Speaking Notes For A Presentation To The Senate Standing Committee On
Aboriginal Peoples
By National Chief Patrick Brazeau
Congress Of Aboriginal Peoples
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario
{Check Against Delivery}
Good morning, Senator. I’m pleased to appear before you today in your role as Chairperson of the Standing Committee, and I offer my thanks to all members present here this morning.
I’d like to offer my sincere thanks, as well, to the Committee for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today to offer our views and ideas in respect of draft Bill S-216, An Act providing for the Crown’s recognition of self-governing First Nations of Canada.
Before I get to the essence of my message here today, I’d like to introduce -- or in some cases, re-introduce -- our organization to you. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is one of five national Aboriginal organizations recognized by the Government of Canada.
Since 1971, we have been the voice and political defender of the needs and aspirations of off-reserve Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
The quest towards self-government is an issue of tremendous personal importance to me -- just as I know from our own significant work around consultations on First Nations governance at the Congress, this subject is to First Nations citizens everywhere.
Senator St-Germain, let me begin by saying how pleased we are to see this draft piece of legislation that seeks to deal with one of the most fundamental elements of democracy – representative, transparent and accountable governance.
Since December 2003, when the former Liberal Government of Mr. Martin chose to kill legislative efforts at reforming Aboriginal governance, there has been far too little public or parliamentary debate about enacting any measures to ensure that First Nations communities can enjoy the same fundamental tools of governance that the rest of Canada takes for granted.
How can it be, that in 2007, there are reserve communities that do not allow their off-reserve members to participate in Band Council elections? How is it that the 1999 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada rendered in Corbiere v. Canada, which affirmed the rights of off-reserve to participate in community elections, is dismissed by band councils that opt out of Indian Act provisions and revert to customary election practices over which the government has no authority?
Where is the sense of democracy that sees off-reserves members counted in the per capita funding formula that determines the extent of federal funding, yet turns a blind eye to the systematic and purposeful exclusion of off-reserve band members in having access to, let alone a say in how funding for programs and services is allocated, or how the budgets for them are administered?
Why is it that the federal government still has the ultimate authority to determine who is and who is not a Status Indian?
It is questions such as these that any draft legislation originating from this place, or indeed from the other place in this parliament, should seek to deal with.
And so, Mr. Chairperson, it is because these questions persist that I again applaud the draft Bill under consideration. Yet, I must wonder aloud what it will take for Parliament to act in respect of reforming on-reserve Aboriginal governance? In a perfect world, the caucuses of all parties would agree that the situation on Indian Act reserves is nothing short of dreadful and serves as a blight on the reputation of Canada as a humane, caring and progressive nation.
One might hope that the House Leaders would agree to move on the reform of Aboriginal governance and permit Mr. Harper’s government to enter into consultation and dialogue with all First Nations peoples, both on- and off-reserve, with an aim to sustainably and pragmatically ending the prescriptive nightmare that is the Indian Act.
My posture in advocating for the retirement of the Indian Act is not new, nor is it uniquely my own. In its final report, issued over ten years ago, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples noted that while there were over 600 Indian Act Bands, there were in fact, between only sixty-to-eighty true, historical First Nations.
It was also noted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that “…because the right of self-government cannot reasonably be exercised by small, separate communities, RCAP recommends that this should be exercised by groups of a certain size – groups with a claim to the term “Nation”, that will have to reconstruct themselves as Nations.”
In so taking this position, it seems clear that there are indeed multiple lines of evidence to suggest that a network of 600-plus Indian Act bands does not equate to the modern manifestation of effective and accountable governance.
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples supports these views. We believe that true self-government must be vested with the true, traditional and historic First Nations. We do not and cannot support the notion of legitimizing a system of reserve communities, as prescribed under the provisions of the Indian Act, as the effective means of enacting the inherent right to self-government.
Any attempt at modernizing First Nations governance must be rooted in the recognizing, embracing and accommodating the needs, aspirations and views of the people – and not of the elite few in positions of power. In a fair and democratic society such as Canada, we, as politicians, cannot and must not let anything of the sort continue to happen.
Until the purposeful exclusion and ongoing discrimination of off-reserve status Indians by certain Chiefs and Band Councils ends – until the arbitrary application by Indian Affairs of labels and classes of Aboriginal status created by the machine which continues to breath life into the Indian Act is ended – until Canada’s non-status Indian population is freed from “Canada’s legacy of stereotyping and prejudice,” resulting in a “chronic pattern of being ignored by both the federal and provincial governments”, as the Supreme Court of Canada termed it, we, as Aboriginal leaders and Parliamentarians, together, have a moral duty and a sacred obligation to this country’s most disadvantaged to work to protect the interests of First Nations citizens.
As you are aware, Mr. Chairperson, I have appeared before this committee in the past, as a witness offering comment on previous Senate Bills in respect of First Nations governance. You will perhaps recall that at my last appearance, I spoke of CAP’s own pursuit of an Aboriginal Peoples Act, which we considered to be a model for the concept of nation recognition, a step we which we view as fundamental to the reform of Aboriginal governance.
We did so in the spirit of championing change – for we know that it is the role of Canada’s Parliament to develop, draft and enact the laws of this great nation. We continue to undertake robust communications efforts aimed at raising the bar on debate of solutions to the issues confounding First Nations peoples everywhere in this country, both on and away from Indian Act reserves.
I can tell you with conviction, that our posture, in defense of the people and critical of certain of the Chiefs, has resulted in provocative exchanges with some of our Brothers
on-reserve. But however controversial our position may be viewed by those with a stake in ensuring the status quo persists, you can be certain that our belief in the will of the grassroots people, and the value of the application of true democracy on First Nations reserve communities will not waver.
I have stated that the Indian Act is the single biggest contributing factor to Aboriginal poverty in this country and if we are going to offer any sense of hope to the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population, we must eliminate it and replace it with a model that is more democratic, accountable and sustainable.
And, so, Mr. Chairperson, and Committee Members, as I close my remarks this morning, I must ask myself and all of you here present, what must the circumstances be to bring about the will for change? When is the right time for all of us – and I mean ALL of us – to effect real change for real people in real need?
Must unemployment, poverty and despair increase? Must rates of infant mortality increase and life expectancy continue to drop? Must rates of suicide become worse? Must further opportunities for prosperity continue to evaporate for First Nations peoples, despite a thriving national economy?
Let me make it clear, my view of the Aboriginal landscape is one faced outward and forward, and not inward and backward. As the youngest National Aboriginal Leader in Canada I remain filled with hope in Aboriginal youth, respect for Aboriginal elders and belief in the will and spirit of Aboriginal women and their families.
The efforts that have guided the creation of draft Bill S-216 are to be commended. I ask that those of you in this place continue to safeguard the needs and promote the aspirations of First Nations peoples everywhere in this great and prosperous country. I would ask that you urge your colleagues in your respective caucuses to put aside partisanship. We need to bring Aboriginal governance out of the nineteenth century where it has so comfortably rested for the past 130 years. We need to ensure that our First Nations communities become beacons of accountability and transparency rather than shameful reminders of how Canada has let its first peoples down.
I am ready, willing and able to do whatever I can to make a difference. I am prepared to address your caucuses, to speak to your leaders, and to undertake whatever means will bring about real progress.
I need your help. I ask for your help. And I ask for your time and your dedication to help build a better future for the peoples on whose behalf I am here today.
Thank you, merci, Meegwetch.
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Director
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613-747-6022 (office)
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al@abo-peoples.org
