NCC condemns Meech accord

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The leader of Canada's most broadly based Aboriginal organization has added his voice to those condemning the Meech Lake-Langevin Accord before the parliamentary committee studying it.

Louis "Smokey" Bruyere, recently elected to his fourth two-year term as president of the Native Council of Canada, faulted the accord for its bypassing of Aboriginal peoples and it petrification of the constitutional process.

The NCC suggests several changes to the accord. It repeats the common Aboriginal position that Natives must be recognized like English and French cultures as "distinct" societies.

They also say that Aboriginal interests must be protected in changes to the control over immigration and shared-cost programs, changes to the powers of appointment of the Supreme Court and Senate, and that improvements to Aboriginal representation in parliament be exempt from provincial veto.

Bruyere and the NCC suggest that, if the court is not modified, the minimum that Aboriginal people could accept would be a companion resolution recognizing Aboriginal concerns.

"If you choose an action, you will be paving the way for a contest between Aboriginal peoples and this parliament," said Bruyere.