The romance between Attorney General Geoff Plant and the provincial government's treaty negotiation office seems to have hit a rough patch. According to our snitches in the civil service, the office's deputy minister Lorne Brownsey is rumoured to have informed the minister there would be no final treaties signed before the election. That statement apparently didn't over well with Attorney General Plant, resulting in hurt feelings on both sides.
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Plant and Brownsey may seek relationship counciling
January 31, 2005
If Mr. Plante and Gordo hadn't slowed things down with a silly referendum to test the water, which upset so many of the parties in the process. They may have been farther toward a few AIp's. But the ting got him a few votes and I guess that was more improtant than progress.
If either of them had dropped in to observe a treaty main table meeting or maybe a few dozen as some of us ordinary citizens , who took the opportunity to do so, they would have known how things were going. Mike Harcourt opened the process to the citizens and some of us took the opportunity to get to see the process close up, and to realize this wasn't a quick fix. My associate and I attended well over 70 main table meetings and learned a lot in the process. we saw all three parties working hard to get balanced results. No we weren not paid by anyone.
To now have his lip out, because nobody waived a wand and produced a treaty to fit inside the election timetable shows the guy really doesn't seem to understand the system. There are three parties involved and care must be taken. Treaties take a long time, they need many support people for research, and input from many ministries and third party interests.
The government cut the size of the communications branch, put the policy papers in the archives and laid off a negotiator or two,and removed the Regional Advisory Committees.
Cry not for Plante. I want treaties that will stand the test of time. He and Gordo want something to pin to an election.
Too bad guys , just because the Nisga'a treaty was signed during the previous NDP government time in power, you arn't about to get the same results in the next three months. No photo opportunity for you.