Summit chiefs to meet with Minister Stewart

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Extinguishment will be at the top of the agenda when Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart sits down face-to-face with representatives of the First Nations Summit in a meeting scheduled for early November.

The Summit is the organization that is made up of chiefs of First Nations who are participating in the British Columbia Treaty Commission negotiation process. Those chiefs sent letters to the Indian Affairs minister, the prime minister and the provincial premier in early October which called on Canada to abandoned plans to include extinguishment of Aboriginal rights as a condition of any modern-day treaties.

The issue became prominent when the first final offer under the treaty process was made to the Sechelt First Nation in September. The terms of the offer included a requirement that the Sechelt people give up their tax-exempt status in exchange for a land claim settlement treaty with Canada and the province.

At a Summit session on Oct. 3, the chiefs harshly criticized the policy.

"This policy is absolutely a non-starter for First Nations taking part in the B.C. treaty negotiations process," said Summit Grand Chief Edward John. "We will continue to reject any thought on the part of the government that the extinguishment of Aboriginal rights is a means of achieving certainty. This federal policy clearly violates the principles of a fair negotiations process. Canada must show First Nations involved in this process that they are committed to fair negotiations by overturning this abhorrent policy."

Summit staff say several chiefs will travel to Ottawa for a meeting with the Indian Affairs minister during the first week of November. They hope to get an answer to their letter at that time.

Indian Affairs sources told Windspeaker there has not yet been any official reply to the demand for assurances that extinguishment will not be required for the treaty process to continue.

Peter Baird, a spokesman for the Federal Treaty Negotiation Office, said the trouble is that the parties haven't been able to agree on how to achieve certainty.

"It's an on-going discussion. I don't think Canada has an extinguishment policy," he said. "The parties are looking for a way to establish certainty without using the cede, release, surrender language."

Certainty, when applied to the modern-day treaty process is a word which has a very specified meaning. Baird defined how the word is used during treaty talks.

"It's a way to establish the rights and authorities of the First Nations," he said. "What the parties want is a way to clarify the Aboriginal rights to land and resources. That will lead to investor comfort or certainty."