Although Harper has downplayed the encounter all week as a “working” follow-up to last year’s summit, a government insider said the prime minister realizes there are broader risks if the meeting fails to quell the unrest.
Not only is the Attawapiskat chief weakening after 29 days of consuming only water, tea and broths, elder Raymond Robinson from Cross Lake., Man., and Jean Sock — both fasting alongside Spence on Victoria Island — are said by helpers to be “quite weak”.
The stakes are high for the government as well. Its aggressive resource extraction agenda and focus on economic development comes with, as the courts have repeatedly said, a duty to make significant efforts to consult First Nations who, in many cases, control access to land where those natural resources lie.
The Conservative government is aware all sides must emerge with something to call progress on Friday and hopes that over the weekend, most Canadians will conclude they did.
The definition of progress remains unclear, although there is talk of “more meetings” through the year, a “working group” and much more talk.
Even getting the right people in a room is a challenge. The government has not announced the location of the meeting, with officials grappling with the almost certain prospect of Idle No More protesters complicating security and access for those who do attend.
On Wednesday, Spence reversed her decision to join the meeting given the confirmed absence of Gov. Gen. David Johnston, whose office made clear Tuesday he would not attend because it is a “working meeting with government on public policy issues.”
Julie Vaux, a spokeswoman for the PMO, said the government had not finalized details for the meeting’s agenda.
“We expect the Government to have more meetings over the coming year with a variety of aboriginal groups to discuss ways we can make progress on important issues,” Vaux wrote in an email.
The meeting is also a moving target for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which cancelled a media briefing on their agenda with short notice Wednesday as it continued planning with its members.
Stan Beardy, AFN regional chief for Ontario, said part of the work involves bringing together the different voices of what has become a three-pronged movement: Idle No More, those fasting on Victoria Island and those involved in the meeting.
“A lot of them deal with the same frustrations, same concerns and similar expectations, so what we are trying to do is make sure we are clear in our messaging and what our expectations are,” Beardy said Wednesday evening.
Beardy said aboriginal leaders attending the meeting, which he confirmed will go ahead despite the absence of Spence, are clear they want “binding commitments” on issues such as the treaty process and consultation on the omnibus budget implementation bills.
Stan Louttit, grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, said he views the meeting as a way to hammer out a strategy — rather than a specific solution — for future discussions and action plans, but noted the Idle No More movement and those fasting on Victoria Island will need a strong signal the meeting was productive.
“If (the chiefs) feel that there is goodwill and they feel that there is progress being made, I think ultimately that message and that positive feeling is going to filter down to the people back home and the people in the Idle No More movement,” Louttit said Wednesday.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Tonda MacCharles and Joanna Smith
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