VANCOUVER — Signage outside the Legislature in Victoria has drawn new criticism for referring to non-indigenous people as "settlers," with OneBC MLA Dallas Brodie labelling the wording audacious given the building's history.It is one of three plaques bolted into the stone sidewalk perimeter fronting the Legislature on November 29, 2023.."Quite the audacity to call us 'settlers' on a plaque in front of the settler-colonial Parliament building," Brodie said in an X post on Wednesday, referring to the signage.In both Lekwungen language and English it reads, "It's good that you (settlers) are one together with the Lekwungen people."."This new trend of naming, renaming, or translating our institutions current names into a form of gibberish nobody but a handful academics and activists speak is STUPID," OneBC wrote in a post not long after. "All public institutions, streets, bridges, and geographical features should be written in a way ALL British Columbians can read."During her time in the BC Legislative Assembly, Brodie has frequently challenged what she refers to as guilt-focused historical framing.."Land acknowledgments impose collective guilt based on a false historical narrative. Every Canadian should be proud of our history," Brodie in a similarly framed X post last fall. "Our ancestors built a civilization while combatting disease, harsh weather, and nature itself.".In October, Brodie tabled the Land Acknowledgement Prohibition Act to prevent publicly funded workers from using statements that question Crown sovereignty or assign collective guilt. The bill was defeated at first reading..In supporting her legislation, Brodie stated land acknowledgements function as "the anthem of a suicidal nation" that leave children feeling they inhabit "stolen land."The plaques, unveiled in late-2023 with drum, song and dignitaries that included BC Premier David Eby, the House Speaker, and MLAs from every party then sitting, were originally sold to the public as part of the province's broader language revitalization and reconciliation projects.As of 2024, linguistic and language revitalization academics estimated there was only one Lekwungen native speaker in the world.
