Native leaders frown on self-government plans

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Native leaders were quick to attack Ottawa's plans to launch self-government negotiations outside the realm of the Constitution.

The head of the Assembly of First Nations was outraged that federal and provincial officials plan to treat Natives' inherent right to self-government as an already-existing right in the Constitution.

"We have no legal certainty that any agreement we reach with the federal government and the provincial governments will be legally enforceable," said Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi.

"The way it's set up right now, there's no guarantee in the absence of the explicit recognition of the right that agreements that we make with the government of Canada will supersede federal or provincial law."

Native Council of Canada president Ron George also said Ottawa's proposed offers Natives nothing in the way of financing or certainty in negotiations.

Their comments came one day after provincial Aboriginal affairs ministers met with federal Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Toronto. They agreed that Native self-government should be treated as an already-existing inherent right in Section 35 of the Constitution.

Quebec Aboriginal Affairs Minister Christos Sirros also suggested a process to create a set of principles to allow Native groups across Canada to start self-government negotiations with federal and provincial officials.

Ottawa will not open the Constitution to legislate Native self-government, Irwin said. The Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accords were too destructive to warrant any further constitutional reforms.

Native self-government is already an existing right in Section 35, he said.

"The prime minister has said it, I've said it. It's in our speech from the Throne. Other than having angels come down and singing hallelujah whenever we say it, that's the best we can do. It exists and that's the premise we're operating on."

Ottawa will also bring land claim settlements and resource management deals into self-government negotiations, Irwin said.

"I think the divvying up of resources, whether it's income tax or GST or royalties, has to be part and parcel of the discussions...There has to be a resource base, the same way the provinces in Canada have. I don't think you can have self-government in a vacuum."

But establishing Native self-government through a simple transfer of powers will do little more than entrench the way Ottawa already deals with Natives, Mercredi said.

And the governments' presumption that self-government already exists in Section 35 is no guarantee that federal or provincial officials actually believe in the right, he added.