I would like to express my deep appreciation for the many people who, over the past twenty years, have helped me to understand the complexities of treaty annuities and to build a picture of the vast, seemingly immutable entity called Indian Affairs. First and foremost, I would like to thank Jean Allard for the many hours spent arguing, laughing and challenging each other’s points of view on treaty annuities. I also want to acknowledge the persistence of Peter Holle, president of Frontier Centre for Public Policy, who has wanted the idea of modernizing treaty annuities to be part of Canada’s public policy conversation for just about as long as Jean and I have been talking about it.
Researching and writing about complex public policy issues can consume enormous amounts of time and energy. I offer a heartfelt thank you to the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation in Vancouver for being financial leaders and visionaries and supporting this critical public policy research. Without such support and leadership, research and the public dissemination of such significant public policy would not be possible. Thanks also those who work for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, across Canada, for their insights and support in helping see this book project through to completion.
Thank you to the team of advisers from the former Treaty Annuity Working Group — Jean Allard, Wayne Helgason, Guy Savoie and Paul Walsh, along with Leona Freed — who shared their wisdom during the writing process.
And thank you to Sheila North for contributing the foreword to this book, and for her enthusiastic support of the idea of modernizing treaty annuities.
Finally, I would be most remiss if I did not acknowledge my husband Jim Burns and daughter Kate Morrison for their unstinting support. They know how important they’ve been to me.