Mixed reviews to Canada's RCAP response

Page 3

The federal government wants a fresh start in its relationship with Aboriginal people in Canada. On Jan. 7, two federal cabinet members unveiled the action plan they say the federal government will follow to make that new beginning a reality.

Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart and Ralph Goodale, the federal Interlocutor for Metis and non-status Aboriginal people, were present during a noon-hour ceremony on Parliament Hill to make the announcement. Prime Minister Jean Chretien did not attend, though he was in Ottawa at the time of the announcement.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine accepted a copy of a Statement of Reconciliation that was offered to Aboriginal people on behalf of the federal government by Minister Stewart.

During the speech from the throne on Sept. 23, which marked the debut of the re-elected Liberal government, the government pledged to respond to the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples "as soon as possible." Minister Stewart said the January announcement was that response. She said the commission report was the inspiration for the federal government's decision to re-invent the way it deals with Aboriginal people.

"The action plan responds to the Royal Commission and sets directions for a new course based on greater co-operation with Aboriginal groups and provinces," Stewart said. "At the heart of the action plan is a commitment to address the needs of communities by building a real partnership with Aboriginal people, including the development of mechanisms to recognize sustainable and accountable Aboriginal governments and institutions. An essential aspect will be to work closely together with Aboriginal people to define that partnership and shape a common vision of the relationship between us."

Federal negotiators had been meeting with the AFN team (Chief Fontaine, Aboriginal lawyer Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafonde and Winnipeg lawyer Jack London) for several months to work out the starting points of the plan.

"The Assembly of First Nations is proud of the role it played in laying the foundation for today's federal response to the landmark report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples," Fontaine said. "It took some courage on the part of the minister and the government to take this historic step, to break with the past, and to apologize for the historic wrongs and injustices committed against our people. It is therefore a great honor for me, on behalf of the First Nations, to accept the apology of the government and people of Canada."

If the government follows through on the commitments contained in the plan, Jan. 7 will become known as one of the most important days in the history of Aboriginal people in Canada. As important as the promises the minister made that day, was the apology which out-shone all others parts of the announcement.

As she read the plan's Statement of Reconciliation, Stewart apologized on behalf of the federal government for the physical and sexual abuse suffered in Canada's residential schools.

"The Government of Canada acknowledges the role it played in the development and administration of these schools. Particularly to those individuals who experienced the tragedy of sexual and physical abuse at residential schools and who have carried this burden believing that in some way they must be responsible, we wish to emphasize that what you experienced was not your fault and should never have happened," the Indian Affairs minister read. "To those of you who suffered this tragedy at residential schools, we are deeply sorry."

The government's response to the royal commission's five-volume, 4,000-page report is outlined in a 36-page booklet entitled Gathering Strength - Canada's Aboriginal Action Plan., Stewart said it is built around four main objectives: to renew partnerships; to strengthen Aboriginal governance; to develop a new fiscal relationship; and to support strong communities, people and economies.

A $350 million healing und for the victims of abuse at residential schools will be established. Few details were released about how that money is to be used, although all parties agree it will be used to support the development of a community-based healing system.

Details in other sections of the plan are equally sketchy, but some of the initiatives the government will explore as it seeks to fulfil each of Gathering Strength's four main objectives, suggest that cabinet has decided to introduce new money for Aboriginal issues - not as much as the royal commission recommended, but still a significant amount.

Renewing partnerships

The report of the royal commission called for "a great cleansing of the wounds of the past" to pave the way for any future harmonious relationship between Aboriginal people and the Government of Canada. Ottawa's response to that recommendation was the Statement of Reconciliation in which the government admitted that assimilation measures were, and are, racist and disrespectful.

The main element of the government's attempt to cleanse past wounds was the $350 million healing fund that "will be delivered in the broadest possible fashion to all Aboriginal people, including Metis and off-reserve individuals and communities that have been impacted by the residential school system."

Psychologists have told Sage that even people who were not direct victims of physical and sexual abuse have been impacted by the residential school system, yet the apology was extended only to the victims of physical and sexual abuse.

That apparent inconsistency is the first suggestion of the conflict the federal government is experiencing as it seeks to balance what it feels is politically possible with the demands of the recommendations of the royal commission.

Aside from the first step of apologizing and setting up a healing fund, as part of the first phase of the government's plan, Ottawa affirmed the legitimacy of the treaty-based relationship between the Crown and First Nations.

The federal government also issued an invitation to other governments within Canada to work co-operatively in the new partnership. Ottawa also recognized that "Aboriginal people must participate fully in the design and delivery of programs affecting their lives and communities."

The federal government, in Gathering Strength, noted that the royal commission called for sweeping changes to federal institutions, but any indication that changes were coming on the scale recommended by the commissioners was missing. Instead, the government limited its response to agreeing "with the underlying view that policy development and implementation, and the delivery of programs and services" should be revamped.

"We are also open to further discussions on the departmental and institutional arrangements that could improve existing systems," the federal plan stated.

In an announcement made jointly by National Chief Phil Fontaine and Indian Affairs Minister Stewart in Winnipeg on Jan. 13, the parties announced which of the proposals in Gathering Strength they would tackle first.

They have committed to work on establishing joint federal-First Nations initiatives to create a formal set of rules governing the way First Nations interact with the federal government, joint federal-First Nations measures to preserve and protect Aboriginal languages, heritage and cultures, and joint federal-First Nations action to educate the Canadian public about Aboriginal issues.

Strengthening governance

Minister Stewart and Chief Fontaine also announced several joint initiatives to strengthen the government-to-government relationship between First Nations and Ottawa.

They include work to establish a formal method for conducting intergovernmental relations that spells out where First Nations jurisdiction ends and federal jurisdiction begins. Also in the planning stage is a governance transition centre, operated at arm's length from the federal authorities, where First Nations officials can develop orimprove on the skills required to govern.

An independent claims body will be developed and government and First Nations will work as equal partners. The comprehensive claims process will be reviewed with First Nations involved in the review as equal partners, Stewart said.

First Nations will also be allowed to participate in the development of a strategy to deal with lands and resource issues.

New Fiscal Relationship

"New fiscal relationships will allow First Nations governments to exercise increased autonomy and greater self-reliance through expanded new transfer arrangements, First Nations fiscal authority, resource revenue-sharing and incentives for enhancing First Nations own source revenue capacity," the joint AFN-federal news release read.

A government-to-government transfer system, similar in some ways to the system currently in place between Ottawa and the provinces, is planned. New First Nation tax jurisdictions will be negotiated with incentives from Ottawa for First Nations that find ways to generate their own revenue.

Ottawa also wants to help First Nations become more accountable to their membership.

Supporting

The federal government said it wants to work with First Nations to break the cycle of poverty that afflicts many First Nations people and communities.

Initiatives announced in Winnipeg by Stewart and Fontaine are as vague as proposals in other areas. The two leaders pledge to look at ways to remove impediments and increase economic activity on reserve. A new First Nations Social Assistance program will reform the on-reserve welfare system in an attempt to cut welfare costs and increase employment.

New programs and services for Aboriginal children and youth will be explored and health concerns such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS, which afflict the Aboriginal population more than the Canadian norm, will receive special attention.