After years of expensive negotiations by various governments, B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins has dismissively said the province belongs to all British Columbians and that tests for aboriginal title preclude most if not all bands in British Columbia from being able to claim much more than their village sites. Wow, what an astonishing revelation! Why have so many people wasted so much time and spent so much money negotiating? It’s hard to believe all those career bureaucrats and consulting lawyers could be that dumb.
Perhaps Mr. Cummins has been watching too many John Wayne movies. Maybe he thinks he can ride into ‘Fort’ Victoria with his legal guns blazing and straighten out all those annoying Indian land claims all by himself. If he tries, John Wayne’s celluloid ghost will be riding with him, a-shootin’ and a-hollerin’.
Lloyd Atkins
