The Nisga'a Treaty presents an inside story of the socio-political dynamics behind the massive polling and advertising campaign through which the Government of British Columbia "sold" the Nisga'a Treaty to British Columbians. A complementary chapter on the polling done on the Aboriginal reconciliation issue in Australia provides further international context. J. Rick Ponting's research draws from archival sources, stunningly frank Freedom of Information documents, and lengthy interviews with bureaucratic and political elites.

This book has two purposes: to contribute to the understanding of an important event in the history of relations between government and Indigenous people in British Columbia and Australia, and to contribute to an understanding of the dynamics of public opinion polling in all its phases. The book explores the processes of marketing government policy to the public, which is to say, the shaping of public opinion. Accordingly, it speaks directly to the basic democratic issue of whether governments should lead, follow, or ignore public opinion on important policy issues.

J. Rick Ponting is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. The recipient of numerous awards for his work with Indigenous cultures, he is the author of First Nations in Canada: Perspectives on Opportunity, Empowerment, and Self-Determination (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1997) and Arduous Journey: Canadian Indians and Decolonization (McClelland & Stewart, 1986).

J. Rick Ponting's profile page

J. Rick Ponting provides a well documented and analytical comparative piece, detailing the processing of public opinion of the Nisga'a Treaty in British Columbia and the official reconciliation process by political powers in Australia. More broadly, this work speaks to the intersection between public opinion polling and issues related to democratic politics and leadership. Specifically, it poses some key questions: how should government use public opinion polling and should it be responsive to it or lead and shape it?

<i>Canadian Ethnic Studies</i>