The First Victim of Treaty Settlements is The Truth

Last night was the second evening of THE LANGARA DIALOGUES.

This is a monthly series held on Wednesday evenings in the Alice MacKay Room at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library.

The event is a debate, followed by an audience Q&A, on a matter of urgent public policy.

Last night's resolution was: Resolved - The UBC Golf Course Property Should be Returned to the First Nation's Musqueam Band.

Arguing the Affirmative was former Musqueam Band Chief, Gail Sparrow.

Arguing the Negative was Marty Zlotnick, a petitioner with the Save the Course Group.

It was an amazing evening.

Both speakers were dynamic and well-informed.

But what made the evening so unusual and fascinating was a) that the debaters were largely in agreement that this is a stupid deal, and b) that Ms. Sparrow is the only Native Leader I have ever heard who denounced Treaty Settlements.

Referring again and again to her grandfather and her parents and the way she was taught to be self-reliant and conciliatory, Sparrow harshly labelled Treaties as Prisons that further enslave people in dependencies.

Without using the word "corrupt," she decried the back room deal between Premier Gordon Campbell and current Musqueam Chief Ernie Campbell as one shrouded in secrecy and motivated by the optics of 2010!

She said repeatedly that while the Musqueam urgently need more land for housing and economic development, there were other lands nearer that would be more appropriate. Zlotnick agreed, suggesting that a parcel from Pacific Spirit Park would be suitable.

The evening was really a revelation, largely because of Chief Sparrow's wonderful and thoughtful, and in many ways, radical presentation.