Lack of Native cabinet ministers not surprising

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The October election saw three Aborigjnal Liberal candidates elected to Parliament. Elijah Harper, Jack Anawak and Ethel Blondin-Andrew, who are all from northern ridings, could prove to be a strong voice in Ottawa for Natives. But the strength may be a long time coming.

Many people were expecting Blondin-Andrew's victory to extend beyond her own riding and all the way into a Cabinet posting. But it was not to be. Prime Minister Jean Chretien chose her for a Secretary of State position, not to lead the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development as some Native leaders had hoped.

Certainly, Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi was disappointed. Mercredi had met with Chretien in the week leading up to the Oct. 25 vote. It was rumored the two men discussed the role the First Nations would play in a Liberal majority government and the likelihood of having Native as head of DIAND.

Mercredi called Chretien's choice of longtime party-supporter and Sault Sainte Marie MP Ron Irwin a "disappointment." But consider Chretien's options. Blondin-Andrew has only been in federal politics since 1988. In her own words, she's a rookie. Chretien is building his Cabinet on the basis of merit and effort. In his own words, his ministers have to earn their seats in the inner circle.

Elijah Harper, as the so-called Native slayer of the Meech Lake Accord, should not hold his breath in anticipation of a leading role in the Liberal government. Chretien made it known even before the election was announced that any member of the party would have to tow the party line and that line once included Meech.

Anawak was the Northern Affairs critic for the Liberals when they were the official opposition. The only appointments left that he might still slip into (at press time) could be a chair of a House of Commons Committee, which doesn't include any extra pay, or a parliamentary secretary to a minister, which does include an extra $10,000 a year. As with his former seat as an opposition critic, neither of the other two positions guarantee a future appointment to the Cabinet. So at best, Anawak's victory might garner him a promotion on the hill as a ministerial secretary. At worst, he stays in the backbenches.

Blond-Andrew has done the best of the three. The new Prime Minister himself started building his reputation from a Secretary of State position and Blondin-Andrew should consider her appointment to the portfolio of youth and training as her own personal training for a future Cabinet position.

Her appointment to a secretary of state position should really come as no surprise, not even to Mercredi. There were, even before the final vote count was in, strong concerns of a possible conflict of interest if Blondin-Andrew was to lead Indian Affairs. Some northern leaders were concerned that having her as the Minister could present problems, particularly for the northern development section of that portfolio.

As it is, Blondin-Andrew says she will always be a conduit for Native and Northern Affairs and will assist Minister Irwin in his efforts regardless of her position in the government. Perhaps that's best.

Besides, if Chretien has his way, there will be no Indian Affairs department by the time Blondin-Andrew has earned her way to a Cabinet position. The PM has said he is all for disbanding the department and handing the responsibilities over to the First Nations. And the death of DIAND (and subsequently the Indian Act) is, after all, what many of us want more than anything else, anyway.