Easy, Now

A proposed law that would formally recognize aboriginal rights and title in B.C. is also expected to set in motion dramatic changes to the structure of native governments in the province.

British Columbia's top native leaders are meeting for a special assembly in Nanaimo this week to debate the principles of the proposed Recognition and Reconciliation Act. The law would not only turn back the clock on the Crown's 150-year-old claim to the province's land and resources, but also would set up a commission with the goal of reconstituting the existing 203 native bands in B.C. into 30 indigenous governments.

Premier Campbell is trying to get this into law in the next four weeks.

In theory, this is a wonderful thing.

Recognize native rights and claims and give natives the opportunities to control industries and resources.

In theory.

In practice? In recent history?

Just what we all need, 30 new governments.

And what will that cost all of us, including aboriginals?

And what corruption, pettiness and favoritism - which have been the watchwords of so much native governance in recent past decades - will those new bureaucracies bring?

Be careful what you wish for.

In his strange and mysterious desire to be the best friend B.C. aboriginals ever had, Gordon Campbell may just set in motion one of the worst boondoggles this boon-prone territory has ever experienced.