Premiers endorse self-government

Page 3

Support for Native self-government among Canada's provincial and territorial leaders is still alive and well.

The 10 provincial and two territorial premiers agreed at a two-day meeting in Nova Scotia last month to try and restart Native self-government negotiation, said Ron George, head of the Native Council of Canada (NCC).

"They've always been in favour of it," he said. "They agreed to it in the Charlottetown Accord. We've continued to work on it outside the constitution."

The NCC and other Native groups have been working with provincial officials on furthering self-government for First Nations since the death of the Charlottetown Accord, almost a year ago, said George.

Those discussions were not, however, about a blanket self-government policy for all bands in Canada, he said. Talks with the provinces have focused primarily on a process that will empower individual First Nations to negotiate for themselves.

"No one is going to agree with self-government," he said. "We are agreeing to a process so that our member organizations will have a process wherethey can negotiate self-government."

Negotiating self-government process should be easier now that the provinces have agreed to bring Ottawa into the talks, he added.

Ovide Mercredi, Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said it was urgent that self-government talks resume soon to prevent further conflicts like such as those which took place earlier this year on reserves in Saskatchewan and Manitoba over gambling.

But the assembly will not take part in any talks unless the federal government takes part in the negotiations, he said.

Ottawa's position on self-government is still unclear, said Rosemarie Kuptana, head of the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada.

"There's always been strong support for Native self-government the majority

of the provincial governments. The federal government has to decide what to do about it, what to do in terms of a self-government agenda, including the Inuit."

Unlike Mercredi and other Native leaders, she never saw the referendum's defeat as a rejection of self-government, Kuptana said. The trick now will be to see what happens at the federal level as Ottawa's support for self-government during to the Conservative leadership race in June has subsequently evaporated.

"Once the leadership race was over, that position seemed to have changed," she said. "There seems to be a double standard. They entered into discussions with Quebec and with New Brunswick and implemented language rights. So why can't they do the same thing with the self-government package of the Charlottetown Accord."

Ottawa's endorsement of Native self-government appeared to lapse last month when newly-appointed Indian Affairs Minister Pauline Browes announced during a press conference that the federal government could not support Native self-rule. The minister claimed that the defeat of the constitutional package last October signalled Canadians' unwillingness to consider the idea.

But Browes' statements were blown out of proportion, said George.

"She only said she wouldn't recognize the inherent right to self-government. And she was receiving advice from an ill-informed adviser. It was understand that what we did in Charlottetown was done to set things down and clarify things."

Many of the premiers said there is no more time to wait. Ontario is already under pressure to address Native concerns such as health care, housing and social services, said Premier Bob Rae.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said a national solution is unlikely and Native leaders would be better off to make agreements directly with the provinces.