“There’s been a lot of talking over the years. All the really solid research has been done. We just have to reopen some of these ideas,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak told The Hill Times last week. “Some of the recommendations, even going back to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples is as valid and legitimate as when the report came out in the ’90s. A lot of stuff that’s been gathering dust on the shelf does have merit, even today, and there has to be commitments there. There has to be willingness to move forward on these things.”
Roberta Jamieson, president and chief executive officer of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, agreed, saying that because these high-level meetings tend to only happen once every few years, every issue will be on the table. But she said it doesn’t mean there can’t be concrete measures that the government can commit to.
“What I would like to see come out of this, however, is more than a photo-op or a stated commitment or memorandum of understanding. I’ve seen those meetings too many times that don’t go anywhere,” she told The Hill Times, adding that education should be at the top of the agenda. Without having an educated aboriginal youth population, it’s difficult to address the other social and economic issues. Those are our change agents. We need to put the students first and make some concrete commitments.”
NDP MP Linda Duncan (Edmonton-Strathcona, Alta.), her party’s aboriginal affairs critic, said she’s heard from other aboriginal groups that they also want outcomes rather than the typical announcement of establishing a panel or looking forward to a report that doesn’t lead to change.
“I would say that’s the First Nations’ mindset, ‘Enough of the talk, let’s see the real measures you’re willing to bring forward, and what’s the process for developing those,’ ” she said. “I think it’s very important for both sides, but it better be more than a photo-op. And there better be something real delivered.”
After years of asking for a meeting between the federal government and First Nations chiefs, the Assembly of First Nations organized a meeting for Jan. 24 in Ottawa to discuss issues affecting aboriginals.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan (Vancouver Island North, B.C.) and 10 other ministers will attend the meeting including: Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq (Nunavut), Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose (Edmonton-Spruce Grove, Alta.), Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield (Fredericton, N.B.), Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney (Lévis-Bellechasse, Que.), Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.), Environment Minister Peter Kent (Thornhill, Ont.), Justice Minister Rob Nicholson (Niagara Falls, Ont.), Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.), Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue (Labrador, Nfld.) and Minister of State for ACOA Bernard Valcourt (Madawaska-Restigouche, N.B.).
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo and a delegation of 150 First Nations chiefs will also be at the table at this unprecedented meeting. There will also be 11 concurrent teleconferences at other sites across the country, including one at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. In total, there will be 250 people taking part in the meeting, the first of its kind.
On the table for discussion are “strengthening the Crown-First Nation relationship and enabling opportunity,” “unlocking the potential of First Nation economies” and “realizing the promise of First Nations peoples.”
This includes housing, labour, services, infrastructure, funding, education, water and governance issues. While there have been meetings in the past to discuss these issues at First Ministers meetings or through the 2005 Kelowna Accord, the major point of this meeting is to “reset” and “renew” the relationship between the crown and First Nations.
There are 1,172,790 self-identified aboriginals across the country, according to the 2006 census.
Almost a quarter of First Nations children live in poverty. In comparison, one in 10 non-aboriginal Canadian children live in poverty. On the health front, the report, Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada: Regional Sessions about Promising Practices across Canada, stated that compared to the rest of Canadians, aboriginals “are much more likely to live in poor health and die prematurely,” “have a burden of chronic conditions and of infectious disease,” and “are more likely to live in poverty, which has a domino effect on other aspects of their lives.”
In addition, “aboriginal children are more likely to die in the first year of life.”
In 2006, one-third (33 per cent) of aboriginal adults aged 25 to 54 had less than a high school education compared to nearly 13 per cent of the non-aboriginal population.
In 2006, the employment rate for aboriginal people of core working age (25 to 54) was 65.8 per cent, up 4.6 percentage points from five years earlier. This compared to 81.6 per cent for non-aboriginal people in 2006, up 1.3 percentage points over the same five years.
For almost all social, economic and health indicators, aboriginals fare worse than non-aboriginal Canadians. It’s why the Assembly of First Nations has said for years that the plight of aboriginals is “the single greatest social justice issue in Canada today.”
Prime Minister Harper told CBC last week that he’s “hopeful” the meeting will be a “very positive dialogue” between the federal government and aboriginals.
“I think this government has a record where we’ve made significant, incremental progress in a number of areas, and really, it’s to try and bring together people who’ve been leading that kind of progress, and talk about how we can get to the next steps, and how we can continue to move forward,” Mr. Harper said, adding, “Yes, significant change needs to happen.”
He said, however, that “it will not be grand visions and declarations that achieve these things.” Mr. Harper said that’s what the government is moving incrementally in areas such as water, education, and endorsing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. This is a long-term challenge,” Mr. Harper said.
Quebec Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau, a former national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, told The Hill Times that “unfortunately a lot of these meetings are photo-ops,” but that the Prime Minister is sincere on wanting to moving forward. He said that many aboriginal groups come to meetings with expectations that are too high, but the meetings themselves are not futile.
“We know that there’s a lot of problems plaguing aboriginal peoples in this country, but I think if we can make some incremental steps or at least plant the seeds for some changes to occur, then I think that’s always a positive step. But I think there’s a lot of aboriginal political organizations that set the bar too high and want to or at least speak about wanting to fix all the problems and realistically, that’s just not going to happen,” he said.
Moreover, he said, both sides must come to the table with “actual solutions that are realistic, affordable and accountable.”
Ms. Duncan said the government should look to former auditor general Sheila Fraser’s reports on aboriginal relationships with the Crown as a starting point. She said First Nations, as the AFN has repeatedly said, are looking for a “resetting” of the relationship, which means aboriginals must be partners in the Canadian federation rather than subordinates.
Ms. Duncan said the federal government has to honour its obligations under various treaties, and consult with First Nations before enacting laws that affect them. Ms. Fraser said in her report that there needs to be structural reforms in funding agreements as well, which Ms. Duncan said the federal government needs to seriously take a look at.
“Sheila Fraser had clearly recommended this annual contribution agreement negotiation year by year has simply failed and has provided no certainty of financing. The First Nations have been left completely incapable of doing any long term planning and delivery of any services or even a government system. Couple that with the abject failure of this government and previous governments to deliver on their obligations to deliver on the treaties, that’s what I see as front and centre,” she said.
Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul’s, Ont.), her party’s aboriginal affairs critic, said that replacing the Indian Act and access to education needs to be at the top of the agenda.
“I believe the Prime Minister should come prepared to commit to ending discrimination of funding First Nations children. As Paul Martin properly pointed out, this is just absolutely discrimination that aboriginal children in schools on reserves receive two thirds of the money that Canadian children off reserve receive per child per year. I think there is an expectation that there ought to immediately be a commitment to fix that and a promise that they will be able to see it in the budget,” Ms. Bennett said, adding that the federal government has not extended an invitation to the opposition parties to attend the meeting, but should.
Ms. Jamieson said that she’s “encouraged” by the Prime Minister’s personal attention to the file but said there’s more that can be done. For instance, she said, there should be a First Nations relations branch in the Prime Minister’s Office.
In addition, she said, a Parliamentary commissioner or ombudsperson’s office should be set up to track and monitor progress for aboriginal issues with an annual report published “so that we don’t lurch from Attawapiskat to Pikangikum to illuminate the problems.”
On the education front, she said, there needs to be a special fund that’s earmarked specifically for First Nations post-secondary education above what’s currently being allocated. There also needs to be funding for preserving aboriginal languages and culture, Ms. Jamieson said.
“I think a clear commitment with a sum of money needs to be made. They’ve got a majority government, there’s no reason why they cannot do that,” she said. “Those things don’t need to wait for yet another report. … I think it’s absolutely key at this meeting to do more than a photo op, more than a memorandum of understanding, but concrete steps, a commitment to a new structure, and to invest in ways that will deliver results that are measurable.”
Ms. Bennett said something similar to the 2005 Kelowna Accord worth $5-billion should emerge from the meeting.
“The Prime Minister when he tore up the Kelowna Accord—and I’ve heard this across the country—he promised something better. We’ve now lost six years and nothing better is in the window,” she said.
“So, it will be up to the Prime Minister to be able to put something significant on the table Tuesday.”
Mr. Nepinak, who represents 60 of the 64 First Nations in Manitoba totaling more than 100,000 people, said he’s going into the meeting with the goal of securing a first ministers meeting but is doubtful that the Mr. Harper will announce one there.
Mr. Nepinak said a first ministers meeting is necessary so that First Nations can discuss the one issue that unites aboriginals across the country: economic development and resource extraction. He said for years aboriginals have not been benefiting from managing and developing resources found on or near their land.
“The problem has developed into a public perception that we’re a burden on the taxpayer and we don’t want taxpayer dollars as indigenous people. We only want our share of the resources that are accruing in our ancestral lands,” he said. “I think that is the fundamental reason why we want to have a first ministers conference on First Nations issues because we need to put this issue on the table. … We need to work towards reaching agreement on making sure that resource management, resource development includes our people, not just in consultation and accommodation measures, but actual resource revenue, wealth.”
Original Article
Source: Hill Times
Author: Bea Vongdouangchanh
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