What does $10 million buy?

Page 4

Editorial

The proof is in the pudding, or so the old saying goes, and the Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, is preparing to serve up a heaping helping of governance initiative soon in Ottawa.

Once the prime minister gives the draft First Nations governance act legislation the once over, for the purpose of ensuring it's to his taste and serves his legacy issue requirements, no doubt, the country will see just how much $10 million in consultations buys.

Not that $10 million buys that much in Ottawa these days-a couple of recycled advertising reports would eat up a tenth- but we are curious to find out to what extent Nault's consultation process will flavor the results of legislation that will fundamentally change the Indian Act, and the way First Nations communities run, forever. The Indian Act offered up a steady bout of acid indigestion over the last hundred years, but it's familiar fare. What will come with this new dish?

Congress of Aboriginal People's National Chief, Dwight Dorey, whose organization bought into the consultation process and landed a cool $1 million in new money to take part, has gone on the record saying he'll be Nault's staunchest critic if the consultations turn out to be meringue, a lot of air and not much else. And there are other groups watching, pinning their hopes on being at the table over these last months to add their issues to the mix. We would hate to see them betrayed.

As for the Assembly of First Nations, the group that's supposed to have an eye on the brew bubbling at INAC, they are still scrapping over whether they are going to join in the process. Well, even if they decide to participate they are a day late and a dollar short on this round.

Perhaps, if the unity resolution the chiefs just passed in May at their confederacy in Ottawa actually sticks, they might be able to add their influence to the act in Consultations II. But with the AFN's track record of late, who knows?