Speaking Notes
for the Honourable Robert D. Nault, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Recommending to Committee for Debate of Bill C-61
The First Nations Governance Act
Ottawa, Ontario
June 17, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I move:
That Bill C-61, an Act respecting leadership selection, administration
and accountability of Indian bands, and to make related amendments to other Acts,
be referred forthwith to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern
Development and Natural Resources.
Mr. Speaker, I am rising in the today to speak about the First Nations Governance
Act, a Bill I introduced a few days ago. With the consent of the House, I would
like to refer the Bill to committee immediately, prior to second reading. I would
like to explain why I am making this request, but in order to do that I think
we should take a few minutes to discuss the Bill itself.
The First Nations Governance Act is the foundation of our work together in
building a prosperous and sustainable future for First Nations. I believe the
Bill meets the government's commitment in the Speech From the Throne to work
with First Nations to develop the tools they need to build a better future for
themselves and their communities.
The current Indian Act denies band governments the most fundamental tools needed
to manage their own affairs in a modern society: tools for governance, tools
necessary to build strong economies and healthy societies, tools other communities
in Canada take for granted.
Our government has committed to strengthening our relationship with First Nations
people. As I have said, the Bill has been written by over 10,000 First Nations
people who worked in partnership and in good faith with my government. We see
this legislation as the foundation for a series of legislative initiatives that
will help improve the lives of First Nations people and their communities.
With the launch of Bill C-61, we are proposing to establish a new statutory
and regulatory framework for First Nations governance, a framework that would
put the authority and decision making power that the Indian Act took away 126
years ago back into the hands of First Nations people.
The Bill provides for the creation of governance systems for First Nations
by First Nations. It represents a fundamental shift away from the colonial approach
of the Indian Act. This legislation will replace the roadblocks of the old Indian
Act with modern tools of governance and a bridge to self-government. Let me
be clear right from the start: Bill C-61 would not replace existing treaties
or affect self-government and treaty negotiations, although it will help us
move forward on both fronts. Neither would the act have any impact on the crown's
fiduciary responsibilities.
With that, let me get back to some of the fundamental calls for change that
have resulted in the proposed legislation before the House today. We all agree
that the status quo is not acceptable. Certainly both First Nations people and
all Canadians recognize the need for change, and increasingly they also recognize
the link between good governance and socioeconomic development.
Further, in the supreme court's decision in the Corbiere case, the court used
the charter to strike down the on reserve residency requirement for voting in
Indian Act elections. Now we have the amended the Indian band election regulations
under the act to facilitate off reserve voting in the short term. However, we
were faced with the choice of modifying only the elections regime under the
Indian Act or trying to address the larger issues that face First Nations through
improving governance under the Indian Act. The Bill reflects the feedback we
received from First Nations, our Speech From the Throne commitments and our
decision to work with First Nations to address the larger Corbiere decision
issues.
We also acknowledge that self-government is the goal for many First Nations.
In fact, it is also the goal of this government, but it is important to remember
that self-government must be negotiated and that negotiations do take time.
In fact, at the current rate of negotiations, we are still 60 years away from
the last self-government agreement.
While we continue to work toward self-government at over 80 negotiating tables
with many First Nations, we must not forget those who are not yet ready to come
to the table. Are we to abandon efforts of capacity building and improving quality
of life in their communities? Definitely not. This is yet another reason why
this proposed First Nations Governance Act is so important: to build a bridge
to self-government together with those communities that are not yet at the negotiating
table.
Part of that bridge is the proposed legislation before us today. It has been
drafted with extensive input from First Nations people. The Bill reflects our
dialogue with the people we serve and their feedback. When we launched the First
Nations governance initiative over a year ago, we purposely set out to consult
with the people who would be most directly affected by this legislation.
First Nations people understand the connection between effective governance
and economic progress. They realize that leaving the Indian Act as it is means
leaving their communities without the tools they need to make the progress they
want. More than two-thirds of First Nations people recently polled by Ekos said
that citizens should have a voice in decisions affecting them and 71% agreed
that providing the tools for effective governance will improve conditions for
social and economic development. Just as important in the same poll, only 13%
supported completely scrapping the act and a full 86% supported changing the
act.
The proposed First Nations Governance Act has been built from the ground up.
It is based on the most extensive consultations ever undertaken with First Nations.
We held an unprecedented 470 consultations and information sessions with more
than 200 First Nations communities. Ten thousand First Nations people participated.
Just for comparison, when the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples held its
meetings, it took four years to complete less than 100 meetings. When I state
that 10,000 First Nations people participated in governance discussions, we
must keep in mind that if proportionately the same number of Canadians were
consulted it would add up to nearly a million voices.
We also consulted with chiefs, both independently and through their affiliation
with the Assembly of First Nations. We created a joint ministerial advisory
committee made up of representatives from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
and the National Aboriginal Women's Association to provide technical advice
and help ensure that the legislation reflects the needs of the people it will
serve.
In short, this process and this Bill must be about people, not politics. It
must be about sharing best practices and about focusing on progress, not problems.
It is precisely because the First Nations Governance Act was built on their
input and advice that I am therefore asking today that the House support a motion
to refer this legislation to committee for its review before second reading.
This will enable committee members to examine the principle of the Bill prior
to second reading. For those who worked with us and those who want to join in
the process, it will provide the maximum opportunity to provide input.
I believe the committee will hear important testimony from the people. I also
feel that the committee must have the ability to change the Bill to ensure that
it reflects the needs and requests of those who come to speak before it. I want
to make sure this is the best piece of legislation possible. I know the committee
is up to the challenge.
As the House knows, I come from a constituency of 51 first nation communities.
I know that they, along with non-first nation communities in my riding and communities
across this country, want to build an economy to improve their quality of life.
They want to build a future for their families and they want to do this in partnership
with their neighbours.
Many first nation communities, like those I have mentioned in my own riding,
are facing the dilemma of how to start down the path to a prosperous future
when there is very little about their community over which they have control
or responsibility.
While we continue to pursue negotiated self-government agreements with First
Nations, we cannot wait for these agreements to be reached as the only means
of moving forward with practical bread and butter issues facing First Nations
people in Canada today. We can make progress on both implementing treaty rights
and improving day to day quality of life.
The proposed First Nations Governance Act is geared toward removing the impediments
to progress that the Indian Act represents, providing first nation communities
operating under the act with the tools they need to foster effective, responsible
and accountable governance.
As the House may know, all modern self-government agreements include a chapter
on governance. By creating a legislative base for First Nations under the Indian
Act, we hope to build the governance capacity of First Nations which will not
only serve them in the interim but will reduce negotiation time when those bands
choose to move from the Indian Act to self-government. While negotiations for
future self-government do take time, we want to build a bridge to that future.
In the past two years we have come a long way to providing the tools to achieve
this. If we join the dots we can see the foundations of a more successful self-reliant
future for First Nations.
As the House will recall, we have increased investments in economic development
from $25 million to $125 million. This in turn leveraged over $400 million investments
in jobs and businesses for First Nations. We have opened the First Nations Land
Management Act which empowers First Nations to develop their own land use planning
codes. It put key tools to attract further investment to the community back
into the hands of chiefs and councils.
We recently introduced legislation to speed up specific claims resolution.
Again this process will mean that with more certainty over land ownership investors
can come to the communities with more confidence, and communities can come to
the negotiating table with confidence, confidence that specific claims can be
dealt with fairly and quickly.
Moments ago I announced the national working group on First Nations education.
That working group will bring together studies, recommendations and the experience
of First Nations people on how to improve education for aboriginal children.
By improving education, it will provide a roadmap to a more confident and successful
future for young aboriginals. With confidence comes success and with success
comes the resources and the capacity to deal with the bread and butter issues.
The government has moved to fight poverty and inequality by investing, by returning
power and authority to the communities, and with a hand up, not a handout. That
philosophy of a hand up is also what governance is about.
The proposed First Nations Governance Act will lay the foundation for an enhanced
relationship between the Government of Canada and First Nations, and between
First Nations and their citizens. These are relationships built on the democratic
principles which we as Canadians hold so dearly, relationships built on true
respect for the rights and traditions of First Nations people.
The Bill will not be part of the Indian Act. As I said, it is a break from
the colonial approach of the Indian Act. It is stand-alone legislation. At the
same time Bill C-61 would see band governments more politically and financially
accountable to their own people. The legislation is intended to promote free
and open elections to ensure First Nations people are able to fully exercise
their democratic principles.
Individual band members would have access to information and a direct voice
in decision making about their community's development. It would also give them
the right to redress for grievances against the band and the section of the
Indian Act which stops First Nations people from accessing the Canadian Human
Rights Commission would be repealed.
The First Nations Governance Act would promote the adoption by communities
of codes to deal with elections, financial management and accountability. The
codes can be as simple or as complex as they choose so long as they meet local
needs.
While the Bill would provide clarity, it also offers the necessary flexibility
to respond to each community's unique circumstances.
The legislation would also pave the way to create an advisory body to support
First Nations as they take on added roles to build better communities. The advisory
body could assist with developing codes for governance, leadership selection
and financial management, as well as providing a process for complaints and
appeals.
Most important, the proposed act would give band governments the tools they
may require to address socioeconomic challenges and improve living conditions
as they work toward self-government.
In drafting this part of the legislation, it was our intention to clearly establish
the legal capacity of bands: their capacity to make contracts, to deal with
property matters and to raise money to invest, borrow or spend in the best interest
of business and their communities.
It is equally an incentive for the private sector to pursue partnerships with
First Nations. These changes, we believe, would attract economic growth as the
business community gains confidence in bands' administrative abilities and capacity
to make sound decisions affecting community development.
As I have noted, more than 10,000 first nation people helped to shape the proposed
legislation which would provide the missing and necessary tools to achieve self-reliance
and economic growth during the transition to self-government.
We want First Nations people to see for themselves the intent of the act and
how it can help them and their communities. We want them to take a close at
what the Bill really says as opposed to what it is rumoured to contain.
There are a number of areas, to which I want to refer, to which the standing
committee may choose to direct its attention. I think it is important for the
committee to explore with First Nations people how well we have done in ensuring
that the fundamental Canadian values and principles of representative democracy
are reflected in the legislation.
These are principles identified in the Penner report, the Royal Commission
on Aboriginal People, the AFN-DIAND joint initiative, as well as the Corbiere
consultations, and reinforced again during our recent consultations.
For example, for the 261 bands now operating under the elections provisions
of the Indian Act, we have attempted to reflect democratic principles, such
as the need to hold regular elections by secret ballot, and an arm's length
appeal process. We have also tried to incorporate traditional practices and
the standards that bands would follow in developing their own codes.
For the 330 bands that select their leadership according to the custom of the
band and are not subject to the Indian Act for election purposes, we are proposing
another approach based on what we heard in the consultations.
These bands would continue to have the ability to amend their practices and
in doing so would not be required to include specific standards such as a regular
election by secret ballot. We have suggested that custom First Nations should
write down their procedures and have them ratified by their full membership
or alternatively they would fall under the default electoral provision in the
proposed legislation.
The standing committee will play an important role in the next part of this
process. Through the committee First Nations people and all Canadians will have
a forum through which to express their views. I know that the member for Winnipeg
Centre, who sits on the Assembly of First Nations steering committee, has followed
the legislation with great interest and representatives from both sides of the
House have many good ideas to offer.
We on this side of the House, and I hope all parliamentarians, are determined
to provide every opportunity for every First Nations person to have the opportunity
to read the legislation for themselves and tell us what they think before the
Bill becomes law.
The entire objective of the exercise has been to ensure that together we get
it right, that we recognize that economic and social development depends fundamentally
on good governance. By demonstrating democracy in action and giving real power
to the people I am convinced that First Nations look to the 21st century with
confidence. For all these reasons I hope my colleagues will agree to refer the
bill to committee immediately and let the discussion begin.
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