Bellegarde promises forceful diplomacy in dealing with feds

Not even two weeks after Perry Bellegarde was elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Ottawa passed Bill C-428, the Indian Act Amendment and Replacement Act, legislation strongly opposed by First Nations.

“The federal government is unnecessarily adversarial,” said Bellegarde. “They’ve moved beyond free, prior and informed consent. They don’t respect the duty to consult and accommodate. They pass legislation that impacts on our rights and this is just another example.”

In a prepared statement, Bernard Valcourt, minister of Aboriginal Affairs Canada, said, “This is consistent with our government’s approach of taking incremental, concrete steps to create the conditions for healthier and more self-sufficient First Nation communities.”

The new legislation was presented as a Private Members Bill by Rob Clarke, MP for DesnethÈ–Missinippi–Churchill River,

In a report presented by AFN BC Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, it was made clear that Bill C-428 was “well-intentioned but … flawed” and not the correct means to tackle the outdated Indian Act.

“The good news is, however, First Nations do have solutions and are making progress in their efforts to move away from the Indian Act – despite progress being still far too slow.† We need to continue developing our solutions,” said Wilson-Raybould. “Additional mechanisms are needed that support our nations at their option to move beyond the Indian Act when they are ready, willing and able.”

Bellegarde said the federal government, however, is not listening. And the result of that practice last year was $106 million in taxpayers’ money being spent on lawyers as Ottawa fought legal battles against First Nations.

“That’s why I say it’s unnecessarily confrontational. If we are to make any headway in this country, it shouldn’t be adversarial like that. We’ve got to get to the table and we’ve always got to reach out because, the point I make is this, the status quo is not acceptable,” said Bellegarde.

He points to the United Nations human development index for quality of life. At one point Canada was ranked as sixth, but at the same time, those living on First Nations were ranked at 63.

“It’s the gap that exists,” said Bellegarde. “And that’s the issue that’s got to be looked at. And that’s what has to be addressed because there’s a high social cost to that. And there’s a high cost to not respecting and recognizing treaty rights, there’s a high cost to not respecting and recognizing Aboriginal rights and title, there’s a high cost to not embracing new concepts like resource revenue sharing, and that’s what we need to keep working on and rebuild this relationship that’s unnecessarily confrontational into one that’s respectful of each other’s rights and each other’s jurisdiction.”

But if a recent interview conducted by Maclean’s magazine with Valcourt is any indication, the man who has held the Aboriginal portfolio since early 2013, isn’t budging. Despite a renewed call by Bellegarde for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, Valcourt is remaining adamantly opposed. He is also standing firmly behind the First Nations Financial Transparency Act – another piece of legislation opposed by First Nations due to lack of consultation – and has threatened sanctions against First Nations who have not yet posted online their audited statements.

Bellegarde said he will continue to push the government on the issues prioritized by the AFN in a “very diplomatic, forceful way. A way that fits with our rights. We’ll never jeopardize or break away from inherent rights or treaty rights or the teaching that our Elders have bestowed to us, we’ll never back away from those and government needs to get this.”

Bellegarde promises to stick by the three-prong approach he touted while running for the position of national chief: legal strategy, political strategy, and political activism.

“We’ve got to continue to move towards First Nations being recognized not as a third order of government in Canada, but as a first order of government, where our laws can be recognized as well,” said Bellegarde. “Canada continues to portray this myth that it was founded on two founding nations, French and English, and in a respectful way, we’ve always challenged that as Indigenous nations.”