Willingness to help led to Order of Canada

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Chester Cunningham, 59, has come a long way since his childhood days in Drumheller. The Metis boy never imagined his path would lead him from the dusty hills

of the Bad Lands to the hushed corridors of power in Ottawa.

But a concern for his people and an unwavering dedication to the principles of justice has taken Cunningham all the way around the world, advocating Native rights in the criminal justice system. Founder of Native Counselling Services, Cunningham's tireless campaign has been recognized with the highest civilian honor bestowed by the federal government, the Order of Canada.

"To get that recognition made me feel good because of what it means - that what I've done has changed Canada for the good of the people. If they feel that I've accomplished that, then that makes me feel happy," said Cunningham.

Not bad for someone who didn't finish high school. The third of nine children, Cunningham was "lent" to an uncle at the age of 15 to help out on his St. Albert farm. He quit school to play semi-professional baseball for the Rosetown Millers in Saskatchewan and from there hired on with the Alberta Department of Highways as a laborer.

A cheerful humanitarian, Cunningham started on the path of judicial reform unknowingly in 1963 when he took on the position of program co-ordinator with the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton.

"My motivation to get into this work was to get closer to my family," he admits with a smile. "Gerry Amerongen kept after me to work at the friendship centre. I didn't even know what it was." Amerongen was the personnel director at the centre and later became Speaker of the House.

Once in Edmonton, Cunningham was given full rein of the position - and almost quit the first day. Not only was he expected to develop programs, but also find funding for them, a task he had no experience in. But he took up the challenge and within a few weeks had several referral and tutoring programs on the roll.

But that wasn't enough. During visits to the court, he saw that many Natives did not speak for themselves and obviously did not understand the procedures being followed around them.

"There was no verbal communication between the Native prisoners and the judges or lawyers. They were processed and sentenced without any conversation. There was such a sense of fatalism, of why bother if the whole system was there to put them in jail."

Natives lacked access to assistance due to language and cultural barriers and confusion about the law and individual rights. They needed an impartial advocate who understood their language and customs to untangle legal red-tape for them.

Cunningham chose to become that person. He approached several provincial judges asking them how he could help them deal with Native cases.

"I fully expected some reluctance to the idea, but they were happy I was offering to help. I guess that was the right thing to say." But 1968 the program was so successful the Metis Association and Indian Federation requested he establish province-wide services. Realizing social issues such as alcoholism played a major role in Native criminal justice issues, Cunningham established the Native Counselling Services in 1970. He mortgaged his house and farm to fund the fledgling office as no bank would lend to Native organizations. His staff were equally dedicated, going three months without salaries to keep the programs running.

Now the services provides 22 programs and services free and is the largest employer of aboriginal people in Alberta, with 140 people on staff.

The Native community still faces many challenges, and the largest will be trying

to fill positions of power with qualified people, Cunningham predicts. Leaping into self-government without experienced and dedicated leaders could be a step backward.

"There is still a great deal of greed in the Native community when looking at self-government. Let's not look at it for the sake of ownership. Let's look and make sure we can do it right," aid Cunningham.

"We have to start developing people who are properly equipped to be leaders,

who are professionals capable of decision-making. Education is the key to accomplishing our goals.