Members of the Mi’kmaq First Nation Assembly of Newfoundland

Members of the Mi’kmaq First Nation Assembly  of Newfoundland is seeking legal advice on a challenge to the way Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is handling the enrolment process for applications to the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band. It is believed that applications are being rejected unjustly and for insignificant concerns. Adding to the frustration is the lack of an appeals process. Applicants have been denied because of unsigned applications or missing documents and told they cannot supply this new information or appeal the decision to reject their applications. Some rejected applicants claim their documentation was completed properly. The assembly could file for a judicial review and bring one or two claims forward as test cases or the assembly may opt for a longer process and file a statement of claim that challenges the entire enrolment process. The assembly also accuses the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band Council as being uncooperative with applicants seeking information. An estimate of the number of applicants they would be dealing with was 30,000, but that number was wildly low with about 100,000 people seeking to apply. It is not the first time there have been complaints about the way Aboriginal Affairs is doing its work. In September it was revealed an anonymous letter was sent to Minister Bernard Valcourt from bureaucrats working in the Treaties and Aboriginal Government, Specific Claims branch which accused management of arbitrarily holding up specific claim settlements for months over “insignificant issues.” “Delays of several months is not unusual for even the most simplest and straightforward matter,” read the letter, reported APTN National News. “Settlement agreements are needlessly delayed over minor and insignificant issues that have already been addressed. Constant and endless reviews come with continual requests for changes. These are not substantive changes….which do not change the substance of agreements…We believe this is largely due to micromanaging.” There have also been widespread complaints over the take it or leave it style of “negotiations” with the federal government.