to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples?
The 250-page services agreement made public in August between the city and the Squamish Nation stipulates the massive project on the Kitsilano side of the Burrard Bridge will provide “direct public contributions or commitments to practices aligned with city policies. And so far Squamish Nation leaders sound more conciliatory than the anti-colonialistic rhetoric of some activists, First Nations and otherwise, who argue the Squamish Nation can do whatever it wants with the 4.7 hectares because it’s a separate government developing on reserve land.
But concerns have arisen about a lack of mutuality. Some Vancouver residents and observers say the parties behind Senakw have done virtuallyno consultation with the public, despite being dependent on the city for services. They add that reserve land, for better or worse, remains overseen by the federal Indian Act.
The simmering tensions over the nature of reconciliation are not new when First Nations combine with big business. Issues over the apartment project for up to 10,000 tenants, some in 59-storey towers, echo those that can break out when B.C.’s forestry companies collaborate with First Nations.
Last year’s protests on Vancouver Island over the logging of old-growth forest in Fairy Creek Valley pitted environmentalists — more than 800 of whom have been arrested — against the Pacheedaht First Nation, which owns the trees being cut down on its behalf by Teal-Cedar Products Ltd.
A website of Westbank development company, which has partnered with the Squamish Nation on Senakw, maintain the project “represents an opportunity to heal.”
The head of Westbank also told the New York Times in late August that reconciliation will come only when Indigenous communities get power. “Reconciliation isn’t about recognizing what happened and saying, ‘That’s terrible, I’m sorry, let’s move on,” said Ian Gillespie, who is not Indigenous. “Power can come in different forms, but economic power is probably top of the list.’’
Bernd Christmas, who was CEO of the Squamish Nation’s housing arm, called Nch’ḵay, until recently, told a Vancouver Sun property development panel in June that First Nations construction projects are a fast track to financial success.
“We’ve just learned the secret of making (development projects) go quicker — by about five to 10 years,” said Christmas, who is Mi’kmaq. “If you have developments that are facing six-year, 10-year delays, come see us. Let’s move.”Gordon Price, a former Vancouver city councillor and planning consultant, is among those worrying that Senakw may be causing the city to lower standards on the amenities it normally requires developers to contribute. “There is an unstated expectation that the city and province will make up the difference and mitigate the impacts” of Senakw, Price said. He wonders whether the city will apply such lower standards to the adjacent Concord Pacific project and the MST Development Corp., a consortium of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, which controls Metro properties much larger than Senakw.
The most obvious signs of unease come from the Kits Point Residents Association, which has gathered the signatures of 300 people opposing the way Ottawa permitted the developer to open a road to Senakw through Vanier Park. Others point to how no provision has been made for schools or community centresPrice hopes Senakw doesn’t go the way of the Tsawwassen First Nation, which obtained self-government 12 years ago. The Tsawwassen Nation business arm “completely paved over” Delta farmland and migratory bird habitat, Price said, to build a mall, Amazon warehouse and market housing. He remains surprised environmentalists and “the progressive left” never complained. “Reconciliation is a vision based on a commitment to mutual respect,” Price has written. “Advocates for decolonization may not have intended this, but they’re giving developers a crude, powerful tool to sweep aside regulatory constraints in the way of their most ambitious projects — so long as they have Indigenous partners.”
The city of Vancouver says in its service agreement with the Squamish Nation it is committed to “recognition of the harms of colonialism” and “recognizes the Nation as a separate order of government and respects its right to develop the Lands as it sees fit.”The Squamish Nation, meanwhile, says it will provide rental housing for Vancouverites, plus a small amount of open and green space, parking for 886 cars and 4,477 bikes, traffic infrastructure improvements and pay the equivalent of what other residents do in property taxes for services such as police and sewers. Squamish Nation councillor Wilson Williams (Sxwixwtn) said Senakw promotes reconciliation because it “gives us back our economic independence” and “integrates us into mainstream society. We want to be good neighbours, like we were in the past, always welcoming.”
Since the landmark services agreement has been signed with the city, Williams said, “Now we’re ready to consult.” Future meetings, he said, could include sharing meals, storytelling and canoe paddles with residents of Kitsilano and beyond.
Asked what direct benefits city residents will get from Senakw, Williams said it allows non-Indigenous people to live on Squamish Nation land and share in Indigenous culture.
Scott Dunlop, a lawyer who lives near the Senakw site, maintains reconciliation refers to repairing relationships after past misconduct. But he’s worried the city and other governments have misinterpreted the term to give First Nations a monopoly, without checks and balances, over reserve and other lands.
Eve Munro, of the Kits Point association, says reconciliation is a two-way street. While she recognizes First Nations were overwhelmed by settlers and immigrants, “the opportunity and value of the (Senakw) lands for this kind of development now flow from the surrounding city. They are part of the colonized world.”The Kits Point association supports the Senakw project, but wishes it on a smaller scale. “It seems reasonable that this development, which takes its value from the value from the city, should also respond to the collective interests” of Vancouver residents, Munro said.
This week Munro received the federal government’s refusal of her one-year-old access to information request to release the 2000 land claims agreement with the Squamish Nation, which granted it the Senakw property, along with $92 million, for relinquishing its claim to Kits Point and other lands.
She is startled by Ottawa’s rejection.
“The public should be entitled to full information when approaching redress for Indigenous claims, otherwise the foundation of trust is missing.”
The road to reconciliation, an uncertain ideal at the best of times, remains rocky. But open to possibility.
Source: Douglas Todd: How does Indigenous reconciliation square with big business?
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