"At the end of the day they're going to know that the Reform Party was here, that the Reform Party meant business, and the Reform Party is not going to bend over to the majority here," declared Reform House leader Randy White from Langley, British Columbia, December 6, emphasizing his party's opposition to Native treaty rights.

Reform leader Preston Manning, also leader of the official opposition, delivered an ultimatum with two major conditions to the government before the voting in Parliament started.

Firstly, he demanded a referendum in which all citizens of British Columbia could vote on the Nisga'a treaty—a clear denial of the right of the Nisga'a people to self-determination. Secondly, he called for amendments to give future parliaments the power to alter the treaty's self-government provisions.

The Nisga'a treaty was signed at an official ceremony in Nisga'a territory on Aug. 4, 1998. Although it falls far short of the historical demands of the Nisga'a, the fact that Canadian authorities felt compelled to sign it reflects the decades-long struggle of the Nisga'a and Native people throughout Canada for their rights.

The Nisga'a were confined to a reserve of 76 square kilometers and deprived of their most basic rights under the Indian Act of Canada and by the Province of British Columbia at its founding in 1870. The new treaty grants them title to 2,000 square kilometers, about 10 percent of their traditional lands in Northwestern British Columbia, where an estimated 8,000 Nisga'a lived off salmon from the Nass River before contact with Europeans. Today some 2,000 Nisga'a continue to live in the area, and another 3,500 are in other parts of Canada and Alaska.

Despite the fact that some Nisga'a opposed the agreement because it included only 10 percent of their traditional lands, tribal members voted by 72 percent to ratify the treaty. The treaty provides the Nisga'a with a Native-run local government, where elected Nisga'a will take over ownership of and management of land and resources as well as social services, education, policing, and the courts—within the confines of Canadian and British Columbia laws. Some $190 million in cash will be provided by the federal and provincial governments over a 10-year period in exchange for recognizing this as the final settlement of Nisga'a claims.

According to Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Brian Laghi, Reform MPs felt the round-the-clock voting marathon on their 471 amendments was a way to get their views into the news media. "Our feeling is that eventually we will be the lone voice on this issue," said Reform environment critic Rahim Jaffer.

Laghi also gave the opinion that "at a time when the party's grass roots are wondering about leader Preston Manning's right-wing credentials, it may help them internally as well." Manning is fighting to build a new conservative coalition called the United Alternative. In addition to steadfast opposition to the national rights of the Quebecois, Manning returned to some key right-wing issues in the cultural war against the gains of working people and the oppressed in his response to the Speech from the Throne—a major government policy address. In his remarks Manning focused on defense of "family values" and opposition to a woman's right to choose abortion, calling on the government to define the "rights of the fetus."

In her column in the December 9 Vancouver Sun, entitled "The Reform Party in Ottawa Does B.C. a Big Favour," conservative writer Barbara Yaffee further developed the racist, right-wing argumentation of Reform's campaign. After attacking as "unsettling" the idea that the Nisga'a government has powers superseding those of the provincial government, Yaffee states that British Columbia residents "have misgivings, too, about reinforcing a communal societal system that has served aboriginal people poorly on many reserves. Federal Reformers have shown guts in asking whether it might not be time to consider an alternate system for native Indians, one that would help empower individuals?"

Reform has also charged that the Nisga'a treaty is a template for as many as 50 other comprehensive land and self-government treaties in the province. In response, the Liberal government maintained that such negotiated treaties provide more certainty than letting Native peoples assert their rights in the courts, a reference to a September 17 Supreme Court decision allowing the expansion of Native fishing rights on the Atlantic coast.

The Liberals complained about the extra expenses the Reform filibuster imposed, including the $26,000 overtime pay. But Bill Blaikie, House leader for the New Democratic Party, and Michel Gauthier, House leader of the Bloc Quebecois, praised Reform's tactics, while remaining silent on its political content.

Nisga'a Tribal Council president Joe Gosnell attacked Reform for its actions. He told reporters that Reform was attempting to "completely gut the contents of the Nisga'a treaty," adding that it would "leave future aspirations of our nation at the whim of future governments and to the Nisga'a people that is just not acceptable." In a television interview on December 9 after the defeat of all of Reform's amendments, Gosnell described the results as "Nisga'a—471; Reform—0."  
 
 
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