Self-government process speeds up

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Native leaders across Canada cautiously applauded Ottawa's decision to accelerate Native self-government talks with Aboriginals and the provinces in the next few months.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs welcomed the news with guarded optimism. The first task facing every Native authority will be to define the term self-government, said union head Saul Terry.

"To us, a government is one that protects its people and land. Any negotiations and discussion will have to be at that level. The policy for the government has been to exclude that power. I shudder to think that what we're talking about here is the Conservative, reserve-based notion."

Ron George, president of the Native Council of Canada, also said he was happy to see negotiations finally under way.

"At least we're negotiating instead of going to the courts."

Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi expressed his anger with Indian Affairs for not consulting him before making the announcement.

"The minister should have consulted us when he makes major announcements and this was a major announcement."

Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin said Jan.19 that Ottawa would begin to act on it commitment to respect the inherent right of self-government for Aboriginals.

The announcement represents the fist time since the failure of the Charlottetown Accord that the federal government is willing to discuss self-government with the First Nations.

"The federal government is committed to building a new partnership with Aboriginal people, a partnership based on mutual respect and trust," Irwin said.

AFN Ontario regional vice-Chief Gordon Peters was more forgiving than Mercredi.

"When we heard the announcement, we were happy to see finally the feds were recognizing the inherent right. They're recognizing us as a peoples, as nations of peoples.

The task before the First Nations now is to work out the jurisdiction of powers, he said. The AFN defines self-government to be "the capacity to look after our own people, and have jurisdiction over our own land and resources."

New self-government legislation will also have to consider already-existing treaties, he added.

The AFN's 10-member executive, which represents more than 500 bands across Canada, will meet before the end of the month to decide if they will join in the talks with Ottawa.

Irwin is planning a six-month consultation period with Aboriginal leaders and members of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The consultations are not part of a delay tactic but are designed to give Natives extra time to tell the government what they want.

But no matter what Aboriginals say, Ottawa will not drag the Constitution out again in legislating any new Native governmental powers.

"We're not going back to constitutional discussions, we're acting on the premise that it's there," Irwin said. "Until some court says that it's not, that's the premise that we're working on."

Irwin plans to meet with the Aboriginal groups in Toronto in February. Anne McLellan, newly appointed federal interlocutor for Metis and non-status Indians, and Justice Minister Allan Rock will also attend.

Several models for self-government already exist for their consideration. The Sechelt Band in southern British Columbia is already a self-governing Indian government, former-band chief Thomas Paul said.

The passage of Bill C-93 in 1987 gave the band ownership of their land, the power to make their own laws, determine membership and collect taxes.

"It works really good," Paul said. "We have eliminated all our ties to the federal government. The chief and council make all the decisions here."

The Gitksan-Wet'suwet'en people in northern B.C. have also been developing their own self-government model, Gitksan-Wet-suwet'en Tribal Council main speaker Gordon Sebastian said.