Views of off reserve Aboriginal  people to be sought on 
First Nations Governance Initiatives 

The  views and suggestions of the largest number of Aboriginal people living in Canada will be sought as Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault gets ready to prepare a legislative package for presentation to Parliament this Fall on the First Nations Governance Initiative.

The announcement was made today by Dwight Dorey, Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the national organization that represents the interests of  more than 850,000 Aboriginal peoples living away from reserves in cities and towns across Canada.

 Minister  Nault has agreed to provide funding to the Congress and its provincial and territorial affiliates to obtain the views and recommendations on the proposed changes to the Act from its constituents at the regional and community level during all phases of the consultation process, including the final legislative phase.  The process is expected to be completed by November 2002.

 Chief Dorey said that involving off-reserve Aboriginal peoples on governance issues is critical to the success of any legislative initiatives that may result from the consultation process leading to changes to the Indian Act.

"It is absolutely crucial that my organization and the people we represent are included in the process since we have such a major stake in what may result,"  the chief said.  "The provisions of the Indian Act have a direct effect on registered Indians living away from reserves, and on many  non-status Indians as well."  He added,  "our exclusion from the Act because of its archaic, discriminatory status and residency provisions has seriously affected our ability to access our Aboriginal rights to land and resources and for the past hundred years has divided our families and driven wedges between us and our relatives living on reserves."

 Chief Dorey said his preference in addressing these kinds of issues is to follow the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recommendation of establishing a department of Aboriginal Affairs that would accommodate the interests of all Aboriginal peoples in the country, but acknowledged the difficulties associated with such a major step in a near-term time frame.

"Ideally, I would like to see the Indian Act replaced entirely by legislation better able to deal with modern Aboriginal needs and conditions and hope that perhaps substantive changes to the present Act now will be a step in that direction."

 "Minister Nault’s efforts through this initiative  at least represent an attempt to drag the archaic  and discriminatory Indian Act kicking and screaming into the new millennium," said the chief. "As it is now the Act is an anachronistic relic of colonialism and any contribution we can make via the consultation process toward ending the discriminatory and paternalistic consequence of the Act we hope will not only benefit all Aboriginal peoples in their daily struggle to achieve a decent living standard but finally put an end to our humiliating dependency status.

 He said the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has established a secretariat at its headquarters in Ottawa to oversee all phases of the governance initiative.  Provincial and territorial affiliates will be responsible primarily for community level consultations to ensure grass roots people have full input into the initiative.

 Chief  Dorey expects that such extensive involvement by off-reserve Aboriginal peoples in the First Nations Governance Initiative will be invaluable in recommending options that could substantially improve the Indian Act and related federal Aboriginal policies and programs.  Chief Dorey applauds Minister Nault’s efforts to ensure the voice of off-reserve Aboriginal peoples is heard.