Mr. Speaker, Vancouver Island North residents gave the Nisga'a treaty an overwhelming thumbs down on the weekend, echoing the results of two previous grassroots plebiscites this year. More than 97% of the voters rejected the treaty as it now stands. Only two and one-half per cent of the voters, 76 people, supported the deal.
People are concerned about this treaty. Saturday's turnout represented 25% of the people who voted in the last provincial election in the North Island constituency.
British Columbians are fed up with the federal and provincial governments misrepresenting the terms of this treaty. They know that the real cost of the Nisga'a deal is almost three times what their governments claim the cost to be.
British Columbians know that because government underestimated the value of lands and resources the province is contributing to the deal, they will get stuck with 75% of the bill.
The people most affected by this deal have spoken. Is the Liberal travelling road show to the west listening? Is this government listening?