Letter to the Editor: CAP will be there

Dear Editor:

Your recent editorial ("Getting it right" Page 5, November 2005 edition) on the attempts currently underway towards renewal of the Assembly of First Nations, cut to the heart of the matter in respect of the legitimacy of national Aboriginal organizations.

In a perfect world in which Aboriginal self-government flourished, and where Aboriginal and treaty rights were understood, revered and respected, there would be no need for national Aboriginal organizations of any kind. Sadly, this is not the case, and thus, organizations such as CAP, the AFN, the ITK, NWAC and the MNC must each continue their respective traditions of advocacy, service and support to their constituents.

In the case of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, this means off-reserve and non-status Indians, and Métis across Canada, regardless of Indian status or where they live.

It is indicative of the extent of misinformed supposition within the AFN-which at present is threatening the very unity of the Assembly of First Nations-that some in the AFN ranks choose to believe that CAP's legitimacy is merely imagined.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is a nationally incorporated umbrella organization that represents the interests, nationally, of its provincial and territorial affiliate organizations across Canada. In effect, CAP's members are its affiliate organizations. Each affiliated organization (PTO) is a provincially or territorially incorporated organization that has legally associated itself with CAP at various times since 1971. The size and numbers of the affiliate administration vary widely with the size of the province and numbers of members. Each of these regions or zones has its own board or council elected by their respective local associations. Assembly delegates selected by each organization elect the provincial president or chief by assembly of the PTO affiliate.

The CAP is a grassroots organization, representative of literally hundreds of local community organizations right across the country, from Metis locals in Labrador to First Nation locals throughout B.C.

CAP's annual general assembly is the body that sets the general policy of the organization and, through its motions and resolutions, determines much of the activity of CAP for the next year.
The national assembly consists of the national executive, and 16 delegates from each affiliate organization-most often each delegation includes the affiliate's executive officers, its board of directors or council, and community elected members for a total number of 16.

In election years, all of the delegates vote by secret ballot for a national chief and a vice-chief for a three-year term. Every delegate is entitled to bring forward motions and resolutions for a vote of the assembly. Our delegates' process is not unlike those of major national political parties. These measures are put in place to ensure that the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples remains effective, accountable and reflective of the will of its constituent members across the country.

Until others in the First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities who seek to speak for the Forgotten Peoples put aside their own partisan-based wrangling and commit to building critical mass across jurisdictions and political affiliations, CAP will be there doing our utmost to make sure that all of Canada's Aboriginal peoples have the opportunity to lay claim to their share in this country's prosperity and success as we have been doing for the past 34 years.