New relations between First Nations and government

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Partnerships will be the key to developing a new relationship between Aboriginal people and the rest of society in the new millennium, according to Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jane Stewart.

Stewart addressed a crowd of Liberal supporters and Aboriginal leaders at a dinner in Prince Albert on May 28, where she pointed to relationships being developed by the Lac La Ronge band, the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and the Woodlands Cree bands as models for the next century.

"[These are] the kinds of partnerships we haven't done historically," Stewart said. "They have to exist to break the welfare cycle and promote self-reliance."

Stewart said the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples allowed her government to realize that it had to start over in its relationship with Aboriginal people. Part of that new relationship involved the Jan. 7 apology for residential school abuse, she said, and the accompanying $350 million healing fund.

Stewart said an arms-length foundation was created in May, made up of residential school victims, professionals and others, to review projects vying for a portion of the fund.

"We anticipate and hope before the end of the year to be funding projects," she said admitting the announcement of the fund angered many abuse victims who were looking for compensation, but noted that's not what the money was intended for.

"We're not rewriting history with the apology. It's not that at all," she said.

Stewart said by taking responsibility for the abuse, the federal government has given many victims the starting place they needed to begin their healing.

Victims will have to go through the court system if they want compensation, she said, and where the government has found itself liable, it has been settling out of court.

But the overall attitude shift of Ottawa toward Aboriginal people and taking responsibility for past deeds is important, said Stewart, noting that playing a part in that change was a honor.

"It was tremendously important for me because I had heard the stories and had been apprised of the impact."

Vice-chief John Dantouze of the Prince Albert Grand Council called the federal government's Gathering Strength policy a start toward a new relationship.

"When she talks about partnership, it has to be on a nation to nation basis," he said. "I think there's progress to be made here."

The $350 million healing fund that came along with the government's apology will only benefit individual bands to the tune of an average of $35,000, noted Dantouze, who spent nine years in the residential school system himself. "It's a step, but it doesn't go far enough."

Stewart said as the millennium approaches, the Gathering Strength policy will set the tone for a whole new relationship between Aboriginal people and the rest of society.

Part of that involves emulating the types of partnership successes being found in Saskatchewan and the Prince Albert area in the rest of Canada.

Among those successes are the partnerships developed by the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and the Lac La Ronge band with local community groups and businesses.

In Prince Albert, Stewart said the city's work with area bands to develop a cultural tourism centre was a step in the right direction, and she praised Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. for the recent announcement of a multi-million dollar partnership with three Woodland Cree bands to create the Wapawekka lumber company.

"Whether you know it or not, I go across the country and talk about you guys," she said.

While in Prince Albert, Stewart met with representatives of the Prince Albert Grand Council and individual bands to hear concerns.

Dantouze said one of the things discussed was what he considers to be the next big challenge facing the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities -- finding a way to share resources.

While he's happy to have a memorandum of understanding with the province and a commitmet from Premier Roy Romanow to meet with laders of the Dene Nation on June 18 in Wollaston Lake, Dantouze said it's important Ottawa be a part of resource sharing.

Stewart addressed the lack of funding for northern communities. Dantouze said it has meant there is not enough room in some schools, housing is in short supply and residents are straining under the high cost of living.