PTNA pushes for FMC seat next spring

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OTTAWA - The Prairie Treaty Nations Alliance (PTNA) says it will not accept the outcome of next spring's First Ministers' Conference unless it is included at the FMC table and at the ministerial and officials' meetings leading up to the conference.

Spokesmen for the PTNA say that whenever they bring the issue of their participation in the process up with the federal government, they are told to resolve their differences with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), from which they split.

"But there can be no reconciliation" says PTNA representative Gregg Smith, who is also president of the Indian Association of Alberta. The PTNA had originally started out as a movement within the AFN, but says PTNA Saskatchewan representative Vernon Bellegarde, the association was always outnumbered within the AFN.

"They have their own agenda," says Bellegarde, "and we have ours."

A central point in the PTNA agenda is the maintenance of the bilateral relationship between first nations and the federal government, rather than the trilateral (feds-provinces-first nations) one that now prevails in constitutional discussions.

As well as looking for a seat at the FMC table, the PTNA is looking for funding from the federal government and have sent a letter to Prime Minister Mulroney asking for both.

The PTNA has also sent a letter to AFN President George Erasmus, asking for a meeting with the AFN executive to discuss the issue of PTNA's participation or non-participation in the FMC talks.