Chiefs favor "tinkering" with act-Dorey

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Dwight Dorey, the chief and president of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), wants to introduce some new ideas to the First Nations governance debate.

"The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples' recommendations envisioned reducing the number of First Nations from 633 to 70 or 80 across the country," he said. "The 55 or so Mi'kmaq bands in Eastern Canada are not First Nations. There's only one First Nation and that is the Mi'kmaq Nation. Until the chiefs and people realize that, we're going to keep having these problems."

Dorey said he is advocating a return to traditional tribal governing entities, the governing bodies the original Indian Act set out to break up and destroy in the name of assimilation by imposing the band council system. But he believes the government must be willing to consider opting back in to tribal governance if Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's decision to consult Native people is to be taken seriously.

"We don't have any assurances," he said. "But the fact we're in this process and we have this [consultation funding] agreement indicates to me the minister is willing to at least listen to us."

The CAP national chief-the organization is phasing out mainstream titles like 'president' and 'vice-president' in favor of more culturally appropriate titles-was in Edmonton lobbying the Liberal Party of Canada's national caucus on Aug. 23 when he met with Windspeaker.

The lobby group that speaks for non-status and off-reserve First Nations residents and some Metis people had signed an agreement to accept $985,000 in governance consultation funding from the Department of Indian Affairs in late June. Dorey said the organization will send most of the money out to its regional organizations. They will host local consultation sessions. A national forum on governance will be held in conjunction with CAP's two-day annual general meeting Oct. 19 and 20 in Aylmer, Que.

Many of the most pressing issues facing First Nations people occur off reserve. Statistics Canada numbers for 1996, the most recent data available, show that 73 per cent of the people of Aboriginal ancestry in Canada do not live on reserve. Dorey expects his membership will use the consultation sessions to tell the minister that he has to reverse government policies towards off reserve people in any legislation that can legitimately be said to reflect the needs of grassroots people. One policy the government has adamantly clung to-the idea that the department is responsible only for status Indians living on reserve-will definitely have to go, he said.

Nault has said repeatedly he has no hidden agenda, that he is only interested in improving life for First Nations people by strengthening their governance structures. First Nations leaders have stated they doubt that claim. They say they disagree with the government on so many fundamental points they can't see how the government can be trusted to do anything that won't do irreparable harm to Aboriginal and treaty rights. Nault counters by saying the chiefs have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come has accused the minister of "tinkering" with the Indian Act and dealing only with the federal government's needs without trying to address the issues that matter most to Native people.

Dorey is willing to give the minister a chance to prove he is sincere.

"I believe from meetings I've had with him that he has a different approach and it is results oriented," he said.

When he accepted the money from the government, Dorey was aware First Nations chiefs were boycotting the consultations. Since so many of the issues facing the people he represents tend to involve conflict with the positions of chiefs and other on-reserve officials, Dorey wasn't too worried that he was pulling in a different direction than the chiefs.

'I didn't see it as a problem. I saw it as an opportunity. It's not like I have a strong, cozy workin relationship with the AFN," he said. "I did receive a letter from Matthew Coon Come when he learned we were entering into consultations. He wanted to meet and discuss the matter. But after Halifax, things changed and I haven't heard back from him."

At the AFN's Halifax meeting in mid-July, the chiefs changed their approach, deciding to set terms under which they would agree to participate in the consultations. Meetings between Indian Affairs and the AFN have occurred. The minister agreed to suspend all consultation sessions on First Nations' territories while the two sides hammer out an arrangement that will allow First Nations to participate. Sources in Ottawa say information about that arrangement will not be made public until the first week of September at the earliest, after Windspeaker deadline.

Dorey believes the chiefs will try to limit the scope of any possible changes to the Indian Act.

"They like the system," he said. "The Indian chiefs and councillors like the system. They want minor changes and that's it. That's all the chiefs want, a little bit of tinkering and that's it. I want to send a clear message to chiefs and councils at the band level. If you're serious about self-government, take a look at nationhood, not this band council thing."

The minister has described the First Nations governance act as an interim measure to deal with governance deficiencies in the Indian Act while First Nations complete self-government agreements with the Crown. Windspeaker asked Dorey if it makes sense to interpret the minister's decision to include the off-reserve organization in the consultations as a sign that off-reserve people might one day negotiate a self-government agreement. He said he believes a true nation-based government would claim jurisdiction over- and take responsibility for-its off-reserve members in a way that band councils have so far failed to do. It's an issue he dealt with in his 1993 master's thesis (he holds a master's degree in Canadian stdies from Carleton University).

"The manifestation of self-government in terms of services provided will have to be different for (Mi'kmaq Nation) members living in urban areas than for those living in homogenous, relatively small Mi'kmaq reserves and settlements," he wrote. "What is under active study in this regard is the possibility of entering into agreements with municipalities and provinces to share responsibility for providing health, welfare, education and other vital services to those Mi'kmaq living in cities and towns."

Dorey, a former band councillor on his home territory, the Millbrook First Nation near Truro, N.S., is a veteran off-reserve activist. He believes the chiefs will fight change to the present system simply because they could lose power and influence. But that doesn't lead him to conclude that all First Nations leaders are corrupt , a conclusion many mainstream commentators have reached.

"I think that's been blown way out of proportion," he said. "Sure, there are problems. But show me a place that doesn't have problems."

He believes First Nations have abandoned their off-reserve members because the funding levels are so low they're forced to make unpleasant choices. He hopes off-reserve residents will finally be heard by First Nations leaders and government officials during the consultation process and points to the fact that little attention has been focused on off-reserve residents so far.

"I haven't heard of any band calling any meetings to discuss this with off-reserve people," he said.