What comes next?
The Kwantlen First Nation has fallen behind. Our corporations have failed, and band businesses closed. The band is mired in lawsuits. It is not safe to speak your mind, or in some cases even to walk around on reserve. Boats are being trashed by vandals, people are being attacked and intimidated. This state of affairs cannot stand.
So how will the current Consultation Vote change things? That depends on the outcome of the vote. There are two possibilities:
A pro-reform vote
The Band Council will - with the full support of the Kwantlen people - use every tool at its disposal to enforce the decisions of the November 27th General Assembly. Within 24 hours, Band Council will take action.
It has been nearly 3 months since the November 27th General Assembly, and that was held 18 months after the mediator gave Kwantlen the consensus report, stating that the people are done with hereditary rule. That was more than 2 years after the petition where people asked Marilyn to leave. This has been going on a long time. But this here, this is the last stage. Marilyn’s supporters know this, which is why we have seen the violence, vandalism, and harassment coming from that side.
Once this is over, the new Governance Code will be brought for a vote. When passed, it will lead to the election of a new band council, under new rules. That new band council will be seated in 2023.
The leadership of the reform movement will not join that new council. We know that the battles of the last few years need to be put to rest, and the band needs to move forward without any baggage.
The new council the people choose, will undoubtedly be one that will fight to help Kwantlen catch up with our neighbouring nations. And it will bring our true culture back to the nation. It will build homes, increase disbursements (to match the larger, and more frequent payments we see at neighbouring nations with elected councils). The personal problems of one branch of one family will not overwhelm the life of the nation. It will become, again, a Nation - one made up of many people from many families. The long queue of people seeking to come back to Kwantlen will see our population explode.
Picture this nation a year from now - on February 14th, 2024: our population could have jumped from 375 today to 450 or even 500 then, as our family members rejoin. Our cultural centre will be full of youth learning our language. Our corporations will be re-building, with regular public input. Our open band council meetings will be broadcast online - and people will be able to submit questions or requests on any matter. Our partnerships with neighbour Nations and cities will have flourished, and Kwantlen’s name will be heard again across our territory. And our elders and cultural leaders will be respected and listened to.
A vote for Marilyn Gabriel
The Band Council will - out of respect for the wishes of the Kwantlen people - resign immediately. This website, kwantlen.community, will go offline. Our population will shrink as several members have said that they will permanently leave the band if Marilyn remains.
The organized reform movement will cease, and the Custom Code of the Band will change, from our true customary laws to ‘Whatever Marilyn Wants’. This will signal to Kwantlen’s best and brightest that there is no future in working with the band. Our corporations will continue their decline. The vandalism and violence you see around us in recent weeks will have been rewarded.
Picture this nation a year from now - on February 14th, 2024: Marilyn, Kevin, and Michael will host an invitation-only “community” gathering for their supporters at the cultural centre. There’ll be lavish door prizes, drumming will be done, and Marilyn and her family will pin band cheques to each other’s shirts. Outside the hall families will struggle through high utility bills and high off-reserve rents, without the band support that people from other nations receive. Our nation will remain isolated. The band will be in effect, a private estate of Marilyn Gabriel and her family, with resources distributed as they are now, seemingly only grudgingly to regular people. The wish for reform that the majority of Kwantlen people have asked for again and again will be buried, left for your children and grandchildren to fight over with Michael Gabriel in the 2030s or 2040s.
This vote is the end of all of this
One way or another, this must all end. Either by lifting Kwantlen up with reform, or by abject surrender to mediocrity under Marilyn and Michael’s permanent hereditary rule. If you seek to have a voice in the future of this nation, this is the last chance for that to happen. Voting ends on Tuesday, February 14th. If you have not yet received your election notice, with login and password, email: spokesperson@kwantlen.community for a copy.