Self-government pursuit not over

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ANALYSIS

Canadians did not vote NO to aboriginal self-government.

Of all the political prattling in these post referendum times, calling the results of the national ballot a nail in the self-government coffin is but the ruminations of the wounded.

Canadians simply voted NO to a series of proposals. A series of proposals which would ultimately define the scope of their national document. The Constitution. They voted NO to the inherent flaws of those proposals, flaws which were perceived as being limiting, divisive and pandering.

They voted NO to a mechanism of the elite. They voted NO to the perceived ethnocentrism of Quebec and the subsequent compromises offered it. They voted NO

to wording that was vague, broad and speculative. And they voted NO to one man's

pitch for a place in history.

Aboriginal self-government had the unfortunate timing of being included in that package.

To simply write off the results of the referendum with the statement that the inherent right to self-government dissolved with the Charlottetown Accord is rampant near-sightedness on the part of leadership.

If self-government is indeed, in its most simplistic definition, the right of human beings to define their needs and then be allowed the freedom to address those needs,

then it is as inalienable a right as the right to breath itself.

No governed process can either extinguish or grant it. Indeed as our leadership has stated many times in the past, you can't deliver or cancel something which we've always had.

Canadians recognize this. Aboriginal leadership has done more to clarify the self-government issue than Ottawa is willing to declare. The language of the living room has always created more inroads to the national consciousness than the psycho-babble promoted by the federalists.

Overwhelming support of self-government has already been evidenced. Poll

after poll has indicated this in all sectors of Canadian society. Wardship and fiduciary dependency are widely recognized as anachronistic, futile and demeaning. The pursuit of that inherent right to govern ourselves has achieved much credence in the Canadian living room and such support will not dissolve with the passing of one weak-kneed document.

What is left is for aboriginal leadership to determine a new direction for promotion of their ideals.

Given the divisiveness arising from the referendum process, there is much work

to be done. Our own internal politics need rearranging, strengthening, broadening and redefining.

When the issue is survival, you absolutely need to include the entire village. In

this case, the village is the entire aboriginal body politic.

Because the greatest howling came from groups who claimed either misrepresentation or no representation at all. Native women and urban Indians were the most vocal in this regard, followed by treaty nations who felt deserted. So the need to recognize all voices and all needs is tantamount to the success or failure of the self-government battle.

The very nature of the survivor is the ability to transcend the WHY of reality and live and move in the HOW. The solution as opposed to the problem.

While the Ron Georges of the aboriginal world are declaring the imminent rise

of confrontation and tumult in the pursuit for recognition of rights, they are ignoring the imminent rise of dissent within our own electorate. Dissent that can only serve to further divide us and diminish our impact.

Somewhere you began to get the impression that someone's smiling.

More important at this political juncture than another round of First Ministers' constitutional talks is an on-going round of talks at the community level to discuss the peoples' concerns. Perhaps the Royal Commission, which suffered much neglect through the referendum, might address those concerns but its work won't be completed for another three years.

Aboriginal people need answers now. Aboriginal leadership absolutely needs to adhere to the direction of community voices. Absolutely

The erosion process begins when neglect is part of the system. We've seen that

in the broader mainstream political arena and its action before we eventually erode into a thousand camps with a thousand small and politically insignificantly voices.

Solidarity is already a precious and scant commodity in the aboriginal community. Leadership needs to take action to plug the leaks and holes that exist within our political ship of state before it sinks slowly into the multicultural ocean of Canada.

Because the NO vote was not a denunciation of aboriginal people. It was a denunciation of a political proposal that included us for the first time. Leadership should celebrate the fact that we were even there and aboriginal people in general should congratulate them for getting us that far.

But what needs to happen now is revamping our own mechanism. We saw more divisiveness than we did a pulling together and that, more than anything, should direct our political mandates.

A clear demonstration of the ability to effect a unified political approach will be a clear demonstration of our ability to operate as truly self-government entities. Tangible evidence of fact.

Because the proof is always in the pudding and we need to show our proficiency

in the kitchen right now and right away.