Meadow Lake negotiations model for self government

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Two newly signed agreements in principle (AIP) negotiated between Meadow Lake Tribal Council in northwestern Saskatchewan and the federal and provincial governments are examples of the direction Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault wants to take Native nations with the development of a new First Nations governance act.

"We can't wait until everyone gets into a separate process to get themselves out from under an act that really cannot deal with the issues that we want to deal with today, which is a modern governance structure, ability to create an economy, ability to make decisions that will have long term effects, Nault said following the signing of the AIPs on Jan. 22.

"We presently do most of our work through the Indian Act - the majority of it - and it's not a very effective way. And I'm quite amazed that the Meadow Lake Tribal Council was this successful using the present day Indian Act, when in fact it is basically trying to do business with both hands tied behind your back," he said.

The agreements, a decade in the making, set out the framework for the three parties, a basis for negotiations toward self government for the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and the nine First Nations it represents.

The comprehensive agreement-in-principle will allow for negotiation on such issues as governance, jurisdiction, application of laws, fiscal relationship and financial arrangements, intergovernmental relations and dispute resolution, as well as outlining the requirements for approval of a Final Agreement once it is reached. The tripartite agreement-in-principle outlines some of the elements that will be recognized by Saskatchewan when the comprehensive and tripartite final agreements are reached.

Both documents also outline the current state of negotiations, and outline which areas will require little in terms of further negotiations, and which require additional and more detailed negotiations.

"The process is to give jurisdiction in certain areas which - it runs concurrent with federal and provincial jurisdiction, within the constitutional family that we are accustomed to, obviously, where things like the Charter will apply, the Criminal Code will apply - but at the same time it will be a modern governance structure that will allow people to make those kinds of decisions that they should make rightfully on their own, and not have the Department of Indian Affairs, or any other government, tell them how it should be structured," Nault explained.

Representatives from the three signatories characterized the AIP signing as a positive move toward self government for the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and its member First Nations, but all three also repeatedly stressed the signing marked the beginning of the process rather than the end.

"It's going to be a long row to hoe, but to put it simply, this is a legal and political healing process that has to happen between all the three parties. And I think that once we achieve that process, and achieve final agreement, we will have a future that will give us more certainty and clarity in terms of our relationship so that we can better serve our people, and that we can achieve a quality of life for our people that's comparable to all of the rest of society in Canada," said Oneill Gladue, vice-chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council.

"Nothing is final, nothing is legally binding, until the people vote, and that's quite a ways away yet."

The parties have set a two-year window for reaching a final agreement.