Minister won't wait for chiefs' approval

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Teams of government officials will soon spread out across the country, asking First Nations people what they think the government should do to improve their local governments.

Robert Nault, the Indian Affairs minister, during a long interview with this newspaper, frequently hinted he believes the First Nations leadership is trying to scuttle his plans for reform because they have a lot to lose if the present system is changed. He insists there is no hidden agenda and his goal is to improve the quality of life for First Nation peoples.

Some chiefs, viewed even by other chiefs as holding extreme positions, say there is no reason to trust the government or the minister because Canada has a long history of oppression and manipulation. They point to the slow pace of progress on the Aboriginal title issue, saying the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that Indigenous nations have ownership of unsurrendered lands and resources but the government has refused to deal with that ruling.

Even the more moderate chiefs are suspicious of government. They point to Bill C-31 as an example of legislation that was meant to benefit Native people, but ended up causing trouble.

Nault is taking his plan directly to the people. He has continued meetings with the national chief and others, but said he is not prepared to wait for the First Nation leadership's approval.

Shuswap Tribal Council chairman Art Manuel believes the people will reject the governance act.

"It sounds like a lot of people are opposed to it. I think the real question is going to be how are we going to communicate with our people," he said. "If the minister wants to go in that direction, let's go in that direction. Let's debate it out. Let's hammer it out. He's just trying to find some champions to promote his ideas. It's very lopsided. Obviously, whatever champions he finds might try to debate it out publicly, but I think our side has enough background material to deal with it."

Manuel said the details available so far make him think that former minister Ron Irwin's Bill C-79 is being resurrected.

"It's the same," he said. "It's all containment-type legislation designed to reduce the financial liability of the federal Crown, to turn the onus of providing services to Indian bands. What do they call it? User fees? It's still a tax."

Manuel said the courts have recognized that his people have the right to govern themselves and they don't need the federal government's permission. He's urging his people to move out onto their traditional lands and start exercising their rights.

"What we're basically saying is we have to shake the system up because that's the only way we're going to benefit from using these lands and resources," he said. "When you shake it up there's going to be a lot of uncertainty and a lot of overt racism. In fact, the racists that come out of the woodwork are basically saying, 'You Indians, we like you at Level 47 and we like being at Level 1. So you guys better just shut up and just appreciate that you're even at Level 47.' That's what a racist is. He just wants to keep the status quo because he's benefited from 100 per cent exclusive jurisdiction."

Manuel didn't dispute that First Nations could improve their governance structures, but he believes the minister can't expect to be taken seriously if he isn't willing to address the issue of sovereignty.

Every comment made by the Indian Affairs minister reveals that he is only willing to look at the issue in the context of the Canadian system where the federal government holds the ultimate authority.

Nault's proposal will fail for the same reason Irwin's proposal failed, said Manuel.

"It'll keep coming back until they recognize Aboriginal title. That's just the way it is. It's just like the referendum vote in Quebec. It'll just keep coming back. There has to be some real clear change in the federal government's opinion," he said.

Nault said those issues will take tim but the governance act an improve life for First Nations people in the meantime. He insists that his proposal won't stop anyone from talking about jurisdictional issues.

"I've started to hear some very interesting spins about why the minister's interested in the First Nations Governance Act under the Indian Act," said Nault. "Everybody sort of forgets that we have over 200 cases before the courts based on the Indian Act. The Human Rights Commission has come out and said the Indian Act is not appropriate any longer. The Royal Commission said the same thing. You just keep getting different, very prominent people come out and say you've got to do something about the Indian Act. But every time you turn around and want to try to take a look at it, you get the same rhetoric from people saying, 'What's their motivation behind this?'

"I don't have a motivation except that if I just sit and watch -I guess I could do that or any government could do that-but then the courts will change our relationship for us and we'll have to abide by it I suppose," he said. "So I'm very curious as to why people don't seem to want to consult at this point. What I'm hearing now is that this is all about money. It's not about money. No one's talking about cutting anybody's budget. They say it's about process, that we're moving too fast, but nobody has touched the real issue . . . and that is: Why would we want to have good governance that's accountable to the people themselves, First Nations citizens? Is it good enough the way it is? That's the question that needs to be answered. I've answered that for myself. I've challenged the First Nations to tell me whether they and the people themselves if they think it's acceptable."

The response from First Nations leaders so far, Nault said, reveals they're only concerned with protecting their own positions within the system.

"So far, all I'm hearing is money and process from the vice-chiefs and the national chief. I'm very disappointed abot that. I'm not sure why that' happening. He'll have to answer for that as we go down the road because I am going to push this right to the limit, simply because I think it's the right thing to do," Nault said.

But Manuel points to a section of a leaked internal Indian Affairs document that makes him think the government is looking primarily at cutting costs. The document, titled "DIAND's key priorities at the start of a new mandate," contains a section called "Internal DIAND pressures." One of the pressures mentioned by the bureaucrat author is that "demographic price plus volume demand [are] outstripping fiscal supply." Manuel said, in plain English, that means the department is worried that the booming Aboriginal population is driving the department's costs up.

Nault said internal documents don't always accurately reflect what's going on in the department. But he said the goal of the governance act was good government, no cost cutting.

"I don't know because I've never seen this document. Obviously, if the worst case scenario was that every First Nation person didn't work and were relying on the government of Canada to look after them from cradle to grave the financial contribution of the government of Canada would be fairly large. I don't see it that way. I see First Nations people, like any other Canadian, who are looking to be involved in their economy and to have a quality of life for their family," he said.

"We have legal obligations to First Nations people, as we do to all Canadians, to make sure they have a good quality of education, good quality of health care, and of course there are treaty obligations that we are all familiar with. So I don't see that as part of this exercise. If people trying to portray talking about building a good governance, getting the fundamentals right so we can build an economy as a way to save money, yeah, they're right. I see that as an improvement over what we're doing now. I see that as better than people living n poverty and living on welfare becase whether you're Native or non-Native, I don't think living on welfare is what you want. That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for dynamic, prosperous, self-sufficient First Nations."