A third way: for many decades Ottawa's approach to First Nations was to absorb them into mainstream society. In response to Native pressure, the federal government moved towards nationhood, treaties, land claims, and self-government for Aboriginal Peoples. Neither approach has been successful in dealing with First Nations' problems. Is it time to move to plan C?(FIRST NATIONS--FUTURE)

Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder

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COPYRIGHT 2006 Canada & the World

The Indian Act is now well past its best-before date. The act was crafted in the Victorian era by people who had the best of intentions. It was supposed to protect Native People from thieving crooks. There were plenty of people ready to try and steal what remained of the Indians' once-vast territories; those areas set aside by treaties. The Act has been tweaked and revised several times, but its core provisions remain much the same.

Here's what former deputy minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Harry Swain, has written about the Indian Act.

"It defines who 'Indians' are to establish eligibility for land and services but, in the process, separates people who have 'status' under the act and their cousins who do not. It imposes a primitive form of European democracy on Indian bands, without recognizing traditional forms of governance. In reserving to the Crown the management of Indian lands and resources in order to prevent theft, it condemns those it governs to a life without those property rights that are the foundation of the prosperity of all other Canadian households."

So, if the chief bureaucrat in charge of administering the Indian Act thinks it's less than worthless why does it survive?

For one thing it's a political hot potato. Robert Nault found this out to his cost. In June 2002, Mr. Nault was the Indian Affairs Minister, when he introduced the First Nations Governance Act. This was a plan to change the 19th century. Indian Act and make it relevant to the 21st century.

Under the new law, Aboriginal Canadians would no longer be exempt from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Native bands would have to develop a more democratic system of choosing their leaders. Band members living off reserve would have the right to vote in band council elections. The leaders would also have to set up clear rules about how they could spend their grants from Ottawa, and outside auditors would have the right to examine band accounts. The changes also would have made band councils more accountable.

The proposal blew up in Mr. Nault's face. Opposition was nearly universal among First Nations; and plenty of outside observers also found a lot to criticize. Much of the resistance resulted from the way the change was handled. Aboriginals felt the authorities were, yet again, telling them that they knew what was best for them. Band chiefs and councillors didn't much like the plan because it is from the Indian Act that they get their power.

In the end, the First Nations Governance Act did not survive the change of prime ministership from Jean Chretien to Paul Martin in December 2004. Robert Nault's career as a cabinet minister came to an end...

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