Marilyn James and Taress Alexis, "Secrecy in mountain cariboo habitat management," Sinixt Radio, October 22, 2007.

BC's provincial government has required environmental groups participating in the mountain cariboo species-at-risk review process to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to have access to documents that are still nominally "under public review.



Secrecy in Cariboo Management Strategies

Marilyn points out that the Metis Nation Provincial Council receives money to participate in the BC Mountain Cariboo species at risk discussions. However, Ontario, Superior Court Judge David Little has overthrown the election of a Metis National Council executive and suspended the opertions of the elected body. Embezzlement, accountability, fulfilling contracts, and transparency have been issues for the last six Metis National Councils. Critical for indigenous peoples is that the provincial Metis organization has been given one of the indigenous seats at the table on Cariboo Species at Risk. Requirement that environmental stakeholder groups sign on to secret deliberations by Cabinet regarding the Species at Risk Coordination Office (SARCO) plan are also an issue. At the same time the SARCO document has been declared to be cabinet secure it is also said to be open for input from the public. None of this information has been released by the Metis who were privy to confidential documents for a year. The West Kootenay Metis Association has been completely disbanded. No one is watching out for the cariboo. Forest Ethics isnow the provincially-appointed third-party negotiator for Caroboo recovery action strategies. (NGOs met right across the street from the radio station? what was the meeting? Forest Ethics was there? Who convened the meeting?) Forest Ethics and the Metis Association have cut the Sinixt out of these negotiations. Pope and Talbot, which is going bankrupt, holds the Incomappleux land tenure. Marilyn objects to the "brown-on-brown oppression" by the Metis.

Taress says that its better to be the bad-ass on the good side than to be the idiot on the bad side.

Bioneers Conference in Seattle

Marilyn was full of expectation and optimism. The Bioneers is an organization of conscience that includes aboriginal people. "We need to learn that triage is a humane thing to do." Forget about dreaming; create an action and follow through with it.

Broadcast available at http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=25414

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