Some chiefs plan boycott of meeting with the PM
Presentations expected on land claims, health, housing, education
OTTAWA — A much-anticipated meeting Friday between the Assembly of First Nations and Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared to be still a go, even after several chiefs said they will not attend.
How many would boycott the meeting wasn’t clear, as the chiefs met behind closed doors in a downtown Ottawa hotel arguing over the logistics of the meeting, which is to include Harper and senior cabinet ministers, but not the governor general.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo said he wouldn’t dictate which First Nations should go to the meeting, but that he would press the government for changes after a landmark meeting last year that didn’t have any real dialogue.
Chiefs from Manitoba had taken a hard line on how the meeting should be structured, saying that a face-to-face with Harper wasn’t enough: Gov. Gen. David Johnston had to attend as well. The sharp division was evident as up to 200 chiefs gathered at the hotel.
“No longer will the prime minister dictate to us,” said Onion Lake First Nation Chief Wallace Fox. “If we have to shut down this economy, then we will.”
Harper’s spokesman, Andrew MacDougall, tweeted that the prime minister “remains available to meet on Friday on the basis pre- viously agreed to by the AFN and regional chiefs.”
A statement from the AFN was expected Thursday night. Earlier in the day, Atleo called the planned meeting a “moment unlike any other” in the history of CrownFirst Nations relations, and insisted that aboriginals and non-aboriginals alike “must be seized by this moment.”
“There’s no going back to where we’ve come from before this moment,” Atleo at an afternoon news conference. “If the Crown does not respond, if we don’t find that Canadians are joining us and seeking to do the hard work of reconciliation, I am concerned about the safety of our people.”
Harper and a handful of ministers agreed to meet aboriginal leaders, including Atleo, for approximately four hours on Friday. The talks were always in danger of being boycotted by some chiefs unless Gov. Gen. David Johnston attended. Instead, the governor general has agreed to play host to them later in the day.
Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, Atleo admitted things were changing minute-by-minute.
But the AFN leadership insisted the meeting had to take place, sending a subtle message to those reconsidering attendance that not showing up could cause further unrest stirred by the Idle No More protest movement.
Failure to even attend the meeting — and therefore failing to achieve any results at all — would only exacerbate feelings of discontent and disconnect between aboriginals and a government they believe acts unilaterally without properly considering the impacts on First Nations communities, the AFN said.
The AFN was still discussing what, exactly, it wants out of the meeting. But generally, First Nations leaders seek a new agreement on resource development in which aboriginals would have a greater say in how development takes place, as well as earning more money from resource extraction on their territorial lands.
Adding such revenues to a band council’s pockets would help, for example, build a school on every reserve and better fund education, Atleo said.
Harper is to hold a 30-minute opening session with Atleo on Friday. That will be followed by a session on the treaty relationship and on aboriginal rights and economic development, which will be chaired by Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan, Treasury Board president Tony Clement, and AFN regional chiefs Perry Bellegarde
“There’s no going back to where we’ve come from before this moment.”
AFN NATIONAL CHIEF SHAWN ATLEO
and Wilson-Raybould.
It is during this session that chiefs from across the country were expected to present their specific treaty issues and requests. The presentations were to touch on issues such as land claims, housing on reserves, health and education.
Harper and Atleo were then to join a broader discussion on the issues in the late afternoon, setting the stage for another First NationsCrown gathering, probably around April, says one regional chief.