OTTAWA REPORT

Page 2

The First Ministers' Conference on Aboriginal rights is just a few weeks away and things don't look good. The Native groups and the government are locked in a stalemate. If no one breaks the logjam, there's a good chance the conference will end in failure. The stalemate became official this week when the four national Native groups agreed to take a joint position to the conference. Indian, Inuit and Metis leaders say they want the first ministers to amend Canada's constitution to recognize the basic Native rights to self-government. They also want adequate lands and resources. And they want the first ministers to negotiate self-government agreements with Native people on a local basis.

The federal government is preparing the conference agenda and it says there is not enough provincial support for the Native position. The government offer, therefore, is quite a bit less. Ottawa is offering the Native groups a constitutional amendment that would lead to self-government - maybe. The Native groups would become self-governing but only after they negotiate a self-government agreement with Ottawa and their respective provincial government.

It's clear the first ministers' conference is headed for a showdown because the Native groups want the right to self-government while Ottawa is only willing to give them the right to negotiate self-government.

It wasn't easy for the Native groups to arrive at a common position. The four groups split over basically the same proposal at the last constitutional conference in 1985. The Metis and non-status Indians were willing to accept the government offer then but the deal collapsed when the Indian and Inuit refused to go along.

This week's get-together was the first full-scale meeting of the national Native leaders in a year-and-a-half. They hammered out a common position behind closed doors this week, but only after a lot of tense and angry argument.

The common front is a victory for the Assembly of First Nations. The Indians convinced the Inuit and the Metis and non-status Indians to adopt its hard-line approach. The Metis National Council and the Native Council of Canada agreed to the joint position only when their major demand - the need for lands and resources - was included. The Inuit joined the common front but only after they were forced to back away from a position they had taken just a week earlier. The Inuit had written the premiers to tell them they were willing, essentially, to accept the government proposal.

When this week's meeting ended, there were expressions of Native unity all around. The Native leaders have since told the premiers that they will settle for nothing less than the right to self-government - with no strings attached.

Since they have failed to budge the government side in almost two years of talks, it's unlikely the Native leaders will be able to convince Ottawa or the provinces to change their stand before the conference begins.

The Native groups have been unable to break the deadlock by themselves and their last-minute hope is that their friends can help turn the tide. They recently staged an impressive demonstration of high-profile support in Toronto when a parade of big-names showed up to reinforce the call for the basic Native right to self-government. The list included New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent; Canadian autoworkers Union president Bob White; a Liberal party spokesman and the leaders of the eight major Canadian churches. The Native leaders also pointed to a recent public opinion poll that showed that Canadians want Native self-government more than they want a free trade

deal with the United States.

Native leaders were disappointed, angry and confused - and rightly so. It was a good story especially since it was a slow news day. Native leaders now have one more reason to complain that the media concentrated on negative Native news stories and ignores the positive ones. Because of a lack of media coverage, the Native groups hve been left to battle the government with little visible support - even though the labour movement, the churches, the Opposition parties and the public back their call for self-government.

There's no sign the governments or the Native groups are ready to back down. But there is every sign there will be a dramatic showdown at the first ministers'' conference. The stakes are high because this could be the last chance Native leaders have to get full recognition of Aboriginal rights. The pressure is increasing day-by-day on all the parties involved. The two sides ar are now eyeball to eyeball - and each side is waiting for the other to blink.