Ottawa Report

Page 2

McKnight's track record shows he should call it quits

Bill McKnight became the Minister of Indian Affairs one year ago. He didn't celebrate then because he didn't want the job. But he's worked at it ever since. Now, twelve months later, Bill McKnight still doesn't have much to celebrate. He hasn't accomplished much and he doesn't seem to care. AS a result, most native leaders want him replaced. A look at McKnight's record over the past year explains how this happened.

After he became the Minister, McKnight said he would work toward two main goals. One of them was economic development. Twelve months later, Bill McKnight can't brag about his record in that area. The only new initiatives he's taken have been so small they're almost invisible.

His second major goal is self-government. He's made little visible progress in this area as well. His only "achievement" was the Sechelt self-government legislation and most of the credit for that goes to his predecessor, David Crombie.

McKnight is still negotiating with about 40 other bands who want their own deal on self-government. But progress is still a long way off and it's a long way from the kind of self-government that most of the other bands in the country are talking about. His only other experience in the field of self-government has been a bad one. In March the Cree of Quebec sued the Government for $31 million. McKnight and the Tories, they say, are refusing to honour an agreement to finance the full cost of self-government for the Cree.

Over the past year, McKnight has made just one major policy change. He fixed some, but not all, of the problems in the Government's land claims policy. It's been six months since he introduced the new policy. There is still no light at the end of the lands claim tunnel.

Over the past year, McKnight has had to deal with Bill C-31 and it's given him plenty of headaches. When he became the Minister, the reinstatement program was out of control. McKnight got the program on-track and reduced the huge backlog of applications. On the other hand, though, McKnight refuses to give any assurance to the bands that he will provide them with the extra land and services they'll need to take care of the increase in band populations.

When Native groups complain about money, McKnight likes to point out that he has increased the level of overall spending in his department. Despite the increases, though, the spending levels have never matched the level of need. What's more, they've helped to hide the spending cutbacks that have taken place in a number of program areas. One of the cruelest cuts, for example, will affect student financing for post-secondary education. Another cutback will kill the hopes of 100 bands across the country that want to separate or relocate.

Those, then are the, "highlights" of the Minister's record this past year. It's not a pretty picture. In fact, the ugliest part of McKnight's bad-guy image has nothing to do with programs or policy. His biggest fault seems to be that he just doesn't care about Native people or their problems. When he's faced with native hopes or Native misery, McKnight shows all the care and concern of a cash register. The one message he has delivered throughout the year goes like this: "things are tough all over so be grateful for what you've got."

For his part, McKnight call the past twelve months "a learning year". He says his biggest failure was not meeting the financial needs of Indian and Inuit people. He says his biggest success was "building up a relationship with Indian leaders."

Some relationship! In June the Assembly of First Nations passed a resolution, unanimously, calling for McKnight's replacement. The resolution called him "negligent" and "incompetent". The Inuit are just are angry. The national Inuit organization passed a resolution in April calling for him to quit and be replaced. Even Thomas Suluk, the Inuit Member of Parliament and a member of McKnights own party, says he sould be replaced.

But not everyone has a low opinion of McKnight. People who watch him in Parliament say he's doing a good job. He's got a reputation as a solid and dependable team player. From the Government side of things, he does deserve credit for keeping a lid on a crisis-ridden portfolio. He's had some help in that regard since the first Ministers process shifted attention away from his department for most of the past year.

But the focus is now increasingly on him and his department. It's clear that McKnight's own political agenda has gone nowhere. What's more, he faces some whopping financial problems that will only get worse. He wants out of the job and he has been rumoured to be part of a summer cabinet shuffle . Native leaders want him replaced even though a shuffle will freeze progress in the department for at least six months while a new minister learns the job. If McKnight is shuffled, they say, it won't make any difference ? the bureaucrats will still be running the show. They say that a new minister ? almost anyone ? would be an improvement.

So what this all adds up to is a message for Brian Mulroney: if you're reading this Brian ? move Bill McKnight out of Indian Affairs, for his sake and for ours.