OTTAWA REPORT

Page 2

Have you ever seen one of those science fiction movies where Earth is invaded

by the kind of aliens that get into the minds and bodies of people but nobody suspects because the aliens look like normal people but then they start taking over and pretty soon everybody else is acting kind of weird and then the only normal people left in the whole world are you and your girlfriend and all of a sudden she gets a glassy look in her eye and wants to bite you on the back of the neck?

Well that kind of movie reminded me of the Liberal Party convention. No, I don't mean John Turner is an alien. He is a little strange sometimes, but then which politician isn't? And that's just the point.

Politics, at least the big-league version of it, is an alien force that's invading Indian, Metis and Inuit country. If we don't do something to stop the invasion, we - as Native people - are going to be swallowed up.

The danger I'm talking about is Native people getting actively involved in party politics. The Liberal Party convention provided a good example of some of the dangers. Just before the convention, the Native caucus of the Liberal party held a news conference to say that John Turner should be dumped as party leader. The Native Liberal leaders complained, without giving any details, that he is insensitive to Native concerns. Maybe they're right. But it didn't matter after they ended up on the losing side of John Turner's lopsided victory.

The leaders of the Native caucus lost any influence they once had with the party leadership. In fact, the only way they could have done themselves more harm was if they'd thrown up down Mila Mulroney's dress.

Of course, the Native Conservatives didn't do much better. They held the founding meeting of the Native Tory caucus the same week as the Liberal convention. The organizers spent months planning the meeting, getting the party president, two cabinet ministers and several Tory MPs to show up. But there were only 18 Native Tories in the seats when the meeting began.

Native Liberals and Native Tories justify their involvement in party politics with the same rationale. They say they want to increase public awareness of Native issues and influence party policy. They say it's all to the good. But is it? I don't think so - and here's why.

Native people who join political parties are not committing themselves to the advancement of Native people. Instead, they are committing themselves to advancing the interests of a political party.

The only good sign about this trend is that the aliens haven't taken over the entire Native population yet The Native caucuses of the liberals and the Tories claim just 200 members each. What makes this situation worse, though, is the large proportion of Native leaders who are involved.

Indian, Metis and Inuit leaders belong to all three parties. But they shouldn't be involved because a Native leader number one responsibility is to the people he or she represents. It's true that political parties need to be more aware of Native issues. But that's one of the very things that Native leaders and Native organizations should be doing in the first place.

The issue of Native involvement in party politics is even tougher when it comes to individual Native people because they don't have the responsibilities of leadership. But if we as Native people really believe that we should be self-governing - if we really believe that we should be dealing with Canada on a nation-to-nation basis - then we as individuals have a responsibility to build and support our own form of government and not someone else's.

We can't play both sides against the middle. In fact, the more we play the game of Canadian politics, the more we become like everyone else and the easier it will be for society and the government to abolish our rights. We have an obligation to support our leaders and to help build our own political institutions.

While we're doing that, we must fight off the aliens. So if yo see some slick-suited character coming at you with a big smile, a glassy stare and his arm outstretched wanting to grab you by the hand, it's probably an alien.

Don't try to run away, though. They're like grizzlies. They smell fear and they'll be on you in a flash. Remember, there's safety in numbers so stick together. But if you find yourself trapped, or outnumbered, back away very slowly and very carefully. Like a cross in front of a vampire, you can hold off an alien by using a calm but determined voice to repeat the following message: "I believe in Native self-government, I believe in Native self-government, I believe in Native self-government...."