Make own laws, Mercredi urges

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Assembly of First Nations chief Ovide Mercredi is continuing his referendum-night call for first nations governments to develop their own laws in wake of the Charlottetown accord's collapse.

But senior federal officials are saying the only road now open to achieve self-government is one of long and expensive negotiations.

In the days following the unity deal's sound defeat, Mercredi told chiefs he had no plans to return to constitutional talks and urged leaders to recognize their own law-making authority.

"Rather than waiting for the constitutional process to be available to us again....we have to take measures to protect our jurisdiction. One of those steps is to make laws using customary law and traditional law," he said.

Mercredi defended current efforts by individual bands to sell tax-free cigarettes and set up gambling casinos, saying the right to control trade and commerce did not belong to non-Native society.

The idea of spontaneous self-government, however, is not being recognized by federal officials.

Gordon Shanks, Indian Affairs director general of government relations, said self-government will only be achieved through negotiations with Ottawa.

"You can only be as sovereign as others are willing to recognize. Legitimacy depends on your ability to govern and that is an expensive process," he said.

Meanwhile, Mercredi said he hopes opportunities for constitutional change will arise again in the near future. He called on Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the federal government to send a goodwill signal to the Native community by honoring decades-old treaty commitments.

Mercredi also told the assembly he plans to hold meetings with first nations communities to find why they rejected the Charlottetown accord that would have put

self-government in the constitution.

Chiefs go free