Support deal, leaders urge

Page 1

Equality and self-government for Native people are reasons to vote for the constitutional accord in the Oct. 26 referendum, national Native leaders told the Northwest Territories' legislature.

Representatives from the Metis National Council, the Native Council of Canada, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations recently urged the members of the legislative assembly to vote yes.

The new constitution will right the wrongs of history against the Native people

of Canada, said AFN grand chief Ovide Mercredi. In the past, Indians and Inuit were discriminated against because they were different. The constitutional package will protect their right to be different and their inherent rights to self-government.

"It means the end of dominance, the end of dominance of one society over another for too long," Mercredi said. "The constitutional amendments, if they survive the test of the people, will not only end dominance, but for people who have spent all their lives fighting for the recognition of their rights, it means that they can now concentrate on the future."

The amendments outline that treaty rights will have to be interpreted liberally by the courts, forcing Ottawa to honor treaties that have been unenforced for up to 125 years.

Mercredi admitted the deal won't answer all demands, but it is a step to settling them.

ITC president Rosemary Kuptana agreed. She supports the constitutional amendments.

The Inuit government, to be created under the Nunavut land claim agreement,

will eventually have constitutional protection. And Inuit people will finally get what they've desired: admission in Canada as full and equal partners, Kuptana said.

The Nunavut government, as part of the ITC land claim, will receive constitutional protection under the new Charlottetown accord, she said.

"If Inuit conclude self-government agreements, as contemplated by the Charlottetown accord, then all aspects of these agreements will be constitutionally protected,"Kaptuna said.

Listening intently was Charlottetown accord supporter Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Western Arctic MP. She admitted it was a compromise.

Rejecting the deal will reject gains made at the constitutional table; gains Mercredi and Kaptuna spoke about, said Blondin-Andrew. The deal also means the Territories can gain provincehood through federal negotiations, without the approval of other provinces.

"This is as good as it's going to get. I really think we have an awful lot to lose if we don't accept what we've achieved. We have to recognize our own success," she said.

(Story courtesy of the Press Independent)