Strengthen Canada,
Respect Fundamental Rights
Recognizing
that any changes to the Indian Act will affect a significant part
of our off-reserve Aboriginal constituency, the Congress is participating
in federal consultations on the First Nations Governance Initiative
(FNGI) to reform the Indian Act. Our core philosophy is that if
we want Aboriginal peoples to benefit, we must participate, and
contribute to the affairs of the country in which we live.
Announced
in the spring 2001 by Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault,
the stated aim
of FNGI is to give Indian Act bands the tools necessary for good
‘governance’ and
economic development.
The
government identified three priorities for legal reform:
1)
Leadership selection and voting rights for Indian Act bands,
2)
Political and fiscal accountability of band councils
3)
Legal status and capacity of Indian Act bands.
Timeframe
for Change
FNGI
consists of three phases: the pre-legislative consultation phase,
the drafting and parliamentary phase, and the regulatory phase.
A bill is likely to be introduced by the summer of 2002.
The
Minister has indicated that he intends to have new legislation
in place by 2003.
Listening
to the Aboriginal People
The
federal government launched a consultation process with Aboriginal
peoples to discuss what changes should be made in the three areas.
This
first phase of the consultations began in April 2001 and ended
in November 2001.
The
federal government has said it will listen to comments from Aboriginal
people about other matters beyond the scope of the FNGI.
This
is a good thing since several key concerns of CAP, such as Indian
status and band membership, fall outside the FNGI mandate for
change.
In
total, 1,775 Aboriginal people participated in 76 community consultation
sessions conducted by CAP through our provincial organizations
(PTOs).
These
consultation sessions were held at the regional and community
level where many off-reserve Aboriginal people came forward to
express their views about the Indian Act and this initiative.
Although
these consultation sessions were aimed at status Indians living
off-reserve, our sessions were open to non-status Indians, status
Indians from reserves, and other interested persons.
