BC Treaty Commissioner and former BC Liberal MLA and cabinet minister George Abbott discusses his new book Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now (Purich Books, 2025), with Joseph Planta.
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Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now by George M. Abbott (Purich Books, 2025).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Unceded |
Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.
A compelling and important book of the year is the newest from George Abbott. Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now is a well-researched, highly readable narrative of the relationship that the government has had with Indigenous peoples. Mr. Abbott, who joins me now, chronicles over 150 years of BC-Indigenous relations, providing necessary history as well as his own perspective after many years as a member of the Legislative Assembly, and a cabinet minister in the Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark governments. The book provides the background on landmark Supreme Court decisions, as well as the land claims process, whether it’s the Nisga’a or Tsawwassen treaties. George Abbott is a BC treaty commissioner, and a former BC Liberal MLA and cabinet minister. He is an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Victoria, and the author of Big Promises, Small Government: Doing Less with Less in the BC Liberal New Era. I’ll ask George about his work on the BC Treaty Commission, as well as its future, what with various criticism about its usefulness. And though he’s been part of the commission for several months now, he had been proposed as chief commissioner over a decade ago by the last BC Liberal government, only to have the appointment yanked from under him shortly before assuming his seat. I’ll ask about that, and why the treaty process is ideal compared to going to courts. This new book is published by Purich Books, which is an imprint of UBC Press. We spoke last Friday, with George joining me from Victoria, BC. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, George Abbott; Mr. Abbott, good morning.
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