Election promises don't impress leaders

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The New Democrats, Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, Reformers and National parties released Native policy platforms in the last month, despite a complete absence of public discussion on the topic.

The NDP's two-page policy document shows support for First Nations self-government, control over resources and independent Native economies and the creation of a new Aboriginal Claims Commission to speed land claim negotiations.

The Liberals promise to provide Aboriginal people with the tools to become "self- sufficient and self-governing" winding down the Department of Indian Affairs and interpreting treaties in "contemporary terms." The party also outlined their support for a national Aboriginal development bank, Aboriginal educational institutes and an independent land claims commission.

The Progressive Conservative policy also supports the land claim process and includes "but is not limited to, the continuation and monitoring of the initiates...undertaken since 1984."

But none of the political parties vying for control of Canada's federal government understand the needs of Aboriginal peoples, Native leaders across the country said.

"Our people have been led to false hopes too many times," said Assembly of First Nations Quebec regional vice-Chief Ghislain Picard. "So I don't know if they are going to fall for what some party puts on paper."

The Liberals have leeway in terms of what they would be doing as a government, Picard said, but the big test will come after the election.

And the Tories appear to be doing little beyond establishing mechanisms like the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Indian Claims Commission to slow down the process instead of actively working towards Native self-government, he said.

"They said the same thing after Oka when Mulroney said his plan on the Native issue," he said. "But we still have not seen the light at the end of the tunnel."

Picard was especially skeptical of the Bloc Quebecois' policy of granting political autonomy but no territory to the First Nations.

"If they had that attitude, that shows us that they didn't have that much perspective on how to solve the Native issues in Quebec."

The government of Quebec has always said Native autonomy was possible in the province, despite a lack of support for that position from the First Nations, Picard said.

"It's not much to go on. I doubt they'd get any support from the Indians that would vote in the election.

The Reform Party also has little sympathy for the First Nations, said Jerome Morin, the AFN's Alberta regional vice-chief.

"It goes against their basic party philosophy," he said. "They can't understand that the Aboriginal people in this country have rights to begin with. That's where the problem lies with the Reform Party.

Mel Hurtig, leader of the National party, said he is planning to study AFN recommendations on Native self-government and develop the party's policy on that basis. The National party would also abolish the Indian Affairs Department and transfer the power of self-determination to First Nations.

But broad promises without detailed plans to enact them are the trademark of election campaigns, said Picard. And each party still appears to be shirking Ottawa's fiduciary responsibility to Natives.

"The problems are so many and they vary between the provinces," Picard said. "The parties' initiatives are to give the problems to another body and prevent the government from directly intervening."

Only about 20 per cent of Canada's natives are eligible to vote, said Morin. And of those, he predicted only one per cent will show up at the polls Oct. 25.

"I'm not going to vote. I can't participate in another level of government that is not our own. I'm a firm believer that the federal, provincial and municipal governments in this country are not of our making. So we should not participate."

But voting is the only way to force Ottawa to be accountable, said Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chef Phil Fontaine. There has to be a greater vigilance on the part of Aboriginal and First Nations leaders to try and force the politicians to pay greater attention to Native issues.

The high degree of uncertainty in the outcome of the election is a good opportunity for Natives to exercise their voices in Canadian politics, he said.

Four ridings in Manitoba, including Churchill and Winnipeg North Central, have such a high proportion of eligible Native voters - almost 50 per cent in some cases - that Aboriginal peoples could send a real message to Ottawa if they chose, Fontaine said.

"But there's such a high degree of frustration," he said. "The electoral process is just another institution that denies us our place."