Am I the only one who thinks that the run a partial treaty settlements with First Nations in BC is politically motivated? Why, in the last dozen years, has the pace of negotiations continued at the same senatorial crawl until the last couple of weeks when, suddenly staring down the barrel of an election, several groups on Vancouver Island start getting what amounts to a down payment on an eventual settlement. So lovely it is to see Ida Chong’s smiling face and sincere pronouncements about how this government has done so much to resolve the treaty process: I wonder what her position was when her leader Campbell ran a referendum back in 2002 to determine the future of treaty negotiations based on what all the citizens of the province had to say (did he submit the HST to referendum before moving ahead?).  This fits well with DeJong’s interpretation of the latest Dominion Bond Rating Service report which he calls supportive of the BC Liberal government and implies that the province’s credit rating will surely take a hit if we have the audacity to elect someone else. It would be the subject of ridicule were it not for the reporting that fails to call his point of view into question, or to cite the folks who might care to interpret the report in another fashion. Our dear Liberals can’t seem to find anything remotely resembling a principle or the truth. They need to be held to account for their misdeeds, as to their enablers in the press, especially so that those who come along after them will know just what to expect.