Mitchell gone, Scott on scene

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Another Andy is setting up shop in the Indian Affairs minister's office.

When Prime Minister Paul Martin revealed his new cabinet on July 20, Andy Mitchell was shuffled out of Indian Affairs to become the new minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, leaving Andy Scott to become the Indian Affairs minister.

Scott, the former Chretien-era solicitor general who resigned from Cabinet in 1998 after he was overheard discussing sensitive material on a commercial flight, was also named the federal interlocutor for Metis and non-status Indians. The two jobs have never been held by one person at the same time before. And since an Inuit secretariat is also being established within the department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Scott is the first person with responsibility for all three constitutionally recognized Aboriginal peoples.

Ethel Blondin-Andrew, minister of state for northern development, and Susan Barnes, appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and federal interlocutor for Metis and non-Status Indians, are the two other cabinet members who will play direct roles in Aboriginal issues.

Barnes, MP for London West (Ontario), in 2003 was named parliamentary secretary to the minister of Justice with special emphasis on judicial transparency and Aboriginal justice. She is also a former chair of the standing committee on Aboriginal affairs and northern development.

Anne McLellan, the deputy prime minister and minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, will take over responsibility for the Office of Residential School Resolution Canada.

The new Indian Affairs minister called Windspeaker on Aug. 12. He was in his home riding in Fredericton. Scott seems to favor an informal approach with the media. His communications staff, sounding somewhat uneasy about it, informed us he would make the call himself without the benefit of watchful functionaries.

"It's the nature of these organizations to protect their ministers," he said, chuckling as he discussed the ground rules for the interview. "Look, I'll do as much as I can. It would be pretentious, I think, for me to pretend that in three weeks I've got anything figured out. I do look forward to the opportunity. I do believe that the prime minister is seriously committed to advancing the file here. And certainly, when asking me to do this, he expressed that. Every indication is that this is something that he believes is a priority to the country."

As the minister responsible for infrastructure and housing, Scott attended the April 19 Aboriginal roundtable hosted by the prime minister. He came away from that meeting thinking there was a chance to make some progress.

"I believed at the time, and came home and told my wife, I think it was really quite historic, an opportunity to advance on a number of fronts files that are very difficult to move. I guess I was challenged to put my money where my mouth was," he said.

He didn't know at that time that he would soon be right in the middle of the process. He was asked if he sought out the top Indian Affairs job.

"The quick answer is no. Did I request this? I did not. But neither did I request anything. Am I happy to have this position? Very much so. I'm a sociologist by education. I've spent most of my life since graduating from university as a sort of social activist on disability and literacy and related subjects like regional economic development.

"I've spent some time as solicitor general and unfortunately when you're solicitor general you're faced with the terrible reality that our correctional system is home to far too many Aboriginal Canadians. I'm quite driven to take advantage of this opportunity," he said. "If you're a Canadian who wants to make a difference, this is the department where you can have the largest impact, I think, in government because I think that the needs are great, the issues are very complicated and I'm loking forward to the challenge."

Every minister receives written instructions from the prime minister when he or she is appointed. The "mandate letter" is confidential but Windspeaker asked Scott what he could tell us about it.

"Without revealing the contents of my mandate letter I can say that the prime minister was very alert, at the time of the choice of his Cabinet and the drafting of instructions, to the roundtable in April. So clearly, if one looks at what the roundtable was designed to do and what the roundtable identified as the six priority areas, that figured prominently in this," he said. "I was specifically, as minister for Indian and Northern Affairs, charged with two of the six tables as a lead. I was familiar with housing because I was charged with the lead in housing before I became the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs as the minister responsible for housing. So I knew the process and I knew where we were moving on this. My intention is to not only lead in the tables I've been asked officially to lead, but also as an advocate for the interests of a community. To sort of push my colleagues, work with them to make sure it's getting the level of attention in other very busy portfolios that it deserves."

When it was announced that Scott would have responsibility for all three Aboriginal groups, National Chief Phil Fontaine said he was concerned that the lines would become blurred and the unique requirements of First Nations would get lost in the shuffle. Scott said he was aware of the concerns.

He said he understands the logic in "depositing the responsibility for the broad series of issues that confront the community" with one person and the challenge of not "confusing the difference in the nature of the relationship that exists in each case...

"I think the reason that the prime minister has made the decision that this will be brought into one place is so that in moving forward someone is looking at all of these issues through thesame lens, but I'm not seeing the same things. That's possible and I'm quite confident that I can achieve that in a way that respects the unique nature of the various organizations that we speak of."

Ottawa insiders say there are two kinds of government officials: those who believe in self-government and those who don't. Scott was asked where he stood on the issue.

"I believe, as was articulated by the prime minister, the language of nation to nation. I believe that we would be starting out this relationship in a respectful way of recognizing that there is value in moving forward from that premise," he said. "I think that there are serious social problems that need to be attended to independent of where you stand on those other legal/political positions. So, to some extent, the pragmatist in me would like to be able to make sure that we attend to those issues while we struggle with some of the more challenging political/legal issues, but I would characterize myself as believing instinctively in a respectful relationship with other governments."

Scott said he does not plan to introduce any governance legislation. Instead, talks on the six priority areas identified at the Aboriginal roundtable-lifelong learning, housing, accountability, economic development, health and land claims-will drive the agenda.