Relocation offer doesn't meet needs

Page 4

The saga of government incompetence over relocating the people of Davis Inlet continues well into 1994 with Ottawa's most recent proposal to the Mushuau Innu.

Apparently unable to let Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells bear the brunt of public and media scorn for his pig-headed refusal to listen to the Innu, Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin has now made his move to become the epitome of government obstinacy.

Irwin's Feb. 25 offer to relocate the village falls short on numerous fronts. Incumbent in the document was the usual labyrinth of bureaucratic bafflegab used to avoid the Innu's best interest.

Davis Inlet Chief Katie Rich and Innu Nation president Peter Penasue have both criticized the federal government for failing to listen to their recommendation to move the community as they see fit.

One of the problems the two have with the proposal lies in Irwin's reluctance to accept the Innu's comprehensive community plan prior to relocation. Past relocation decisions by government have been disastrous. The Canadian Human Rights Commission was quite clear that the formula for relocation should be at the Innu's discretion.

The feds have implemented some of the Innu's comprehensive seven-point plan, developed more than a year ago. But many of the key elements, chiefly the Innu's right to go where they know their interests will be best served, were overlooked in favor of the government apparent need to run the whole show.

The Innu might still get to Sango Bay, but only after Ottawa conducts several studies and assessment and comes to its own accord with the province of Newfoundland. That line of thinking flies in the face of the Innu's question for autonomy and helps fortify the bureaucracy that landed the Natives in that desolate wasteland in the first place. Irwin's counter-proposal seems to be based on the same rationale that Premier Wells has employed for the last 14 months - that the Innu are no more than children who need to be taken by the hand and shown what's best for them.

Rather than perpetuate the paternalistic attitude that has corrupted the Innu's way of life, Ottawa would be better off to listen more closely to what the Natives are asking for, chiefly their independence, and then do what it must to help them get it.