MORGAN: The latest racial consultation ruling will destroy Canada's economy — and nobody is reporting it

You may soon not be able to erect a garden shed in your backyard without getting the consent of indigenous people hundreds of kilometres away.Sound ridiculous?It’s no less absurd than any other consultation requirements imposed by activist judges recently. In BC, it’s illegal to enter certain provincial parks at certain times of year if you are of the wrong race. Nothing is off the table now.Democracy itself falls second to indigenous consultation. It matters not if hundreds of thousands of citizens call for a referendum on an issue; they are not allowed to even ask questions in a democratic exercise without somehow gaining unanimous consent from indigenous chiefs. I say unanimous, as it appears that if even a few complain about the democratic vote, as was the case with Alberta’s proposed independence referendum, a Liberal-appointed judge will quickly shut down the process begun by hundreds of thousands, due to the complaints of a handful. It was chiefs, not indigenous people at large, who took issue with allowing Albertans to vote on an issue.Who is a chief anyway? An activist judge in BC just shut down a $1.5 billion gold mining project due to a complaint from a self-appointed “hereditary” chief who only represents a few dozen people at best. One doesn’t need to be elected by indigenous people as a representative. One doesn’t need to have an actual historical claim to or right to any land. One only needs to claim they are a hereditary chief of a fictional band, and they are bestowed with blanket veto authority over any project.The alleged “nation” that objected to the province isn’t recognized by governments on any level. So how on earth is a company or government supposed to identify, find, and consult adequately with these groups as they spawn like dandelions in spring? .The answer is that they can’t.It has now become impossible to reach the invisible bar of consultation required to do anything of significance in Canada.It’s not that consultation hasn’t been done. A sub-industry worth billions has developed over the years, specializing in consultation. Companies are willing to meet with every indigenous person within 200 kilometres of a project and have spent enough on consultation to have done so. The problem is, as long as one indigenous person remains unsatisfied, an activist judge will say there wasn’t enough consultation and will shut things down. Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution does not call for consultation, and it certainly doesn’t call for consent from indigenous people. The duty to consult was read into the Constitution in 2004 by Supreme Court justices. Even then, the judges made it clear this didn’t offer veto authority to indigenous bands. Unfortunately, when judges refuse to recognize what the bar for adequate consultation is, the duty to consult has become a de facto veto authority. Not only for indigenous bands, but for small groups that identify as bands under the leadership of self-appointed “hereditary chiefs”.No government nor court has the courage to finally say “enough is enough” and push back against this creeping regulatory mire. And it hasn’t served anybody.No matter how much they are indulged, indigenous activists and chiefs are only becoming more indignant and belligerent. Pandering to their insatiable appetite for pursuing authority over all things has only made them hungrier.Canada has already lost a trillion dollars in potential investment over the last decade due to the terrible regulatory environment. This trend will only become worse as layer after layer of consultation requirements are dumped on governments and companies by appointed judges..Who in their right mind will invest in a major project right now when the rug could be pulled out at any moment due to a complaint from a self-styled chief, along with a ruling by a judge who wants to make a mark?Getting major projects completed has gone from difficult to impossible in Canada. The blame lands on governments and justices who are too cowardly to do what’s right and say no to indigenous activists for a change.This will do nothing for that other impossible goal set for “reconciliation”. Canadians have accepted that some poor practices were done in past centuries, but they are becoming exhausted with being told to apologize for it and for endlessly being forced to compensate the descendants of the descendants of the aggrieved. As the economy falters further due to these consultation requirements, as democracy is denied by consultation requirements, and as people could lose their property due to rulings from activist judges, the attitudes of Canadians will change.And it will not be for the better with regard to indigenous relations.The only question is how bad it will have to get before legislators find the balls to do what must be done. It will get much worse, I’m afraid.

MORGAN: The latest racial consultation ruling will destroy Canada's economy — and nobody is reporting it

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