Irwin storms out of chief's meeting

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Self-government negotiations between Ottawa and Alberta chiefs took a turn for the worse this month.

Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin stormed out of a meeting with the chiefs of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council Feb. 20 after council members presented their own model for self-government.

"He pointed at the lawyer Catherine (Twinn) and said, 'I'm not afraid of you'," said council Grand Chief Robert Horseman. "We proposed a self-government model that was worked on by the Sawridge Band.... and he just basically wouldn't look at it."

The council has spent more than seven years and countless band dollars to develop the Sawridge Self -Government Act, said Sawridge Chief Walter Twinn.

"It's an insult to the Parliament of Canada when a minister just walks out."

Self-government must be based on territory, not race, he added. The Sawridge's model's municipal-style approach to self-government was designed from precedents set out by the Sechelt Act, the Cree-Neskaopi Act and the Indian Act to give the band control over their own territory.

"And that's what we're saying. We have to have a government for our reserves."

Irwin refused to comment on the actual incident, saying he would prefer to remain silent until a successful negotiation is reached.

"I'm not saying if I walked, or ran or trotted. I'm saying we had a meeting. They can say what they want about the meeting...Unless we reach success, then I'll come up and share the successes with you."

The minister insisted he did not slight the council, only their proposal, which was a process that did not recognize the inherent right to self-government.

"This is the Sawridge legislation that is almost revisiting the Constitution. We made this clear. We are not going into the big processes like Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord. We are not looking at that type of legislation in the House.

But Irwin told the Commons during question period the next day that he left the meeting because he did not like the council's attitude.

The Sawridge Band is one of the richest in the country, he said in reply to a question from Val Meredith, the Reform MP for Surrey White Rock-South Langley.

"And that band is saying to its people, 'We will not share'. That's not the way this government or Canadians should operate."

Ottawa is chiefly concerned with dissolving the Indian Act and then sorting out changes in jurisdiction over issues like education, housing, justice with the provinces, Irwin said.

"I'm not sure of the exact type of self-government that they want," he said. "I'm saying that the inherent right of self-government exists."

Most chiefs support the non-constitutional recognition of the inherent right, he said.

But the council presented the act to Irwin to save time and taxpayers' money and give Ottawa a self-government model that has already been designed and approved, said Catherine Twinn. The act was ratified by the Mulroney Cabinet in 1991, but has yet to be drafted or go before the House of Commons.

"But Minister Irwin refused to accept it or consider it."

Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi, who also met with Irwin that morning, said he could not comment on the minister's walk-out because he was not at that meeting.

But he did try to downplay the incident, saying it was not as serious as it appeared.

Native leaders often get up and walk out on negotiations with government officials, he said.

"If this can happen to us, we have to understand that it can happen on the other side, too."

Many of the chiefs' organizations, including the Lesser Slave Lake council, have requested further meetings with the minister within the next two months. No new meeting dates have been set.