Governance centre set for summer opening

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Herb George is out of politics now and into governance.

The former Assembly of First Nations British Columbia vice chief who retired from politics late in 2003 is working to establish the First Nations Governance Centre.

"It will be designed to assist in the further development of our day-to-day government operations, and it will support us as we seek to implement the inherent rights of self-government," George wrote in a discussion paper that has been used during the consultation sessions.

He sees a central clearing house with a wide range of expertise in four major areas: assisting in the improvement of community government services, professional development of Aboriginal leaders and bureaucrats that will allow better governance structures to be created and that will lead to better accountability and transparency, a place for academics to do research on Aboriginal legal and political matters, and a valuable tool for educating the general Canadian public and media about Aboriginal issues.

Taking advantage of the centre's services will be optional.

"The centre is not going to force itself on anybody," George said. "We're not looking for permission to do it. I wasn't appointed by anybody... I just got the government to agree that this is important."

George has been travelling the country consulting with First Nation people since March. The final recommended business plan will be presented to the minister of Indian Affairs in late June. After that George said he expects negotiations on the final details will take from two to six weeks. Once the final agreement is hammered out, a board will be struck and the centre could be open as early as this summer.

"The commitment has been made for a national office in Ottawa and four satellite offices around the country," he said. "And Treasury Board approval has already been had. The commitment is for 10 years."

Sources say $5 million was set aside for the centre in connection with a commitment in the federal budget speech and an additional $7- or 8 million will be sought from other government sources.

"It's hard to name a figure because it's all going to be the subject of negotiations, but I figure it'll take $5 million to start and considerably more beyond that afterwards," George said.

The members of the advisory committee and the Elders advisory council spans Aboriginal groups of varying political stripes.

Advisory committee members are Metis law professor Paul Chartrand, Metis lawyer Larry Chartrand, AFN Atlantic Vice-chief Rick Simon, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Vice-chief Patrick Brazeau, National Aboriginal Women's Association President Pam Paul, Mel Bevan, Beverly Watson, Carol Nadjiwon, Alex Wilson, Konrad Sioui and Mohawk academic Patricia Monture.

The Elders' council members are Verna Kirkness, John Knockwood and Judge Alfred Scow. None of the board members are being paid for their efforts, Monture said.

Monture, a traditional Mohawk woman who walked away from a tenured law professor's position after deciding the Canadian justice system is not designed to serve the interests of her people, now works as an advisor on Aboriginal issues to the dean of the University of Saskatchewan. She said the committee has been able to work together very well so far.

"Everybody seems to share the same dream," she said. "The idea is that the feds can't do this, only we can."

Since former Indian Affairs minister Robert Nault scuttled a previous attempt to start a similar institution, George's critics suggest that anything that is truly progressive will be stifled or killed off by the federal government. Monture disagrees. She said it was not-and will not be-a government institution. She gives credit to George, who spent 11 years teaching public administration at the University of Victoria before turning to politics, for persuading federal officials that there's a need for the centre.

"Herb acted in a self-determining way," she said. He said, 'Don't talk to me about self-determination if you're not going to be self-determining.'"