Where are you chief?

Page 4

The Indian Affairs minister gave us his word this month that we would get the answers to some tough questions about the costs involved in the governance act consultation process. That promise was made on a Friday, June 8. We received the answers late on June 13. Some of the numbers we asked for were disclosed; some weren't. But at least we spoke to the minister. All we can tell you about the national chief is that the mail box on his cell phone is full. Not a word all month long.

AFN staffers were on the phone often enough, bending our ear about some big doings about to unfold in Kenora at the Treaty 3 meetings. We were given a number to call up there to ensure we would cover that major development that was about to unfold up in Northern Ontario in the heart of Minister Bob Nault's own riding. We called the number. The man we'd been told to talk to by the national chief's own staff was out at lunch and would call back in 20 minutes or so.

Two days later, we're still waiting. When we called back, we discovered this cell phone's mailbox was also full. So we watched the newswire and called around a bit. But if the chiefs pulled off some major public relations coup in Northern Ontario, they managed to do a pretty good job of keeping it a secret.

Now, while we applaud the courage of our exciting new columnist Jeff Bear and admire his willingness to say what's on his mind, over here in the editorial department we like to keep our distance from people with such controversial opinions. We're telling you that because Mr. Bear wrote his own estimation of the national chief's performance this month and we don't want anyone to think we're jumping on that pile. All we're saying is, when it comes to access for the Native media as the AFN and INAC engage in a pitched battle over control of First Nations governance, the minister is mopping the floor with the national chief.

We could speculate that means something, that the minister is better prepared and working from a solid, effective plan and the national chief has neither of those things going for him, but we think it's too soon to tell.

The AFN is being squeezed financially because of its stand against the consultation process. We know that. The department has more than $10 million at its disposal to fight this war of words while the AFN is worried about making the payroll. Once again, the government is showing no signs of ensuring there's a fair fight or an even playing field. This is war and it would not be constructive for us, of all publications, to whack the national chief for not keeping up.

But we need to talk to you, national chief. We need to get answers from you, especially if we're getting answers from the minister. Otherwise our content becomes woefully one-sided and we certainly don't want that.