Meeting draws criticism from some segments, others see opportunities
Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy in B.C.
It is also emerging as an avenue for success for many First Nations groups who want to showcase B.C.’s aboriginal culture at home, across Canada, and around the world.
With this in mind some 450 aboriginal leaders in culture and tourism, government officials, corporate big wigs and international participants will meet next week in Whistler to forge new alliances and lay plans for the future.
But the $2.5 million meeting is not without controversy.
Just 45 kilometres to the north some in the impoverished community of Mount Currie are questioning the spending of this much money on a conference by the federal government when so many First Nations communities across the country are in dire straits.
"My reaction when I first heard about it," said Lil’wat Rosalin Sam, "the money could be spent better elsewhere instead of having a three day party.
"People are screaming for health care, for money for education, they are screaming for support for our elders, so the money could be spent well there."
Sam does not believe the conference will result in any direct benefits for her people financially or otherwise.
"We never see results," she said.
But for B.C. Chief Sophie Pierre of the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council the conference is an important piece in the puzzle to get aboriginal tourism and businesses launched and on the road to success.
"It creates an awareness with the rest of the country about the possibilities for aboriginal tourism and it also then creates an awareness within our own communities about what possibilities are there," said Pierre who is a keynote speaker at the three day conference, hosted by federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps.
"It brings us focus so that ideas that maybe people have had a for a while, but were not really going anywhere with, well, this gives them a reason to bloom and it will help those ideas come to fruition."
Aboriginal tourism realizes annual revenues of around $9 billion. The federal government expects that figure to grow over the next few years, across Canada, to $1.9 billion.
Pierre is well aware of the criticism, which has been aimed at the $7,000 per delegate price tag of the conference.
"There are always going to be social needs so either we just continue to pour all our money into those, which never ever puts us in position where we become economically independent, or we start putting some of the money in to long-term objectives," she said.
"While I feel for the people and it makes my heart hurt when I hear about the pain and suffering that people are going through my whole focus in the 25 years I have been on council, and the 21 years as chief, my whole focus has been to create some sort of economic base for us so that we don’t have these horrid dependencies in our community.
"There are always people who are not going to be keen on whatever plan comes forward – we are human beings, we criticize what others are doing – but at least we are doing something.
"We are not just sitting around waiting for the next welfare cheque to come down the pipe."
Pierre believes tourism will be a key area for growth for First Nations people, especially since so many live in rural areas where much of the new tourism is taking place.
For example a new First Nations’ cultural centre is slated for Whistler, which will be operated by Squamish and Mount Currie (Lil’wat) bands together.
But for Sam locating the cultural centre in Whistler does nothing to educate people about the reality of life for her and others and their traditions.
"It is supposed to be built for us but it is in Whistler," said Sam.
"It is stupid in a way to advertise our culture in Whistler to the people of the world.
"They are going to sell trinkets and beads, but we live with racism everyday and no one reads or writes about that. We live in poverty and nobody reads or writes about that.
"It will just bring more people, the land grabbers, people who want to make money off us."
Pierre believes the Sea to Sky corridor and the Squamish and Lil’wat people are poised for growth as they look toward helping to host the alpine segments of 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, and the growth will being positive changes.
Many benefits have been promised as part of the quest to host the Games. Both First nations groups will be part of the Legacies Society which will manage and operate the $100 million Callaghan Valley Nordic Centre, the Sliding Centre on Blackcomb Mountains and the Athletes Centre, the location of which is yet to be finalized.
Squamish and Mount Currie are also slated to get some moveable housing, money for housing and a share of the B.C.-wide aboriginal sports legacy fund.
Pierre will be recommending in her address that some sort of mechanism is adopted to track the socio-economic benefits of what comes out of the conference.
Her hope is that in the long-term the benefits – both financial and social – will far outweigh the costs of the meeting.
"I think it is very easy to criticize the spending of ($2.5) million if you can’t really see what benefit there is at the end," said Pierre, who was the recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award this year.
"I think it is always important for us to create a mechanism so we can measure the socio and economic benefits."
Squamish Chief Gibby Jacob will be attending the conference, which he believes will help grow awareness of cultural ideas and traditions and how they can bloom in today’s economic reality.
"There is no real idea of what First Nations are and what First Nations culture is all about," said Jacob.
"From my perspective we have the chance in 2010 and even before that to educate the global community that we are still here and we are thriving and we are adapting to an economy with opportunities that are there for us."
The conference is the second of three conferences organized by Minister Copps with the goal of engaging aboriginal communities across Canada in a dialogue on the key issues relation to artistic expression, cultures and tourism and traditional knowledge.
The aim of this conference is to explore the relationship between the support, celebration, sustainability and promotion of aboriginal cultures and tourism in Canada.
Thirty attendees at this conference will be bureaucrats from several departments. A further 350 will be sponsored participants, mostly artists, elders, tourism entrepreneurs, academics, youth and economic development officers from aboriginal groups in Canada. Ten of the aboriginal delegates will represent associations such as the Assembly of First Nations, and another 10 will be flown in from Latin America and Australia.
The remaining 100 delegates, coming from provincial and territorial governments as well as he private sector, are expected to cover their own costs.
The third in the series of conferences, which will have a total cost of $10 million, will be held next year. It will explore aboriginal traditional knowledge. That conference will mark the conclusion of the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People.
