Chief, minister spar over throne speech

Page 3

As you could have predicted, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come and Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault had widely varying views on the importance of the speech from the throne delivered by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson on Sept. 30.

Coon Come saw it as an unambitious re-hash of previous promises.

"We've all heard this before," he said. "On the one hand, we have a Prime Minister who was a minister of Indian Affairs. He's made statements recognizing the Third World conditions of our people. He is a parent and has adopted a First Nations person as a son. He has made statements several times in previous throne speeches about dealing with Aboriginal issues. At the same time, I think the bureaucrats got the upper hand on this one."

"This is the most active agenda of the Department of Indian Affairs and a government in a very long time," Nault said.

The minister and the national chief each scheduled a question and answer session with the Aboriginal press immediately after the speech. Nault spent about 20 minutes on the line on Oct. 1; Coon Come, in his first such press conference in almost two years, talked to reporters for almost an hour the next day.

Coon Come was critical of the central themes of the speech, the approach fundamentally flawed.

"He had an opportunity to be a visionary and I think he missed the boat. He's talking about closing the gap, but not really dealing with the cost of the gap-nothing innovative," Coon Come said.

"Dealing with the cost of the gap, I thought would have [meant] referring to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The $55 million of taxpayers money that was spent and the five years of research, 400 recommendations, and there's not one reference to a recommendation in the throne speech."

The Governor General repeatedly used the phrase "closing the gap in life" when referring to the government's Aboriginal agenda, which was a major part of the throne speech. Coon Come countered by saying, "the initiatives of the government will fail if they are seen as done for us. The initiatives of the government will succeed if they are creative and are done with us. Throughout this speech you hear 'work with' about 21 times. But they're always talking about 'with their own institutions.'"

Windspeaker asked the minister whether "closing the gap" meant that the government would move toward First Nations positions or that First Nations were expected to move closer to the government's position?

Rather than deal with that question, he criticized Coon Come for not endorsing the government's plan.

"The national chief is not being very consistent because, if you recall in a number of speeches in the last few years, the biggest criticism of the government is that we weren't moving on what Mr. Coon Come portrayed as the bread and butter issues," the minister said.

"Now that we have moved on them and are moving towards improving the delivery of programs and services in order to improve the quality of life for First Nations people-whether it's economic development, social, infrastructure, improving education or the tools of modern governance that everyone takes for granted in other governments-all I can say is I'm shocked and surprised that people's memories are so short because that's what was requested of us. I'm of the view that we're delivering on the agenda, in some areas of course, that were put to us by First Nations citizens and First Nations leaders over the last number of years."

Coon Come repeated his belief that the gap can only be closed by redistributing lands and resources and allowing Indigenous peoples a share of the wealth harvested from their traditional territories. He said the greatest root problem facing First Nations was the lack of control they have of their own destinies.

"The government is still trying to tell us what is good for us. They had an opportunity to think outside of the box. There exists in our communities urgent neds that require a comprehensive strategy with three elements: long-term investment, partnerships and First Nations control of our own lives. All the social programs, although we welcome them, if they are done without First Nations control they will not solve the suicides," he said.

The minister made no secret of the fact that he believes the government of Canada has the ultimate authority, that First Nations do not have equal, government-to-government, standing with Canada. He dismissed the AFN, not for the first time, as a mere lobby group.

"I am very committed to moving forward differently than other ministers in the past simply because I will not be stopped by certain groups of individuals who do not want to move away from the status quo. The status quo has not served First Nations very well. And at the rate we're going we will have serious issues in this country if we don't start to make progressive change," he said. "I think what the leadership-Matthew Coon Come-is telling you is that the government should not be allowed to move unless he gives us his permission. Well, I can assure you that won't happen because the government of Canada has a moral and legal obligation to deliver programs and services and improve the quality of life for First Nation people.

"If I can put it to you another way, First Nations people and First Nations leaders are driving this agenda. We have been in contact and are working with them right across the country. We just don't think a lobby group like the AFN should be the leader in developing policy and programs. That should be done by the communities themselves," he said.

Coon Come said the minister was in error in not recognizing the AFN as a collection of duly-represented leaders with legitimate political authority.

"This is again part of the [public relations] by Minister Nault to try to label our national organization as a lobby group when in fact we are part of the institutions of Canada," he said. "The fact that we are mntioned as Aboriginal peoples in the Constitution gives us a special place, which the government of Canada and especially this minister does not recognize. I don't care what he says. In this country, Aboriginal peoples are not just another interest group."

Nault said he had identified how much money will be required to fulfill the commitments of the throne speech, but he wouldn't disclose that information.

"I can't tell you what the numbers are today because that's what budgets are for. But I can assure you that it's our intention to meet our commitments," he said.