The ballots are in. The turnout was very low in BC's referendum on aboriginal treaty negotiations. Only 34 per cent (715,000 of 2.1 million eligible voters) returned their mail-in ballots. Due to government cutbacks, the ballots have not been counted and the final tally will not be available until July. This clearly underscores the irrelevance and futility of the $9 million exercise in "democracy."

A torrent of criticism from aboriginal groups and their allies and the resulting mass abstentions have damaged the credibility of Campbell's referendum beyond repair.

The referendum was flagrantly misrepresented to voters as a way to provide some clarity and certainty in the province's fractious aboriginal-rights controversies. But from the beginning, it was a ploy to whip up support for refusing aboriginal rights. Indeed the government said that only a "Yes" vote would count.

Many expect the final result will be "Yes," supporting the government's restrictive approach to negotiation. The exercise was a sop to the rural racist and right-wing populist vote, which the Liberals courted by campaigning against the "BC treaty process." It sowed scare stories about back room deals and secret "politically correct giveaways" to BC's 198 aboriginal bands. These stories were light years away from the truth, but they were successful in fanning the flames of fear and racism.

The "Yes" side in the referendum did have its supporters. The right-wing National Citizens Coalition promoted the idea. More embarrassingly, the white supremacist BC White Pride declared the referendum, "the most fundamental symbolic expression of white unity, since racial pride went out of style forty years ago."

Growing Opposition

Not surprisingly, aboriginal groups were unanimously opposed to the exercise. Sovereigntists emphasized that BC is "stolen land." The vast majority of the province has never been ceded by treaty, so a referendum is a violation of the right of aboriginal peoples to self-determination. Others emphasized violations of minority rights, saying it is illegitimate for the 95 per cent majority of eligible voters to determine the future of an oppressed minority.

After a period of tactical division, aboriginal groups tended to coalesce around an active boycott position, calling for unsigned ballots to be sent to a local Indian band office, labour council or church. These were to be presented in protest to the BC government or disposed of at a public ceremony.

Chief Judith Sayers, co-chair of a movement to promote an active referendum boycott, said, "The proposed questions are one-sided, leading, ambiguous and designed to elicit Yes responses from the voter as well as to spread fear, racism and hatred for the Indigenous Peoples."

Chief Stewart Philip of the Penticton Band and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said, "The referendum questions seek a self-serving mandate to perpetuate an outdated, economically racist and colonial relationship, of which many features have been repudiated by the Courts. By refusing to adequately consult and to enter into good faith negotiations, the province has only left many First Nations communities two choices to defend our title and rights: enter the Courts or prepare for a protracted campaign of confrontation."

The boycott message from aboriginal groups won mass support. Church leaders, civil libertarians and left liberal opinion spoke out. The BC Federation of Labour included opposition to a referendum in its anti-Campbell Action Program. Some unions adopted a boycott position, developing a fledgling alliance between labour and aboriginal groups.

Out of office, the NDP supported the boycott, although in office, it succeeded in negotiating only one treaty, and adopted a disgraceful law and order stand at Gustafsen Lake. Its BC treaty process bitterly divided the native community. Some groups in the First Nations Summit supported it and participated (and racked up $150 million in debt to pay for the failed exercise). Others from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs to the Native Youth Alliance criticized and actively protested the process.

A Sea Change

Increasingly, BC First Nations are looking beyond treaties to enforce their rights to land and resources.

The Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands reminded everyone of that in March when they won a court declaration that upset the government transfer of cutting rights on the archipelago to the lumber giant Weyerhauser. The Haida followed that up with a suit seeking a declaration of their title to the seabed surrounding the islands. A Haida victory in that case would seriously damage, if not entirely scuttle, the BC government's plans to go ahead with offshore oil and gas development.

However court cases are often very long and very expensive and have somewhat unpredictable results.

Rapid resource depletion and development undermines the future economic base of many aboriginal communities. A growing mood of militancy that includes native youth means that confrontations, direct action and blockades are increasingly likely. The Campbell government's response is totally predictable - harsh repression. The wild card is the level of solidarity of activists and the labour movement

The current flash point is the expansion of the Sun Peaks ski resort, being opposed by Shuswap activists despite intimidation, arrests and injunctions. However, it is clear there will be more flashpoints in the months and years ahead.

The referendum on treaty-making with the province's First Nations will be remembered years from now as the end of a confusing and costly chapter in the history of the troubled colonial relationships between British Columbia's government powers and the province's aboriginal peoples.

Something has ended. Something else is beginning.