Trust. Integrity. Reputation. Top News - August - 2005 Volume 23 - Number 5 Are the chiefs getting squeezed out? We can do better-Jewish leader to chiefs FNUC restructures dean out of a job You've been invited - Editorial Guided by books of wisdom and knowledge- Guest Column Check out Ontario Birchbark The entire contents of Windspeaker's August issue is available online in the AMMSA Archives. Access is restricted to online subscribers only. CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION INFO. Are the chiefs getting squeezed out? By Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Yellowknife Are the national chief and his executive members removing the chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations' decision-making processes? Driftpile First Nation (Alberta) Chief Rose Laboucan and Six Nations of the Grand River (Ontario) proxy Melba Thomas left no doubt about how they felt as the AFN's annual general assembly drew to a close on July 7 in Yellowknife. Both were severely critical of the way co-chairs Luc Laine and Stephen Kakfwi had conducted the meeting. "I'm not understanding the process today," said Thomas. "We talk about caring for each other, respect, but what I'm seeing here today is very little time, respect and consideration for people to express their views and comments... That's of great concern." Thomas made the comments after Kakfwi refused to consider a question of quorum that might disallow a vote on the organization's audited financial statements, and after Laine allowed a motion to lump 20 resolutions into one to make up time. "As the grand chief of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council, I oppose the undemocratic process that's being utilized here today," said Laboucan, frustrated by the lack of time made available for the chiefs to participate. "What's the point of being a leader? I'm going to go home and lead my people. That's where I belong," she said. Chief Sharon Stinson Henry of Mnjikaning (Rama) First Nation urged the national executive to address the recurring problem of giving short shrift to resolutions. "We always run out of time when it comes to the real business," she said. "I would recommend that the AFN put timeframes on presentations or next time it'll be the same thing." Thomas made the most of her address to the assembly by taking a few shots at the national chief and executive concerning the recently negotiated political accord between the AFN and the federal government. "While I'm here, I'd like to talk about the accord a little bit. It mentions 'the parties.' 'The parties' means the AFN. The AFN means Phil Fontaine and his staff. It mentions 'directed by the chiefs in assembly.' There's concern there, too. If the assembly does not meet very often, how do the chiefs direct the Assembly of First Nations?" Melba Thomas asked. "Another concern I have is inherent right. What that means is to make decisions concerning land and the right to political structures for making decisions. How can we do that if we are giving our responsibilities to one organization rather than seeking responsibility for ourselves and our people in our home communities? "And there's concerns further about all resolutions involving funding. The funding is being funneled away from First Nations. Six Nations of the Grand River will not allow any other people or organizations to speak for our community without our consent. Further, the opinion of myself is that the structure of the AFN and the government of Canada accord appears to be transformative change from a white father to a brown father." Fontaine responded from the head table to the "delegate from Six Nations." "The political accord that was signed on May 31 is not binding. It only applies to those First Nations who have consented. It will not be imposed or forced on any single First Nation. That determination will be left up to each First Nation government," he said. "The other bit of information that I want to highlight once more is that this is not the last meeting that we're going to have. There are a whole number of meetings that we will have over the next year. We're going to be extremely busy. You will have many more opportunities to discuss those issues that we talked about here." He told the chiefs they would be heard on the referred issues. "The resolutions will be debated by the executive and the problematic ones will be dealt with at the next [chiefs] meeting," Fontaine said. "We are not closing off discussion or debate on any single issue. So I want to assure the chiefs of this assembly that we will continue our work. We will carry on with the mandate that you have given us. I wish to remind you that this is not the first time that we've ever referred resolutions such as we did here this afternoon. "There've been many, many situations in the past where we've been forced by time restraints to do as we did. We carry on. We took the decision that needed to be taken. We made good decisions. No one suffered as a result. We will do everything within our means to ensure that no one will be worse off as a consequence of this important decision that we took this afternoon." The national chief was reached for further comment in Winnipeg on July 11. He said he and his executive were not in any way trying to exclude the chiefs. "That's the last thing we would ever want to do," he said. "We want to make certain that the chiefs have every opportunity to debate all of the issues that come before the assembly. We've tried to introduce efficiencies into the organization so that we can actually accomplish that."   Top We can do better-Jewish leader to chiefs By Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Yellowknife It was a coincidental irony that Ed Morgan, national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), addressed the Assembly of First Nations' (AFN) 26th annual general meeting in Yellowknife on July 7. It came on the same day that the governor general's office announced it planned to strip former national chief David Ahenakew of his membership in the Order of Canada if he did not resign. The next day Ahenakew was convicted of spreading hate and fined $1,000 after being charged for making anti-Semitic remarks at a conference-and to a reporter-in 2002. He said he will appeal the decision. The current national chief, who has addressed the CJC on several occasions in the past, introduced the Jewish leader in Yellowknife, calling him a "useful ally." "By working together with allies like the Canadian Jewish Congress, we present an ever more formidable defence against those who would cause us harm due to malignant racism," Phil Fontaine said. "Our organizations have much in common. We are both dedicated to the preservation of our languages, our cultures and to the development of a national community which celebrates diversity and seeks justice for our people." Morgan, a law professor at the University of Toronto, was a law clerk to Madame Justice Bertha Wilson of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1984 and 1985 and he began teaching in 1986. He has appeared as counsel at all levels of the Canadian court system and at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations. He has represented the AFN and many other groups. He was elected as national president of the CJC in May 2004. He stated very clearly that his organization can and will do better in standing up for Native rights in Canada than it has in the past. Those words were well received by the chiefs. "I do pledge today that the Canadian Jewish Congress will be more active on First Nations' issues. We will seek new and, we hope, creative ways to work together with your organizations to achieve our common goals," he said. He admitted the past efforts of his organization could be improved upon. "We do know each other and co-operate with each other on many fronts as the national chief just said. But we don't know each other well enough and this is an opportunity to get to know each other better," Morgan said. He noted that he had worked as a lawyer on a court intervention by the AFN on a land claim case several years ago and saw then that Aboriginal issues are an important part of the general human rights landscape. "Along the way, our efforts to seek out injustice, discrimination and inequality have occasionally, but not often enough, focused on First Nations issues. We've not involved ourselves nearly enough with the concerns of Aboriginal peoples." When he spoke, the verdict in the Ahenakew trial was being awaited. "When I think about this matter, I can't help but be moved by how decisively and how articulately the messages have been coming to us from the First Nations communities across Canada in the wake of his shocking words," Morgan said. "I am confident enough to say that although the Ahenakew affair may have begun with some expressions of hatred, thanks to the efforts of the peoples of this country it will end with the complete opposite. It will end with an increased respect and increased friendship." He said First Nations and Jewish people share in common that they have experienced the "full gamut of discrimination from jokes to genocide." After Morgan concluded his remarks, Roseau River Chief Terry Nelson gained the floor to tell the Jewish leader that, although he did not support Ahenakew's remarks, he would not publicly condemn him until Jewish leaders condemned what he called the anti-Native writings of Jewish journalists. Contacted by phone on July 12, Morgan said he could understand Nelson's anger somewhat. "I think his distress and his anger is somewhat justified in that there's not enough condemnation of anti-Aboriginal racism in this country. I think it's misdirected against the Jews. That's his mistake. He's got his anger at Canadian society at large, which may be justified, but we have to struggle for Jews to not be the scapegoat for that anger," he said. Windspeaker asked Morgan to comment on the Ahenakew conviction. "I'm pleased that they came to that conclusion. Having brought the charges, I wanted to see the Crown follow through with a conviction. I personally, as a civil libertarian, I'm generally not that happy with hate propaganda criminal law, frankly. If they're going to do it they should pick and choose the cases like the Ahenakew case that clearly deserve a conviction," he said. "We have to be very careful. We usually criminalize people's deeds, not their words. But if they're going to go down that road, it's better not to sanitize nasty words with an acquittal." Top FNUC restructures dean out of a job By Peter T. Derbawka, Windspeaker Contributor, Saskatoon Turmoil at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) in Regina has spread to Saskatoon. On July 5, the dean of the Saskatoon campus was told that her position had been abolished because of restructuring, effective immediately. Dr. Winona Wheeler, who is also a member of the faculty, was not however, relieved of her teaching duties. The decision comes on the heels of a number of high profile suspensions of senior staff at the university's Regina campus and rumors that FNUC is headed for financial ruin. Student reaction to the Wheeler situation was quick and emotional. Some students ran to various classrooms shouting that the dean had been fired. Some classes were cancelled after the interruption, and some afternoon classes were cancelled as uncertainty gripped the student and faculty population. Other students dropped classes and a number transferred to the University of Saskatchewan. A few sessional lecturers also gave notice they would not return if Wheeler were not dean. Students hastily arranged a news conference on the front steps of the school. Soon some led a protest to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations' (FSIN) offices on Packham Ave. A few carloads of students then went off to the offices and marched into the boardroom demanding to meet with Charles Pratt, the interim president of FNUC. Reaction from the students was generally passionate, though some, who wished to remain anonymous, excused the recent trouble, saying FNUC is still young and going through growing pains. Trina Kingfisher, a first year student, said Wheeler's removal as dean was disappointing because she improved the reputation of the school. "She has done so much to earn respect for the school, world-wide." Arlene Mentuck, the Saskatoon campus student's association rep on the board of covernor's, wrote a letter to Pratt, and to Morley Watson, chair of the board of governors, outlining her disappointment. "Dr. Wheeler is an inspiration to me, a young Aboriginal woman," she said. "With her leaving it is going to create a divided university within the building because of the people who are on opposite sides." She went on to state her views on how the board's actions are affecting people. "The continuing oppression of our people is being used on my people and is creating a feeling of hopelessness," she said, "which takes us back to an oppressive state of being colonized once again. I think once should be enough. The First Nations leaders of Saskatchewan should open their eyes and see that they are imitations of the colonial government." She admitted being angry at the situation and at herself. "I regret not understanding the motions made at earlier board meetings," she said, "and now have to bear with the decisions I had made." Jenny Gardipy, a third year student, said "A lot of our First Nations leaders don't have that eagle vision that our forefathers had. They're living on a day to day basis. They're not thinking about the consequences of their actions, and they took it too far." The students are supported by the Canadian Federation of Students. Michael Kowalsky, vice-president of external affairs for the students' union at the Univeristy of Saskatchewan, was present to observe the press conference and the sit-in at FSIN. He said the CFS supports the rights of students to get an education. "They shouldn't have to feel scared that their degree isn't going to mean anything when they graduate, so we support students in their fight to have questions answered," he said. "Also, the CFS believes that all sides are to be accountable. We stay neutral, but we're stressing the importance that all sides be accountable." As a result of the protest at the FSIN offices, the students were granted a meeting on July 6 with Pratt and Al Ducharme, acting vice-president of Administration at FNUC. About 15 students, who had previously consulted with their Elders, were present. The students were advised that the administration abolished the dean's position to separate academics and administration. Pratt told them he analyzed the situation and realized that Dr. Wheeler's position was no longer needed. Calvin Redman and Sharon Acoose were appointed co-managers of the Saskatoon campus to replace Wheeler. Pratt said Calvin Redman was appointed because he and Dr. Wheeler were equally qualified. Redman has a masters degree, while Dr. Wheeler has a PhD. Sharon Acoose has a masters degree. Generally, in organizations, an unnecessary position is not abolished and then replaced, said Rick Long, a professor of Industrial Relations and Organizational Behaviour at the University of Saskatchewan. "It's a very unusual situation," he said, "where there's not enough work for one person, but there's enough for two. If you abolish a position because there's a lack of need for that position, then to replace it right away does indicate that there is something else happening; either extremely poor planning or they do want to delete that person and they decided this would be the way they would do it. Otherwise she would have to be released for cause and proving cause is quite involved. By abolishing the position they don't have to prove cause or anything else." No information has been given whether Wheeler was given a suitable severance package or whether any legal proceedings will be pursued. A press release was issued on July 5 from Chief Alphonse Bird of the FSIN stating its support of first vice-chief Watson in addressing the issues of governance and direction of the FNUC. Bird said a task force has been mandated by the chiefs-in-assembly and that all parties must respect the process and allow the work to unfold. Nevertheless, many students, including those who did not protest, were unsure whether their degrees would be granted. FNUC is a federated college of, and is still integrated with, the University of Regina. Any questions about the certainty or the validity of the degrees can be answered by a visit to the University of Regina Web site. The bylaws state that "A college federated with the University of Regina is...legally and financially independent, but academically integrated with the university." As such, "The University [of Regina] will confer the appropriate bachelors' degrees on such students of [FNUC] as have satisfied the requirements prescribed by the University [of Regina]. Barbara Pollock, University of Regina vice-president of external relations, said, "The University of Regina is very concerned for the students at First Nations University, and we are monitoring the situation." Academically, things are still on track. "Everybody has the students' interest at heart. As far as we know things are continuing as normal," she said, "and certainly the university is still conferring degrees and we have no reason to think that things can't be figured out."   Top