Policy changes aimed at reviving B.C. treaty process, gaining support for natural-resource projects: Aboriginal Affairs

Aboriginal Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt.

Lawyer Douglas Eyford named Valcourt’s “special representative”

By Peter O’Neil, Vancouver Sun, July 28, 2014

OTTAWA — The Harper government announced Monday sweeping policy changes aimed at reviving the B.C. treaty process and convincing more First Nations they should support major natural-resource initiatives in B.C.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt’s new approach is in response to numerous criticisms over several years that the government has been inflexible in its approach to treaties, and that it has failed to adequately consult First Nations on controversial oilsands pipeline proposals.

Valcourt appointed Vancouver lawyer Douglas Eyford, the author of a critical government-commissioned report published last December, to lead a process to “renew and reform” a comprehensive treaty process that has produced just four deals in more than two decades of talks.

Rogue Warriors

by Ancestral Pride, May 20, 2014

In light of the recent Valcourt debacle, (one of many that show no signs of dying down) we have decided to share a few thoughts we have been growing on this topic of leadership for a few months now.

Valcourt is the “minister” of AANDC, while oh so racist and scaremongering his remarks about “Rogue” Chiefs and his dismissal of the validity of their authority and the concerns raised is unsurprising. It is also indicative of how many of those in the so called “government” see the indigenous peoples of these lands: trouble makers, the ndn problem; nothing more than human nuisances in the way of capitalism and earth destruction in the name of “canada” and progress for a future that is looking less and less like it will even be a reality!

Aboriginal Affairs minister calls chiefs ‘rogue’ and threats to national security

Federal minister of Aboriginal Affairs Bernard Valcourt.

By Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, May 16, 2014
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt moved aggressively to undermine the Confederacy of Nations Thursday, labeling the chiefs behind the organization as rogues who are “threatening” national security.