Canadian Classroom: Opposition told to fall in line and follow

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Vice-chief Rick Simon made no secret of his region's support for the financial institutions legislation (Bill C-19) and the Getting Results Agenda put forward by National Chief Phil Fontaine at the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs' gathering in Squamish Nation, B.C. in October.

But the AFN's Nova Scotia/Newfoundland vice-chief went further than that when he spoke to Windspeaker from Halifax on Oct. 16. He attacked those who opposed the national chief's support of C-19, saying that last summer's election decided the issue and the will of the majority should prevail.

"What [Fontaine] stood for, he put in front of the chiefs of Canada and they sanctioned that. [Six Nations Chief] Roberta [Jamieson] did the same thing and she got soundly defeated. To me, it's like sour grapes," Simon said after emerging from a meeting where the Atlantic chiefs had appointed him to his fourth straight term on the AFN executive.

"It's like Roberta and her little band of merry men bouncing all around the country trying to keep a group together that can, in a sense, hold up anything that Phil is trying to do."

Rick Simon repeated a point of view raised by many Fontaine supporters in Squamish.

"It's not up to the chiefs to run from meeting to meeting to defend the status quo or to defend what they supported. And that's what Roberta [Jamieson] and her group is trying to put forward," he said. "It's like my chiefs told me today: 'Rick, we shouldn't have to show up at every meeting to vote to move the agenda forward. The agenda was clear. It was campaigned on. We and the rest of the chiefs in the country support it. So when you go to meetings you're speaking on our behalf.'"

Chiefs who oppose C-19-and who have not yet made up their minds on the Getting Results Agenda-believe using federal legislation to govern First Nation institutions gives the government a foot in the door and will lead to the gradual destruction of the equal, nation-to-nation relationship called for in the treaties. They worry that the government will occupy the top spot in a top-down delegated form of authority where First Nations' governments are less than equal to Canada.

Asked about that concern, Simon once again took aim at the Six Nations' chief. Jamieson has chaired the implementation committee that co-ordinated the AFN's fight against the federal government's suite of legislation on First Nations' governance. It was a group that was born out of frustration with the AFN executive, members of which were actively supporting Bill C-19, a part of the suite of legislation, and ignoring the direction of the grassroots chiefs to oppose it.

"You should tell Roberta to clean up her own backyard," said Simon, alluding to complaints from some Six Nations members about the way Jamieson's forcing changes to how her band administration operates. "And I want you to say that because here she is going on against a top-down approach and that's what she's running in her own community."

Simon believes the chiefs at the special confederacy who defeated a resolution supporting C-19 and who resisted the attempt by the AFN executive to push for the quick approval of the Getting Results agenda should support the national chief and stop causing disunity.

"I'll tell you, they're all in glee thinking that they accomplished something. As far as myself goes, as a member of the national executive, they're irrelevant, literally, totally. I took the national chief's agenda that he campaigned and got elected on and I took it before my chiefs today and that was a part of my election platform. I said, 'Look, this is what's on paper. I need your support. This is what we're trying to accomplish. It has to move forward and it has to come from the region because nationally, Roberta Jamieson is still trying to hijack the agenda for her own selfish reasons. All she's doing is playing that reserve politics. When the election's over, people in the community that got beat can't accept it an she's taken that concept to the national stage. And to me that looks cheap," Simon said. "It demeans her in my eyes. Same with [Union of British Columbia Indian Chief president] Stewart Phillip."

Phillip has been another key figure in the implementation committee.

Simon believes Fontaine has a mandate to push forward, despite the delay at the special assembly. The chiefs put off the vote on the Getting Results agenda until December or January.

"There was nothing lost there but time. They're not going to be able to tell me as a vice-chief, I can't do this, I can't so that. I'm elected in the region and that region supports the national chief and a strong, effective national organization, not a scattered organization like they're trying to create," Simon said, adding that delegated authority is a fact of life for First Nations at the present time.

"Everything on the table at this present time is delegated authority. There's nothing that's outside of delegated authority. All of the land claims that have gone on, all of the self-government agreements in the Yukon, everything under the [British Columbia Treaty Commission], Nisga'a, James Bay, that's all delegated authority," he said. "But as far as looking at who speaks for the people, obviously there's a process in place, which is chiefs that are elected in their communities under a system. That system happens to be the Indian Act at this present time. Roberta Jamieson is under that same act and here she is trying to say she's sovereign? I'd be questioning that. If she's trying to say it's sovereignty or bust, tell her to step down as an Indian Act chief. If they're saying we're taking a step backwards because it's delegated authority, I would challenge them to show me a process in Canada within the First Nations that's not delegated authority."

Chiefs opposed to the Fontaine initiative say the national chief is too cozy with government and risks giving away Aboriginal and treaty rights. Simon said he supports thenational chief's approach and it's the Atlantic region that's doing the most to defend, protect and even expand those rights.

"If anyone is trying to move beyond delegated authority and outside of the comprehensive claims policy that the federal government has on the table, it's down here in the Atlantic. We're talking about our pre-Confederation treaties. We want to look at them to see what they mean in a modern-day context and how we can put them into effect to our benefit. The government has engaged in a process that is not loan funding, which is not part of the comprehensive claims policy. It's not the comprehensive claims policy as we know it. Our chiefs were adamant they're not going to engage in any discussion surrounding treaties under the comprehensive claims policy. So who's trying to go outside the comprehensive claims policy? It's the Atlantic that's breaking ground."

Chief Jamieson was informed of Simon's comments and given an opportunity to respond. A source close to the chief said she would not respond "at this time" and would "take the high road" and not engage in a bitter debate in the press.

Chief Phillip told Windspeaker that Vice-chief Simon has a reputation among the chiefs as a "volatile" politician who "does Phil more harm than good at times."

"The national chief and his supporters have put forward this notion that they won a huge, sweeping landslide. That is simply not the case," he said. "The AFN charter requires 60 per cent for election. Phil Fontaine achieved 61 per cent, barely one per cent over the minimum. So to say there was this huge, sweeping, historical landslide, it's simply not that."

Phillip said that what Fontaine won in July was "the right and responsibility to work with the chiefs for the next three years."

He said Simon was wrong to maintain that he had his mandate from his region that must be followed while other regional groups with their own mandates must fall in line.

"It's hypocritical of Vice-chief Simon to expet chiefs across the country to respond to the mandate of the Atlantic chiefs and at the same time not respect the mandate of the chiefs from across the country. Respect is a two-way street," he said.

He pointed out that Jamieson had promised in her concession speech that she would continue to express her views. He said many chiefs were concerned that they were given very short notice of the Squamish meeting and of the Getting Results agenda. He pointed out that the executive called and organized the meeting and controlled the agenda and still got beat on the resolution, a sign, he added, that there was no sour grapes involved, just a simple expression of the political will of the chiefs in assembly.

"It's the first time we've had a free and open debate on C-19 and 63 per cent of the assembly voted against a resolution the executive authored," he said.

Phillip said he was "absolutely astounded that [Simon] would say the chiefs were irrelevant."

He said none of the chiefs had the mandate from their councils or communities to approve a $1.7 billion initiative, nor had they had the opportunity to assess the plan.

"Clearly it wasn't a case of Roberta or myself simply trying to tear down anything the national chief was trying to present," he said.