Feds said to be ignoring protocol

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An 85-year-old retired rancher who, for many years, has been urging the prime minister and the governor general to officially apologize to Aboriginal people in Canada, is not impressed with Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Jane Stewart's latest activities.

Don Fraser was exposed to Aboriginal culture from a very young age. He even claims a little Aboriginal blood himself, saying some of his "mother's people" were Aboriginal. He has been on a letter-writing campaign, trying to make the federal authorities realize that it was government policy which created such assimilation measures as the residential schools and it should be the federal government and the Crown it represents which should make the apology - not the Indian Affairs minister.

"The proper protocol would be the governor general first, then the prime minister, then the Indian Affairs minister," said Fraser. "Observing the proper protocol is important to the people who hold these offices. Until that is done, this smear still holds. Aboriginal people are deeply offended by it and that's quite understandable. The Aboriginal community has been treated rather shabbily."

When Fraser discovered that Stewart visited Edmonton on April 2 to present a framed copy of her government's apology to Aboriginal people to a museum, the soft-spoken, courtly gentleman's tone turned harsh.

"That is nothing," he said. "And it shouldn't be done. It is furthering the insult to Aboriginal people - you can tell her that from me."

In the three months since the government's Jan. 7 apology to victims of sexual and physical abuse in Indian residential schools, critics have had time to digest the form and content of the announcement. Some say the government's promise to set aside a $350 million healing fund for residential school victims can be seen as an attempt to introduce mitigating factors in any future court award of damages. Lawyers say the Crown, should it lose a civil suit brought by victims of the residential school system, can point to the healing fund as proof that the Crown has attempted to lessen the harm created by the system. That could mean a net savings in damage awards that is far in excess of $350 million.

Reform Party Indian Affairs critic Mike Scott believes that's possible.

"We are cynical enough now to believe there are forces at work, decisions taken by government, that go beyond moral principles and a sense of right and wrong into the area of limiting legal liability," he said.

Fraser focuses more on who made or didn't make the announcement. He believes the fact that the message didn't come from the very highest levels of Canada's governing institutions is an indication that the government is less than sincere in its apology.

Minister Stewart insists it's a genuine apology. When asked by Windspeaker if she was aware that many Aboriginal people would be offended by the presentation of the Statement of Reconciliation to a museum because they see it as an attempt to enshrine the government's actions as history, as a completed process, the minister said, "Yes."

She attempted to assure people that the process of dealing with the legacy of past government actions is far from over.

"This is just the beginning," she said. "We view the Statement of Reconciliation as a new beginning, as a first step. There's work going on now. Ralph Goodale [the Métis Interlocutor] is building a plan of action for Métis issues. There's work being done on an Inuit-specific response. It's all part of the federal government's broad response. We realize different Aboriginal groups have different needs and concerns and we're working on specific action plans based on the four broad principles of Gathering Strength."

Fraser's not satisfied with that answer. He has recently received an answer to one of his letters from Progressive Conservative Indian Affairs critic Gerald Keddy. The MP joined Fraser in urging Prime Minister Jean Chretien to add "an apology from a highr level." The prime minister's office acknowledged receipt of the letters, but did not offer any indication that Chretien is considering the issue.