Joint Initiative alive and well

Page 5

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to Jeff Bear's "op-ed" piece "Kill the Sacred Cow" which appeared in the June edition of Windspeaker.

The article contained a number of inaccurate and false statements concerning the AFN/INAC Joint Initiative for Policy Development, the staff that work on that initiative and the Assembly of First Nations in general. As acting director for the Joint Initiative I will confine my comments to the Joint Initiative.

We at the AFN are open to criticism, but we feel your editorials should be based on informed opinion. Our first response was to ask the editor who had fact-checked the editorial. We were told that no one had.

We respect your right to allow columnists to state their opinions without editorial interference, but when those opinions present inaccurate information as "fact" to bolster that opinion, then there is an editorial duty to ensure those "facts" are correct. That did not happen in this case and seriously undermines the credibility of the column.

The errors range from the relatively minor but easily verifiable (for example, the former ADM at Indian Affairs is Mr. Bob Watts, not "Mike" Watts as stated in the column) to more troublesome allegations and inaccuracies.

Mr. Bear alleges that following our national gathering last June, Roger Jones (then the AFN's director for the Joint Initiative) was "...indicating that he had enough background to draft proposed changes to the Indian Act."

Roger Jones never said any such thing and is prepared to put that in writing.

The entire idea is erroneous as the Joint Initiative does not have and has never had a mandate to engage in legislative change of any kind. The mandate is confined to policy and operational development within the current framework. Chiefs in Assembly were quite clear that the Joint Initiative was not to embark on legislative change of any kind.

Mr. Jones is, as much or more than anyone else in the country, fully aware of the mandate given by chiefs to the Joint Initiative and would not make statements contradicting the mandate.

This statement is all the more irresponsible because Mr. Bear knows-or should know-the mandate of the initiative.

Mr. Bear did contract work to promote and raise awareness of the Joint Initiative. He produced videos that were used at our National Gathering and were quite well-received.

At the time, while under contract, Mr. Bear seemed quite positive about the work of the initiative and keen to promote it. We are sorry to see he has lost his enthusiasm.

Mr. Bear is also misinformed or unaware about the status of the Joint Initiative. He states: "...a month later the AFN elected a new leader. All it took was one AFN election to kill the momentum."

Again, a simple call to our office would have informed you that the Joint Initiative is alive and well. The initiative has continued its work as mandated by First Nations. Resources are in place to continue our work through the next fiscal year. We have not been stopped or put on hold as a result of the minister's Governance Act initiative, if that is the implication.

We do not know the source of this misinformation. Neither Mr. Bear nor Windspeaker contacted our offices.

A document pulling together all of the ideas and information as a result of our dialogue was submitted at the AFN's Annual General Assembly this past July. In addition, we included summary plans for each subject area that can be used by First Nations seeking change. All of this is, of course, at the discretion of First Nations. The action plans can be used-or not-as they see fit.

The Joint Initiative is not and never has been about legislative change or, for that matter, even about self-government. It is about finding ways to make policies and operations more effective and efficient so that they become vehicles for change instead of impediments to change. First Nations have directed the process from day one and will continue to do so.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Bea, for whatever reason, has decided he will no longer support the initiative as he once did. In the end, he offers no constructive comments or suggestions to address his concerns. His plan for dealing with First Nations long-standing priorities and issues: "Look a leader in the eye and ask, Is the Indian Act our sacred cow?" Very good, but not exactly RCAP.

Windspeaker is recognized across the country as a quality publication, a forum for reliable and responsible journalism. We are dismayed to see you compromise editorial integrity with ill-informed, misleading "commentary".

We would appreciate the opportunity to confirm or deny statements of "fact" in the future as we feel it is only fair. I can ensure you my full and timely cooperation on any requests regarding the Joint Initiative.

Jennifer Brennan

acting director, Joint Initiative for Policy Development (LTS)

Assembly of First Nations