“We’ve all said for a long time, ‘Get ready for the First Nations, they’re coming.’ Now they’re here,” said David Negrin, president at Aquilini Development and Construction.
(Source of photo: http://i.cbc.ca/1.2756864.1409927990!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/mayoral-candidates.jpeg)
Recently, First Nations was just granted two big tracts of lands, and it has caused worries for the Vancouver Planning Department. City property tax will not be collected, but only a fee for city basic services. However, this is not the biggest priority for the Department to have a headache, which the government agreeing upon the First Nations’ petition if they get reserved lands from province or federal is the source of pain.
The city general manager, Brian Jackson, claimed that lots of works have to be done in order to identify the exact changes of city densities and design, which had been done long ago by the CityPlan.
Personally, First Nations will definitely contribute to be a major issue for Vancouver Planning Department. Since city planning is one of the hardest jobs in Earth, and distributing such great amount of lands to First Nations can put a city in danger, because the city density and design cannot be played around. Several of First Nations have already been working with private companies in their newly acquired lands. Thinking ahead of developments is a fantastic idea, but what First Nations doing might be against the original city design. If those areas were only for the usage of residential area, and First Nations built up factories there, the neighbourhoods might be affected.
In addition, the government has to agree on what First Nations desire to have in terms of lands, and this action might even prevail the effect of what has been talked about above.
Finally, being partners with the government, First Nations enjoy a lot more freedom than other Canadian citizens, for example, the exemption of tax for First Nations creates unfairness in society. Therefore, social problems might be arisen.
I recommend the government to restrict laws and regulations for the First Nations. Even thought Canada is known to have the most lands among countries, poor city design will not be beneficial to Canada at all when lands are not properly utilized. Thinking about the right of First Nations, prolonged negotiations might have to be made by the government in order to retrieve the power to design and distribute the lands.
Bibliography:
Bula, Frances. “Land Development Deal with B.C. First Nations Launches New Era.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail, 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/land-development-deal-with-bc-first-nations-launches-new-era/article20939100/>.