| The 1993 Report suggested that what was needed was a dramatic gesture of confidence by the Government — a new initiative from the Government that would acknowledge constitutional responsibility and place relations between the Innu and the Government on a new footing. The acknowledgement of constitutional responsibility that eventually came was neither dramatic nor one to inspire confidence. It came piecemeal, and seemingly grudgingly, and was accompanied by doubts, steps backwards and significant concerns over the financial implications of the new relationship. Moreover, progress was often the result of political intervention, although from the Innu point of view, political commitments often seemed to be forgotten once the matter returned to the bureaucratic level. There is no doubt that the Government has responded in terms of funding and in terms of the numbers of people in the federal system now dealing with Innu issues. However, the machinery of the governmental bureaucratic processes does not always seem attuned to responding to Innu needs and problems. On the positive side, relocation of the Mushuau Innu presents a major opportunity. At the same time, ensuring its success represents a major challenge. Equally, the transition to registration and reserve creation, the comprehensive settlement of land claims and the negotiation of self-government arrangements represent both opportunities and challenges for the Innu and the Government. The future does not lie solely in institutional arrangements, although they play a key role in ensuring that the Innu can take responsibility for their own lives. The test of the relationship between the Innu and the Government over the next five to 10 years has to be measured in terms of the health of Innu children, women, men and families; in terms of the education that Innu children are receiving; and in terms of the preservation of Innu language and culture. Those are the true tests of whether the Government is fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility towards the Innu. Indeed, those issues should be the specific subject of the next review by the Canadian Human Rights Commission of the relationship between the Innu and the Government
RECOMMENDATION 6 That the Canadian Human Rights Commission review the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations in the 1993 Report and this Follow-Up Report in five years’ time. |
Back to top Summary of Conclusions | 1. | The Government has implemented the first recommendation of the 1993 Report that it formally acknowledge its constitutional responsibility to the Innu.
| | 2. | The Government has implemented the first part of the second recommendation in the 1993 Report, that it enter into direct funding arrangements with the Innu.
| | 3. | The Government has not implemented that part of the second recommendation in the 1993 Report, under which the Innu were to be provided with access to all federal funding, programs and services that were available to status, on-reserve Indian people in Canada. However, it has implemented part of this recommendation and it has, albeit belatedly, set in motion a process — registration and the creation of reserves — that will ensure the Innu have access to all federal funding, programs and services that are available to status, on-reserve Indian people in Canada.
| | 4. | The Government has not implemented that aspect of the second recommendation in the 1993 Report that called on the Government of Canada to preserve "the unique aspects of existing arrangements such as the outposts program."
| | 5. | Although the Government did enter into self-government negotiations with the Innu as proposed in the third recommendation in the 1993 Report, placing those negotiations in abeyance with no plan for recommencing them means that the third recommendation of the 1993 Report has not been implemented.
| | 6. | The Government is in the process of implementing its commitment to the relocation of the Mushuau Innu to the site chosen by them as proposed in the fourth recommendation in the 1993 Report.
| | 7. | The Government has gone a significant way towards implementing the fifth recommendation in the 1993 Report that it provide the funding necessary to implement the Report’s recommendations. However, the issue will remain open until all of the recommendations have been fully implemented.
| | 8. | Although the actions of the Government in respect of the Innu conform to some of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, such as the building of the community at Natuashish and in some respects health reform, in many critical areas such as education and self-government there is little evidence that the recommendations of the Royal Commission have been implemented at all in respect of the Innu.
| | 9. | There is an opportunity for the Government to reach a comprehensive land claims settlement with the Innu. There is momentum on the Innu side, arising out of their new proposals and the opportunities provided by the Voisey’s Bay development, that will be lost if the Government does not match that momentum. Progress requires a clear commitment by the Government and the early resumption of self-government negotiations.
| | 10. | Unless the Government acts to ensure that the Innu are able to take responsibility for their own affairs and are able to move to self-government, Canada is at risk of violating its international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, in dealing with the children of the Innu communities of Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu, Canada is obliged under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to have the well-being and best interests of the children as a primary consideration.
| | 11. | Funding to the Innu should take account of the fact that they have been disadvantaged by the failure of the Government to exercise its fiduciary obligation to the Innu, and any remission order in respect of taxes should be dated from 18 August 1993. |
Back to top Summary of Recommendations | 1. | That the Government immediately resume self-government negotiations with the Innu, and that it complete such negotiations within the next five years.
| | 2. | That the Government enter into negotiations with the Innu with a view to enabling them, following registration, to take responsibility for education and health in their communities. The devolution of such responsibility to the Innu should be completed within two years.
| | 3. | That the Government provide full and continuous funding for the outposts program and similar Innu-directed initiatives to enhance health and education through the preservation of Innu language, traditional skills and culture.
| | 4. | That the Government provide funding and training for the Mushuau Innu to enable an effective relocation to Natuashish and to ensure that the new community is able to function into the future.
| | 5. | That, if serious progress is not achieved in negotiations on self-government within two years, and serious progress is not achieved in the devolution of responsibility for education and health within one year, a mediator should be appointed to assist the parties.
| | 6. | That the Canadian Human Rights Commission review the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations in the 1993 Report and this Follow-Up Report in five years’ time.
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