The following letter was submitted by Ali Cranmer, manager of the 3420 Dispensary - one of the three K’ómoks First Nations dispensaries that were raided by Community Safety Unit members on Feb. 14.
Dear KFN council,
You are being deceived. You should stop listening to whomever is lying to you, it is causing you and our nation harm.
The Cannabis Control and Licensing Act is not a provincial law of general application that has force on our reserve.
Some provincial laws of general application do apply on reserve. Many provincial laws of general application do not apply on reserve. For example, the Residential Tenancy Act does not apply on reserve.
The province is granted some jurisdiction on reserve through the Indian Act through section 88 for some provincial laws of general application; however, that jurisdiction is restricted by any laws that bands make and by section 89 of the Indian Act.
General provincial laws applicable to Indians
88 Subject to the terms of any treaty and any other Act of Parliament, all laws of general application from time to time in force in any province are applicable to and in respect of Indians in the province, except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with this Act or the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, or with any order, rule, regulation or law of a band made under those Acts, and except to the extent that those provincial laws make provision for any matter for which provision is made by or under those Acts.
Restriction on mortgage, seizure, etc., of property on reserve
89 (1) Subject to this Act, the real and personal property of an Indian or a band situated on a reserve is not subject to charge, pledge, mortgage, attachment, levy, seizure, distress or execution in favour or at the instance of any person other than an Indian or a band.
Federal law trumps provincial law in this case. You can Google this.
The provincial law in question is made inapplicable by section 89 of the Indian Act.
If a lawyer is telling you that this is a settled area of law and that this CCLA law applies on reserve they are being negligent, dishonest or simply not able to comprehend constitutional law.
You should fire your lawyers. If it’s not coming from the lawyers, stop listening to the province.
If someone tells you that they have power over you because that’s the way it is and you allow them to have it you are surrendering your inherent right to self-determination.
If you surrender to the province’s alleged power as our chief and council you are surrendering our nation’s inherent right to self-determination. This is shameful. This shame is growing and we are now known for it as a nation. Surrounding nations are shaking their heads.
If you believe that the provincial government is altruistic and trustworthy you may have forgotten that they stole our parents and raped them in residential schools. Maybe you don’t keep up with current events, but the province continues to remove our children at astronomical rates under the cover of child protection laws.
The government collects fees for tree farm licences to our forests and we are lucky to receive a tiny fraction of that revenue, while we continue to lose access to our traditional hunting and medicine gathering lands. This is the tip of the iceberg.
Do you have more loyalty to the province than you do for the Komoks nation?
Perhaps you are painfully naïve and believe everything the province tells you.
Maybe you think it is better to politely ask the province for the right to self-determination with your hand out? That approach is embarrassing all of us and it is jeopardizing our rights.
A written apology and compensation for lost revenue damage, to property and lost wages for our employees would be a good first step to repairing the relationship with 3420 and the balance of the dispensary owners.
They came without warrants and broke into our buildings. Community Safety Unit… What about downtown Courtenay, it’s better to nod off high on fentanyl in front of the doorway to 7-Eleven than to assist people with pain management, insomnia, neurological disorders, cancer… The list goes on and on. Shameful to see where their priorities lie.
Thank you very much for listening.
Ali Cranmer,
Comox