First Nations can't meet Corbiere decision deadline

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The Assembly of First Nations is saying its members can't meet the Supreme Court of Canada's Nov. 20 deadline to accommodate off-reserve residents in band elections.

Canada's court of last resort struck down a section of the Indian Act in the Corbiere case last year. The court delayed the date when the decision would take effect for 18 months in order to give the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and First Nations' councils time to come up with a non-discriminatory means of including off-reserve members in band politics.

On Sept. 27, the AFN issued a press release saying the government's new regulations, published Sept. 2, will expose First Nations to "lawsuits and potential liabilities as a result of the federal government's flawed handling of this matter."

"First Nations have not been given adequate information or resources to implement the new election regimes that will be in force after Nov. 20," Matthew Coon Come, the national chief, said. "We are suggesting that First Nations turn the problem back to its originator - the federal government."

Dwight Dorey, president of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the national organization that represents off-reserve residents, doesn't have much sympathy for the chiefs on this issue.

"My position is that the time allowed by the courts was enough," he told Windspeaker. "The AFN and Indian Affairs just left it too long. I'm adamantly opposed to any delay in implementing Corbiere."

Several court cases are being, have been or soon will be fought over the rights of off-reserve members. In Alberta especially, oil-rich bands are not anxious to have their political control threatened by the inclusion of off-reserve members. Some First Nation political observers see trouble on the horizon for Coon Come since he has strong support in Alberta.

The AFN press release said the organization "welcomes the concept of voting rights extending beyond reserve boundaries. This is consistent with the mobility rights of First Nations' citizens and the idea that First Nation governments represent all their citizens. This strongly held principle is a fundamental part of National Chief Coon Come's platform, the First Nations' Peoples Agenda."

While the AFN claims the government has not provided enough money and expertise to clean up the Indian Act and allow First Nations to deal with the change in the law, Dorey said the government did provide consultation dollars.

He sees the effort to delay the implementation of Corbiere to be a sign that First Nations are resisting the court decision.

"There's been a significant increase of the number of bands that have come up with custom election codes," he said. "That course of action has led to the exclusion of off-reserve members."