August 5th, 2006

Filed under:
Canada, Vancouver
9 Comments »

Buying Empty Space

As locals may have heard last month, a local First Nations band is threatening to post billboards near three major Lower Mainland bridges:

The advertising signs will go up on the West Vancouver side of the Lions Gate Bridge, the North Vancouver side of the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge and in Kitsilano near Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge.

They own the land under and around the bridges. Another article claims the Squamish need the money:

He noted the band anticipated the negative reaction from the non-native community but decided the revenue was needed to fund housing, employment training and social programs for the band’s 3,400 residents, who live on and off reserves.

Over the past century, the Canadian government has poured millions of dollars into our First Nations population. Consider, for example, the $490 million land claims settlement paid out to the 6000 people who make up the Nisga’a people.

These moneys, of course, are partially reparations for the way we treated (and, sometimes, treat) our aboriginal population. They’re also an attempt to deal with the vexing, complicated issues that afflict these people.

In light of this financial situation, maybe the Squamish people should find some other strategies for income generation? Ones that don’t offend the rest of Vancouver’s population?

In talking about this, my wife came up with a great idea: a big corporation like Telus or Rogers should pay the Squamish a monthly fee not to build the billboards. They’d reap massive PR benefits, and the Squamish would get their cash.

Comments: 9 Responses so far

jd
August 6th, 2006
7:14 am

why would it be a good idea to pay someone NOT to do something that everyone is against in the first place? isn’t that like paying blood money?

if i knew a company was paying someone not to do something, i would try to find something they could pay me not to do. how is that good PR for the company?

what about from the band’s PR POV? if the band accepted the type of deal you suggested, it would look like organized crime.

the article says the sign deal is for 30 years; could a company even promise to pay out millions over 30 years? how long is the list of canadian companies that are older than 30 years?

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Todd
August 6th, 2006
7:28 am

Thinking that companies like Telus or Shaw would do anything that didn’t have their name front and center is dreaming. The trend of buying naming rights is like heroin to them, and I doubt they could even wrap their heads around the idea that you’re proposing.

No, these companies can’t even contribute to a kid’s learning space like Science World without warping the identity of a landmark by shoehorning their name into it.

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Metro
August 6th, 2006
8:34 am

If Telus or Rogers got their names involved in such a project anywhere it would be on the billboards.

And as jd says: “Once you pay the Danegeld you never get rid of the Dane”.

Like many Canadians, I’m beginning to find myself in uncomfortable agreement with those who claim that Canada has created an “Indian industry” where nothing good happens for anyone but the lawyers.

Since at heart, though, this is the same problem that splits the Middle East, the lawyers are perhaps the least of a host of possible evils.

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double-plus-ungood
August 6th, 2006
8:52 am

These moneys, of course, are partially reparations for the way we treated (and, sometimes, treat) our aboriginal population.

Well, no, not quite. It’s generally to settle ownership claims on land and resources, as well as a few other things. Payments to individuals who were abused by the mission school system is a seperate issue.

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darren
August 6th, 2006
10:17 am

Double: In as much as we took their land and resources away from them, then I think my statement is more or less accurate. I see a lot of the spending as guilt money for our forefathers’ trangsgressions as well.

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Lisa
August 6th, 2006
12:10 pm

When I reported on this, a Kits resident also floated the idea of people there paying to keep Burrard billboard free.

Maybe I’m overly Vancouver-centric, but I think that will be the most contentious of the locations. Heritage values, centre of town…versus the highway exit by the Superstore.

Plus, Vancouver was the only municipality whose officials said anything negative about the Squamish decision to go ahead.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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NorthVanDan
August 7th, 2006
1:47 pm

Boycotting the advertisers on the First Nations’ billboards is always an option.

These billboards should bring attention to the Squamish and Burrard Bands. A lot of the North Shore and Vancouver leasehold land from these Nations like Granville Island, Park Royal, the Ravenwoods development, and the Seymour retail district.

Hopefully more news will be released on what programs the Harper government has cut to provoke this income initiative.

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double-plus-ungood
August 13th, 2006
4:28 pm

I see a lot of the spending as guilt money for our forefathers’ trangsgressions as well.

Sorry for the tardy reply, I’ve been away.

No, this is not guilt money. Native groups have a very real legal claim to a great deal of Canadian land, by our own laws. The land claims payments are an attempt to settle those outstanding claims by getting the first nations to relinquish their legal claims, which again are very real, and very legal.

In my view, it has nothing to do with guilt, it’s an attempt to live up to our own laws.

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hrytzak
August 24th, 2006
5:54 pm

This is a band that leases out THE prime real estate in Vancouver, and yet they need the money??? This is appalling and atrocious. In 2010 when people from around the world arrive and see a beautiful city, except for some hideous billboards, what will we say? “They’re not actually part of the city… they were put there by Canada’s wealthiest native band… they have a lot of money, and yet we don’t know where it seems to go… maybe we should see what kind of SUV the chief is driving???”

Until now my support was for the Kamloops Accord – if they post these billboards I will applaud the Conservatives and say kill it! With the new advertising revenue, the Squamish Band will be able to look after themselves and bring all their fellow bands up to parity… including those in my neighborhood begging at the local liquor store.

# 7 : This is guilt money!… and it should be paid once and once for all! Canada’s First Nations must choose:

1. Do they wish to be part of this nation and enjoy the benefits and responsibilities they bring (Ford SUV’s, Chrysler SUV’s, GM SUV’s, advertising from non-Natives), and be a contributing member of the non-“Native” community or,
2. Live in their hereditary lands and be able to fish whatever they want, hunt whatever they want and live the way their forefathers 10 generations back did.

You CANNOT have it both ways! Pick and choose.

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