A numbers game

Page 4

Guest Editorial

Minister of Indian Affairs John Munro's approach to Indian self-government needs to be seriously questioned by the Indian nations in terms of process and substance.

The Indian nations must remember the unilateral move by Parliament in 1952 to include the provinces in governing Indians by enacting Section 88 of the Indian Act and the "constitutionalization" of this by the 1982 Canada Act.

The Indian nations are now hostage to the will of provincial premiers because the Indian nations can only enter Confederation, under the constitutions amending formula, by following the terms dictated by the premiers.

According to the ground rules set up for the constitutional discussions, the Indian nations are put in the demeaning position of having to literally beg non-natives for recognition of their self-government.

One thing is clear. The Indian nations will only be respected if and when they claim their heritage, lands and public authorities in the name of their people.

The recent failure of the constitutional conference has set the federal government on the course of pacifying the Indian by legislation.

In essence, Munro has proposed a delegation of existing federal power to Indian communities if, and only if, they organize themselves along lines acceptable to the Department of Indian Affairs bureaucracy.

The chiefs in the constitutional discussions continue to claim that their original rights to self-government have survived the colonization process. The federal government only sees Indian governments in terms of what their laws have provided and now demand that the chiefs accepted the framework legislation" designed by the federal government.

If there was any concensus in the Indian camp at the March 20 Department of Indian Affairs sponsored consultation meeting, it was that any new deal must be in the context of the treaty process.

This is at odds with the federal view which is that Treaties 6, 7 and 8 extinguished all Indian political and economic rights and thus have no relevance in the legislative process. The feds seek to deny in a very fundamental way the chiefs' position that Indian rights to self-government were recognized and protected under the treaties.

However, there was some support for the proposed federal legislation concerning Indian self-government. There are a small number of chiefs who are willing to continue discussions with Munro on the merits of the proposals. The feds might want to play a number game in finding support.

Within Alberta, six large bands have over 50 percent of the status Indian population. So if these six chiefs support Munro, he might call this consent. This would be unjust and undemocratic.