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For a list of different events being planned for the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation (May 26) can be found at http://www.ndhr.ca/ ... Register your community event ... the following event is planned for Sioux Lookout ...

SLFNHA and SLARC Joint Press Release ...

Sioux Lookout organizations mark National Day of Healing and Reconciliation

Sioux Lookout, May 22, 2007 – The Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee (SLARC) and the  Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority have partnered to organize an event to mark the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation this Friday May 25th in Sioux Lookout.

The event scheduled for lunchtime on Friday, May 25th at the Nishnawbe-Gamik Friendship Centre will feature a traditional feast for thirty community leaders from Sioux Lookout and Lac Seul. Guest speaker Garnet Angeconeb, a Director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation of Canada and a survivor of Pelican Falls Residential School, will discuss the meaning and purpose of the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation.

“This is an important day to honour and celebrate,” said SLARC Co-Chair Bertha Jacques. “SLARC looks forward to working with both Sioux Lookout and Lac Seul to make the day a special day in our communities.”

“We are very happy to partner with SLARC in bringing community leaders and elders together to mark this special occasion,” said SLFNHA Executive Director James Morris.

The National Day of Healing and Reconciliation is observed May 26 of each year. Its objectives are:

• To celebrate a positive, collective healing and reconciliation movement within our families, communities, churches, and government on May 26th each year.
• To educate ourselves and other Canadians about our collective history of government policies that has affected Aboriginal Communities and Canadians.
• To develop commemoration sites and encourage communities to join in the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation.

For further information, please contact:

Jennifer Morrow, Business Manager, Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee, (807) 737-1135 x1550 or (807) 737-4901

James Morris, Executive Director, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, (807) 737-1802

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Press Release ...

Aboriginal Peoples Given Stronger Voice in Health Research

OTTAWA, May 22 - Aboriginal Peoples will now have greater involvement in the planning, execution and sharing of research outcomes conducted with their communities, as a result of new research ethics guidelines recently released by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The focus of the new CIHR Guidelines for Health Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples is on conducting ethical and culturally competent research that balances the pursuit of scientific excellence with Aboriginal values and traditions.

"CIHR understands that research involving Aboriginal Peoples has to be conducted in true partnership with aboriginal communities," said Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. "This is a Canadian first, and CIHR is pleased to have spearheaded this important initiative."

The Guidelines will serve as an essential tool to promote research that seeks to improve the health, well being and health care needs of Aboriginal Peoples and promote partnerships. Without Guidelines, researchers run the risk of not thoroughly taking Aboriginal traditions, culture and spiritual values into account.

The Guidelines are the end product of an extensive consultation process with Aboriginal communities, researchers and institutions drawing on the CIHR funded ACADRE network - a unique university-based resource with links to academic research communities in research partnerships with regional First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities.

"The ethical considerations associated with research involving Aboriginal Peoples required careful thought and input from the aboriginal community, health researchers and leading aboriginal and non-aboriginal theorists," said Dr. Jeff Reading, Scientific Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health. "The new Guidelines hold the promise of enabling the conduct of research that aims to improve health for Aboriginal Peoples and all Canadians."

"Canada has integrated the ethical issues of concern to Indigenous communities in other countries such as Australia, the United States, New Zealand, northern circumpolar nations and with the World Health Organization perspective on global indigenous health," added Burleigh Trevor-Deutsch, Director, CIHR Ethics Office. "Thus, these guildelines are on the international vanguard of ethics for research involving indigenous peoples."

The Guidelines will be an important contribution to the ongoing process established to revise Section 6 of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, which addresses research involving Aboriginal Peoples. The Tri-Council consists of Canada's three federal granting agencies: CIHR, NSRC and SSHRC

The Guidelines are available online at

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/29134.html

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/

For further information: For more information on the Guidelines, or if you are interested in doing an interview on this subject please contact: David Coulombe, CIHR Media Relations, (613) 941-4563

From Monday's Globe and Mail ...

'Historic' land-claim shakeup in the works - Facing threat of blockades, Indian Affairs Minister suggests Ottawa will hand settlement process to an independent group
GLORIA GALLOWAY - May 21, 2007

OTTAWA — Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice is contemplating fundamental changes to the way aboriginal land claims are settled and suggests the federal government will hand the job to an independent body.

Aboriginal groups have been threatening a summer of protest to highlight the slow process of settling land disputes. A backlog of 800 claims remains unresolved.

That queue will not go away overnight, Mr. Prentice told CTV's Question Period Sunday. But “I have indicated that this spring I intend to bring forward really very significant historic reforms to the specific claims process in this country.”

Part of the solution, said Mr. Prentice, is to introduce a system that citizens of Canada's native bands deem to be legitimate.

“There has been a complaint in this country for 60 years that the government of Canada serves as the defendant and the judge and the jury and the research body. And that it's too much. And the government of Canada is in conflicting roles. And that's something that we are trying to get to the heart of.”

The Globe and Mail reported last week that Mr. Prentice was working on a plan to give the Indian Claims Commission the right to make legal rulings with regard to violations of treaties that have already been settled. At the moment, the ICC can only recommend to government how those disputes should be resolved.

But bestowing on the ICC – or any other independent body – the ability to settle actual claims would mark a seismic shift in the way land-claims treaties have been negotiated for the past 60 years.

Mr. Prentice, a former ICC co-commissioner, said no decisions have been made regarding the settlement mechanism. “We are in the approval process. It still requires discussion.”

And he indicated that there would be no announcement until the release of the findings of the commission looking into the death of Dudley George, who was shot in 1995 during a protest by aboriginals at Ipperwash Provincial Park in Southwestern Ontario. That report is expected May 31.

But the minister said he is determined to make significant changes to the system this spring.

“I see an initiative that will reduce the backlog of claims very quickly over a five-year period,” he said.

As for the threats by aboriginals to disrupt rail lines and cause other disturbances, Mr. Prentice said he has asked native leaders to convince the agitators to stand down.

“I take the entire situation very seriously,” he said. “Blockades are not in anyone's interest. They harm innocent people and they do damage to aboriginal people … The worst thing, I think, is that they erode the goodwill that exists toward aboriginal people and the resolution of claims.”

The Assembly of First Nations has called for peaceful actions on June 29 to highlight their grievances. Those protests will be discussed at a special meeting of chiefs that will be held in Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa, this week.

“I have called on National Chief [Phil] Fontaine and the other chiefs who are in positions of leadership to speak up and to ensure that there is no illegal activity, there are no blockades, on June 29 or any other day for that matter,” the minister said.

He suggested that if the blockades go ahead, the protesters will be dealt with harshly.

“We've indicated that blockades are illegal under the Criminal Code and they are not acceptable and frankly they are unnecessary,” Mr. Prentice said.

But some recent protests by aboriginals have been allowed to continue for extended periods. One such action by the Six Nations in Caledonia, Ont., has been going on for 16 months. That situation prompted Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to say last month that the federal government is in an “untenable situation” when it comes to settling land claims and must create an independent body to clear the backlog.

And one aboriginal leader urged Canadians to support his people in their protests.

“Hopefully, the Canadian population doesn't think that this is confrontational because it's the only way that's left now for people to be able to show how they feel,” Guillaume Carle, the chief of the Confederation of Aboriginal People of Canada, which represents off-reserve aboriginals, told Question Period.

“What we're trying to say to the Canadian population is, please help us because our kids are dying, they are uneducated, they are unhealthy and they have no future to look at…The Canadian government can't fix the problem, they are part of the problem, therefore, they are in a conflict of interest.”

From Sault Star ...

Independence of native claims commission is key, cautions AFN Chief Phil Fontaine

By Brian Kelly
Algoma - Friday, May 18, 2007

A beefed-up Indian Claims Commission won't be a miraculous cure-all to solve hundreds of outstanding land claims, warns Phil Fontain, Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier this week that Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice plans to give the ICC the power to make legally binding rulings. Now, the ICC can only investigate complaints about treaty violations and make recommendations to government.

"If it's independent, if it has the ability to make binding decisions and it has the resources to give effective decisions it will make a real difference," Fontaine told reporters Friday in Sault Ste. Marie.

"But we're talking about a significant backlog."

There are about 800 outstanding land claims. An average claim takes about 13 years to resolve.

"It would be wrong to leave people with the impression that if we establish this independent body that it's going to solve all the problems," Fontaine said, referring to numerous other concerns such as access to clean water.

"It's not a total answer."

Some First Nations chiefs, such as Chief Terry Nelson of Roseau River First Nation, supports stepped-up actions such as blocking railway lines to get the federal government to act more quickly on First Nations issues.

Speaking in the Sault Thursday, Grand Chief Denise Stonefish of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians warned such disruptions may be the only way to accelerate federal land claims issues.

Fontaine chooses diplomacy and negotiations over confrontation, but said Ottawa needs to demonstrate it is bargaining in good faith. "It's always about treating others with respect and dignity, but we expect that we will be treated the same way," he said.

Canada's aboriginal people, he added, are weary of waiting for action from the federal government on a range of issues such as housing, education and health care.

"I hope that people don't resort to violence. Of course, that's not something that we'd advocate. Never," he said.

"But people are desperate. There's a lot of frustration in our community. The anger is building. We need to do something to deal with the anger and the frustration."

He hopes an Assembly of First Nations resolution approving June 29 as a day of action will help Canadians learn more about conditions faced on reserves.

"Canadians don't know the true story," said Fontaine.

"What we need to do is sit down with the federal government and proceed on a basis of a plan — a plan that both sides agree with."

Garden River First Nation Chief Lyle Sayers backs Fontaine's stance on education, not confrontation. His community's members won't block roads or rail lines on June 29.

"We need to get the message out that we're not looking for handouts," he told reporters. "We're looking for proper dollars to run our communities the way they should be run. All we want is a fair share of the resources that are ours."

Fontaine participated in an announcement that the Three Fires Confederacy will meet in Garden River from Aug. 20 to 26.

The week-long event is expected to draw about 5,000 aboriginals from Canada and the United States.

The confederacy is made up of the Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi First Nations.

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AFN press release ...

Assembly of First Nations, Anishinabek Nations to Host Historic Three Fires Confederacy Gathering, August 20-26, 2007 at Garden River First Nation, Ontario

     OTTAWA, May 18 /CNW Telbec/ - The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in partnership with Garden River Ojibway Nation, Three Fires Society, Shingwauk Education Trust, the Union of Ontario Indians, and Algoma University College (Algoma U) today announced that an historic gathering of the Three Fires Confederacy will take place on the traditional lands in Garden River, just east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario on August 20-26, 2007. As many as five thousand Anishinabek citizens, from both sides of the US-Canada border, are expected to attend the gathering.

     "It is time we gather as a Nation," said AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine, an Anishinabe from Sakgeeng, Manitoba. "The Three Fires is a part of our traditional form of government that will allow us to determine our own future and contribute to a better life for our people. We will set the agenda for ourselves as a nation."

     The Anishinabek is the nation and people known also as the Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi who together form the Three Fires Confederacy. Historically, the tribes met regularly for social, spiritual, military and political purposes.

     "The Three Fires Confederacy gathering will be a significant step towards re-asserting our nationhood as Anishinabek people," said Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, leader of 43 member First Nations of the Union of Ontario Indians. "We will come together to share and learn from one another and rekindle those fires of that long lost brotherhood we've had among our own people from across Turtle Island."

     The last meeting of the Three Fires Confederacy gathering was held in Garden River in 1991.

     "As a direct descendant of Chief Shingwauk, signatory to the 1850 Robinson-Huron Treaty and traditional leader of the Three Fires Confederacy, I am truly honoured to be hosting this momentous gathering once again in our traditional territory of Ketegaunseebee," said Chief Lyle Sayers. "We extend a warm welcome to all to come and visit our community this summer."

     According to Grand Chief Eddie Benton-Banai of the Three Fires Confederacy Mide Society (USA/Canada) the Three Fires gathering comes from the seven prophesies of the Anishinabe peoples, the original people of this part of the world.

     "Someday we will look back and search for the teachings and way of life that prevailed for thousands of years, before discovery", said Benton-Banai. "The time and opportunity to hear, and learn from those teachings is now."

     Today's announcement is an example of the shared commitment among all partners involved in the Three Fires Confederacy gathering.

     "Our students," said Dr. Celia Ross, President of Algoma University College, "Are the reason why we are a part of this wonderful partnership. Recently, a group of 25 students attended the Midewiwin Lodge in Bad River, Wisconsin, and brought back a true sense of the spirit and intent of Chief Shingwauk's vision. We are honoured to be part of this historic gathering."

     The first two days of the gathering will bring together leadership and citizens and will be devoted to sharing the history and the protocol of the Three Fires Confederacy. It will provide leadership an opportunity to discuss important issues such as relationships with governments, border crossing issues, water and Great Lakes management.

     The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.

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/For further information: Media contact: Nancy Pine, Communications Advisor, Office of the National Chief, Assembly of First Nations, (613) 298-6382 cell, npine@afn.ca; Donna Woldanski, Divisional Director of External Relations, Algoma University College, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, (705) 949-2301 ext. 4120, communications@algomau.ca/

Click here to watch AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine inviting Canadians to join First Nations on June 29 - the National Day of Action

From 24 Hours News Services ...

Fontaine's plea
 
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine is reaching out to non-aboriginal Canadians through a new YouTube message that strikes a conciliatory tone.

Fontaine delivered a much harsher message to a blue chip crowd at a Canadian Club of Ottawa lunch earlier this week, warning that native communities have reached a breaking point. The national chief, who is the most prominent spokesman for native issues, took a different tact in his Internet statement posted Wednesday on the popular video-sharing site.

"One June 29, First Nations will be holding a national day of action across the country. We hope all Canadians will join us in this call for action to improve the lives of First Nations people," said Fontaine, who was in New York yesterday at a United Nations forum on indigenous issues. "First Nations want to work in partnership with government, the private sector and with all Canadians to give life to our plan and hope to our children ... Our future is Canada's future."

See the Ontario government announcement of their plans for the northern portion of the Growth Plan following the NAN press release ...

NAN Grand Chiefs says specific needs of far north must be included in Ontario's Growth Plan

     THUNDER BAY, ON, May 17 /CNW/ - Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy says a provincial growth plan focused on Northern Ontario will benefit municipalities and urban areas, but during development more emphasis must be placed on how the plan will impact NAN territory which spans the far north of the province.

     "It's great to see an announcement for plans of economic growth and opportunity for Northern Ontario, however in order for NAN territory to benefit from a growth plan for Northern Ontario the unique needs of the Far North must be considered and accommodated," said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy, adding he will continue to advocate to ensure the 49 First Nation communities he represents across two-thirds of Ontario will benefit from development.

     Beardy's comments come after this morning's Thunder Bay announcement by Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs David Ramsay who presented the concept of northern renewal and the idea of attracting young Ontarians to live, work, and raise families.

     Ramsay cited some examples of how Ontarians have achieved results in the past by working together, mentioning highway improvements, creation and sustainability of jobs through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, and assistance to the forest industry.

     "In the past similar plans have focused on municipalities where there is already a base infrastructure to enhance of build from," said Beardy. "What's unique about NAN territory is we don't have that economic base to build from, which means there's a whole other list of priorities that need to be met in such a plan."

     Beardy is also concerned by meeting the needs of stakeholders including business, industry, and environmental groups, NAN territory could be negatively impacted.

     "Meeting the needs and priorities of some of the stakeholders of development could infringe on our constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights," said Beardy, adding that if proper legislation isn't in place
(ie: resource revenue sharing), industry could benefit far more from the growth plan while NAN communities will continue to be faced with the challenge of meeting a basic standard of life.

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/For further information: Jenna Young, NAN Director of Communications, (807) 625-4952 OR (807) 628-3953 (mobile)/

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Ministry of Northern Development and Mines - News Release

McGuinty Government Announces Growth Plan For The North Plan Will Promote Northern Prosperity, Tackle Regional Challenges

May 17, 2007

SUDBURY/THUNDER BAY – A new growth plan for Northern Ontario will lead to a stronger, more prosperous North.

“Keeping Northern Ontario strong and prosperous today and in the future is important to all of us,” Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci said from Sudbury. “For our communities to prosper, we need a plan to address regional challenges such as youth retention and the need for improved infrastructure networks.”

A Growth Plan for Northern Ontario, to be developed under the Places to Grow Act, will build on the Northern Prosperity Plan, the good work of the Northern Development Councils, as well as the recommendations from northern mayors.

“We need the North to be able to compete globally by directing investments, planning and development to encourage and support viable long-term growth of northern communities,” added Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs David Ramsay from Thunder Bay. “This plan is consistent with the government’s Forest Sector Competitiveness Strategy and will aim to ensure a balance between economic and environmental concerns.”

Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan, and Ministers Bartolucci and Ramsay, will be consulting with Aboriginal and municipal leaders, business, industry and environmental groups, over the coming months to develop a Growth Plan for Northern Ontario that represents northern priorities.

“We have learned that for such a comprehensive plan to be successful, the approach must be consultative and engage key leaders,” said Caplan. “With their valuable input, we will have a Growth Plan for Northern Ontario that will revitalize communities to be even more prosperous places to live, work and play.”

The act enables the province to designate areas for growth plans. Once developed, these plans align provincial planning and investments to achieve the growth goals of the plans. The first plan developed under the act was the award-winning Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Toronto-centred area stretching around Lake Ontario.

This is just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians have achieved results in the North. Other examples include:

- Improving Northern highways by investing more than $1.8 billion over five years in highway expansions and improvements through the Northern Ontario Highways Strategy
- Investing over $224 million since October 2003 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, to create or sustain 7,800 jobs
- Making more than $1 billion in assistance available over five years for the forest industry
- Committing more than $124 million in 2005-06 to 120 communities through the first intake of the Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund.

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Contacts:

Amy Tang
PIR Minister’s Office
416-325-4048

Lori Theoret
PIR Communications Branch
416-325-1810

Laura Blondeau
MNDM Minister’s Office - Sudbury
(705) 564-7454

Anne-Marie Flanagan
MNR Minister’s Office
(416) 327-0654

Click here to see Backgrounder.

Nishnawbe Aski Grand Chief Stan Beardy addressed a gathering of Indigenous Peoples at United Nations headquarters in New York via streaming video from the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute office in Thunder Bay. The United Nations Conference "Indigenous Peoples' Communication for Development" is part of the larger Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

He was invited to speak in a panel discussion hosted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Click here to view Grand Chief Beardy's complete presentation (11 minutes).

Grand Chief Beardy spoke about the importance of locally owned and operated Indigenous networks and the role of the Kuhkenah Network (K-Net) in supporting these networks. He stressed the importance of such applications as the Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS), KO Telemedicine and the KO Research Institute (KORI) as examples of online services in the NAN agenda to reassert self-government and self-sufficiency in Nishnawbe Aski. The Grand Chief stressed how urban-based institutions and programs must be prepared to purchase bandwidth and IT services from these community networks to ensure they are sustained and adequately supported locally.

Grand Chief Beardy presenation took place via streaming video at approximately 2:15 CST on the conference agenda. Click here for the link to the UN gathering where Grand Chief Beardy presentation was hosted.

From the May 2007 issue of Canadian Social Trends (Statistics Canada) ...

Aboriginal Languages in Canada: Emerging Trends and Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition

By Mary Jane Norris

Aboriginal people are confronted with the fact that many of their languages are disappearing. Over the past 100 years or more, at least 10 once-flourishing languages have become extinct. However, declining trends in the intergenerational transmission of Aboriginal mother tongues are being offset (to a degree) by the fact that Aboriginal languages are increasingly being learned as second languages.

Only one in four Aboriginal people speaks an Aboriginal language. Currently, only a minority of the Aboriginal population in Canada is able to speak or understand an Aboriginal language. According to 2001 Census data, of the 976,300 people who identified themselves as Aboriginal, 235,000 (or 24%) reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language.1

This represents a sharp drop from 29% in 19962, and appears to confirm most research which suggests that there has been substantial erosion in the use of Aboriginal languages in recent decades. Another definite indicator of the erosion is the declining percentage of the Aboriginal population whose mother tongue is Aboriginal. In 2001, just 21% of Aboriginals in Canada had an Aboriginal mother tongue, down from 26% in 1996.

However, the decline in mother tongue population has been offset to some degree by the fact that many Aboriginal people have learned an Aboriginal language as a second language. In 2001, more people speak an Aboriginal language than had an Aboriginal mother tongue (239,600 versus 203,300). This suggests that some speakers must have learned their Aboriginal language as a second language. It appears that this is especially the case for young people.

Learning an Aboriginal language as a second language cannot be considered a substitute for learning it as a first language.3 Nevertheless, increasing the number of second language speakers is part of the process of language revitalization, and may go some way towards preventing, or at least slowing, the rapid erosion and possible extinction of endangered languages. Indeed, the acquisition of an Aboriginal language as a second language may be the only option available to many Aboriginal communities if transmission from parent to child is no longer viable.

As well, in gaining the ability to speak the language of their parents or grandparents, young Aboriginal people will be able to communicate with their older family members in their traditional language. It is also thought that the process itself of learning an Aboriginal language may contribute to increased self-esteem and community well-being, as well as cultural continuity.4

Click here to read the entire Statistics Canada report

National Chief Fontaine presented the following speaking notes to members of the Canadian Club. The CBC news article that follows his speaking notes highlight the key points of Chief Fontaine's presentation along with comments by INAC Minister Prentice's comments calling these facts "more rhetoric".

"June 21st, the first day of summer, is National Aboriginal Solidarity Day in Canada and following those celebrations we will be holding a National Day of Action on Friday, June 29th to reach out to all Canadians who want to join us in demonstrating that we all want to work towards solutions.

We want this to be a positive experience and an educational one for all Canadians. Events are being planned across Canada and in the National Capital. As a show of support, we invite you to come out and participate in them, either as a group, or as individuals. And bring your families."

From Chief Fontaine's Speaking Notes (see below)

SPEAKING NOTES

ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
NATIONAL CHIEF PHIL FONTAINE
CANADIAN CLUB, OTTAWA
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2007

“Negotiation or Confrontation: It’s Canada’s Choice.”

Traditional greeting

First, I’d like to acknowledge the site of our meeting here today. We are gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people and their chief, Kirby Whiteduck of Golden Lake.

I’d also like to thank the Canadian Club for your invitation to speak. We have a lot in common to talk about… goals for ourselves, our families, our country.

Today I’d like to discuss how we can work together to achieve those goals – for each other and for Canada as a whole nation. And yes, there are ways that you can act… as individuals, as members of the Canadian Club, and as employees and officials of your respective companies and organizations.

You see, since the first treaty was signed with us in 1701, our peoples have believed that cooperation must pave the way to progress. We like to believe that all Canadians feel this way.

Our modus operandi to date has been respect…relationship building… negotiation… consensus… agreement.

We prefer to hold our heads high when dealing with the federal government of Canada. It is always our way.

We also believe it is the way of all Canadians.

We also prefer to avoid the negative… disagreement… confrontation… or worse.

And we believe that confrontation pits one side against another in what can only make for negative results.

Consider where that attitude has gotten us.

Obviously, not very far.

First, let’s look at the state of our First Nations Peoples.

We must admit that First Nations People in Canada live in the most disgusting and shameful conditions imaginable in any developed country.

In Pukatawagan, in Northern Manitoba, Chief Shirley Castel tells us that some two-bedroom homes have as many as 28 people living in them. People are forced to sleep in shifts and many parents often go without sleep to ensure their children are able to learn and play.

Overcrowding in Canada generally is 7%, according to Statistics Canada. For our people in rural areas it is 19 per cent.

How many of you would be able to function as parents on a Monday morning without sleep?

Survivors of the Residential Schools policy will soon be receiving a compensation package. It is one step towards healing the loss of culture, language and a number of abuses that were inflicted on First Nations people.

However, the number of First Nations children who have been removed from their families and placed into state care is now three times the number of children who were placed in Residential Schools at the height of their operation.

It is my understanding that this is not usually because of deliberate physical or sexual abuse. It is because of poverty and its terrible consequences.

We have laid a complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Commission regarding this.

Further, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that child welfare providers should not remove children from their homes due to poverty. Instead, impoverished families must be provided with the means to safely care for their children.

The Convention spells out the rights of children very clearly: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

Remember that Canada is a signatory to this convention.

But aside from this breach of the UN Convention, imagine the effects on our children of removing them from their homes.

Imagine the fear, the loneliness, the loss of language and culture, and family ties – all over again.

And imagine if you returned to your home today to find that your child had been taken away and put into state care. Think of what it would do to them emotionally… and to you.

In November of 1989, all parties in the House of Commons joined to vote unanimously to work to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. The statistics for 2006 show that one in every six children in Ontario lives in poverty – and for Aboriginal children across Canada that number is one in four.

Unfortunately, while programs do exist to assist First Nations families and children, for the past 11 years there has been a 2% arbitrary funding cap on core Indian Affairs services.

As a result, First Nations child welfare agencies receive 22% less funding per child than provincial agencies. Indian and Northern Affairs has to reallocate funds from other essential services just to meet the 11% annual growth in maintenance costs for these agencies.

This is blatant fiscal discrimination.

It doesn’t keep pace with inflation and is certainly outstripped by our young and growing population.

The UN Human Development Index ranks Canada at about sixth in the world. First Nations on reserves rank somewhere around 63th, according to Indian and Northern Affairs.

And remember Chretien used to rave about Canada being the number one country in the world.

The Department’s own officials have warned the federal government that First Nations’ socio-economic status will continue to worsen and the gap widen -- yet these warnings have not been heeded.

And frankly, we are fearful of the effect this is having on the well-being and public safety in our communities.

So here I am again today… hammering away at yet another group.

Many of our communities have reached the breaking point. The anger and frustration are palpable. People are so tired and fed up with this type of existence – especially when all around them is a better life… and hope.

Living without hope is perhaps the worst aspect of life for so many of Canada’s First Nations peoples.

That lack of hope plays out in many ways. Desperation breeds abuse… suicide… crime… civil disobedience.

And what shame this brings to a country like ours… one of the wealthiest countries in the world. What a black mark it is against Canada internationally.

How can Canada continue to hold itself up as an example for other countries.

By now you’re probably thinking, yes, we’ve heard this. The conditions of First Nations communities have been reported on extensively by the media. They’ve done their part to tell this story and continue to tell it.

And honestly, notoriety due to the state our peoples have been reduced to is not something we wish to continue.

We realize that out of sight is out of mind. And most of our people are conveniently out of sight in rural and isolated communities.

But perhaps this scenario will bring home to you exactly how our people exist.

Consider the situation of Kelly Morrisseau.

This is a woman - a mother of three - who was stabbed more than a dozen times and left to die off Gamelin Boulevard, near Gatineau Park, a few weeks before Christmas.

She was seven months pregnant at the time.

Kelly left the Sagkeeng First Nation community, north of Winnipeg – where I come from -- when she was three. She moved with her family then to Winnipeg and more recently to Ottawa, where her mom, some of her siblings and other relatives lived.

But life in Ottawa was not what she had hoped. There were no opportunities for her here either. No work. Little hope.

Kelly was found in a parking lot by someone walking their dog early in the morning. She was still alive. She made it to the hospital, but died within an hour, along with her unborn child.

This happened right across the river here.

This was a woman like any other woman in Canada. She had hopes for her children, dreams for her unborn child. She could have been any one of us… our sister…  our mother.

There, but for the grace of God, as the saying goes.

And so where is the public outcry about the loss of Kelly Morrisseau… especially now with the Robert Pickton trial underway in BC.

It’s estimated that more than 500 First Nations women have disappeared or died violently during the past 30 years.

These are shocking images to think about, I know. They make people feel uncomfortable… It’s unfortunate that I have to speak about these realities. But hopefully you’ll feel uncomfortable enough to do something about it.

So that’s the situation we’re left with.

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Now, consider what we’ve done, as First Nations, to try to eliminate these circumstances.

Think about the number of times and ways - and the number of years - we’ve been working on these and the other issues that get in the way of our making decent lives for ourselves and our families.

We have been involved in discussions and round tables and negotiations and commissions of inquiry for decades now… decades.

Let me give you a few examples.

In the summer of 1990  –  a full 17 years ago now -- the Oka Crisis erupted. It led to the establishment of a Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1992 and the Specific Claims Commission. And after four years of study what happened to the report’s 400-plus recommendations.

The language used in the report was so hopeful…

In the Highlights of the report, in a section perhaps appropriately titled Last Words, the commissioners stated:

All of us have a part in securing the new relationship - people and governments, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations, big and small. We have 20 years of building and experimentation to look forward to - using, for the first time in many decades, all the energies of Aboriginal people as they create and live the dream of a Canada that they can share with others and yet be fully at home.

During that time - and beyond it - we can look forward to a Canada that celebrates Aboriginal heritage and draws strength from Aboriginal peoples as full partners in a renewed federation. 

So where did the authors of this report go wrong. Why have so many peoples’ ideas and opinions been left to collect dust.

I call for a new relationship… one of mutual respect.

The report also clearly spoke of the consequences of inaction:
History and human decency demand restoration of fair measures of land, resources and power to Aboriginal peoples.

On those foundations, self-respect and self-reliance will grow steadily firmer in Aboriginal communities. In their absence, anger and despair will grow steadily deeper - with conflict the likely result.

The Commission proposed a 20-year agenda for change… 20 years. It would have been completed in just a few years from now.

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Here’s another example of our efforts.

In 2004 we embarked on another plan to try to get things moving – the Canada-Aboriginal Roundtable process. Over 18 months we engaged approximately 1000 people across the country to put forward their best ideas and best solutions to issues we and the government of Canada face.

This was First Nations peoples – individuals like yourselves – coming forward with open hearts, open minds, and in the spirit of good faith.

The solutions that were reached then were agreed to in Kelowna, in a First Ministers’ meeting in 2005 and – as you are all aware – the Kelowna Accord was shelved by the current government. What a missed opportunity…

Is this a government that thinks it can do better than First Nations peoples on issues regarding our own self-determination?

Is it prepared to do better?

Does it have better ideas?

If so, let’s hear them.

The conservatives’ own campaign material states the following:
A Conservative government will:

-- Accept the targets agreed upon at the recent Meeting of First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders, and work with first ministers and Aboriginal leaders on achieving these targets and…

-- Replace the Indian Act with a modern legislative framework which provides for the devolution of full legal and democratic responsibility to aboriginal Canadians for their own affairs within the Constitution, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Has this happened? No.

Imagine if First Nations people were in the position of making decisions on self-determination for non-Aboriginal Canadians.

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Let’s discuss land claims for a moment.

Currently, there is a backlog of about 1100 specific land claims.
And at the current rate that they’re moving through the system the Senate has estimated it will take about 130 years to resolve them – more than a century… that would take us past the year 2100. It’s hard to imagine what Canada will even look like by then.

The Senate Committee, chaired by Gerry St. Germain, has stated that in every case where land claims have been settled it has meant an immediate improvement in the lives of our people.

The Senate’s report, by the way, is the title of my speech today – Negotiation or Confrontation: It’s Canada’s Choice.

I’m sure many of you are aware how slowly lawyers and courtrooms operate. In some instances it has taken 28 years of legal wrangling just to get a claim moving.

Most recently, on the issue of the latest federal budget, our organization, the AFN, made more than 21 presentations to Parliament on many critical issues. We tabled extensive and detailed plans throughout the pre-budget consultation process.
And almost weekly our people continue taking their plans and proposals to officials at every level.

And what was the result of this process… We were virtually shut out of the budget.

So, as you can see, First Nations people are beginning to question the so-called rational process.

Many people ask why First Nations peoples are so angry… at this point you must realize we have a right to be.

The question for you is, how can we make this right.

And I’m not talking about some sort of stop-gap measure. We’ve had our Royal Commission, our round tables and negotiations for decades now… decades.

Our people won’t be put off any longer… or side-tracked.
Side-issues aimed at deflecting attention away from our core problems will not work.

And whisper campaigns that try to undermine the confidence non-aboriginal Canadians have in our ability to responsibly govern our own affairs are being met with the facts – clear and simple.

Our governments have proven they are accountable and are more than willing and able to take on new challenges. The will of the Canadian public includes action on First Nations issues.
Canadians want this resolved.

The deal that came out of the First Ministers Meeting in Kelowna had widespread support from Canadians because it was viewed as a solid plan.

We have a number of ideas and initiatives that you, your colleagues and the leaders of your organizations and companies, can be involved in.

We’ve reached out with the Make Poverty History campaign to engage all Canadians. Go to our website and sign the petition.
E-mail the link to your children. See how fast they’ll spread it around. Help organize or participate in an event. Be part of a world-wide initiative that is making a difference.

Closer to home, push for land claim settlements. Push for the settlement of the claim right here in your own backyard, at the old Rockcliffe airbase, on Algonquin territory. Land claims settlements are one of the most direct routes to self determination for us. Call or e-mail your Member of Parliament. 

It’ll take two minutes of your time.

Hold your officials accountable.

The Conference Board of Canada, as long ago as 1993, stated that unresolved land claims create a major barrier to investment on First Nations lands. This doesn’t have to be.

As we’ve seen in BC recently, First Nations have become so frustrated trying to resolve land claims they’ve begun direct negotiations with the companies involved in resource development on their lands. In effect, they’ve started bypassing the federal government.

Demand that First Nations be given a fair share of resource revenues. Canada’s economy was built on its natural resources and they have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Non-aboriginal peoples have taken full advantage of this richness. It’s time that we received our fair share.

Get involved in procurement and investment. We believe there are tremendous opportunities in the area of procurement. And large companies can easily encourage their suppliers to work with First Nations. We are open for business.

Start providing employment opportunities. Target our people.
Lately the media has concentrated on stories relating to the aging population and impending shortage of labor. Just to give you an idea of our population figures, we have more than 750,000 status people – that’s equal to the population of Ottawa. And more than half our population is under the age of 23.

We also know companies that are moving employees from other countries to Canada when we have this largely untapped source of labor right here at home.

We’ve established the Corporate Challenge to make our plans for recognition, investment and implementation known and we’re looking for new partners in this initiative. To date Siemens Canada and Bell Canada have signed Memorandums of Understanding…and companies like Adobe, SixTech, Encana and the Royal Bank are all stepping up to this challenge.

Join them.

Sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the AFN. Draft a plan for addressing any or all of our four key areas: procurements, investments, partnerships and employment. These are the areas where many of you excel.

Take a seat at our Corporate Table for Peer Review and Dialogue where we discuss business relationships and ventures to directly reduce the economic gap between our people and other Canadians.

The Corporate Table will publish an Annual Report on the state of the First Nations Economy.

We are also planning an Economic Summit where the results of the National Chief’s Corporate Table will be made public.

And from there the Corporate Table will provide a forum for international dialogue and action on sustainable economic development with indigenous peoples, internationally.

I’m encouraged by the genuine interest of people I’ve talked to about this and together I do believe we can achieve important results.

So in closing I have to repeat that we’ve had the discussions, the talks, the negotiations. The time for that is coming to a close.

As First Nations People we want the same things you want, as written in your Constitution Act in 1867. In fact, it’s what all people want -- peace, order and good government.

There has been a lot of discussion in the media about the possibility of a long, hot summer – about the possibility of blockades like the one we saw recently on the Toronto-Montreal rail corridor.

I am not about to dispel this concern. The frustration people feel is very real. And as I’ve tried to explain today, there are other ways.

June 21st, the first day of summer, is National Aboriginal Solidarity Day in Canada and following those celebrations we will be holding a National Day of Action on Friday, June 29th to reach out to all Canadians who want to join us in demonstrating that we all want to work towards solutions.

We want this to be a positive experience and an educational one for all Canadians. Events are being planned across Canada and in the National Capital. As a show of support, we invite you to come out and participate in them, either as a group, or as individuals. And bring your families.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

+++++++++++++++

CBC News ... http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/05/15/fontaine.html

Fontaine warns of 'palpable' anger in native communities
May 15, 2007 - CBC News

National native leader Phil Fontaine warned a blue-chip audience on Tuesday that the anger felt in many First Nations communities has reached a breaking point.

"Frankly, we are fearful of the effect this is having on the well-being and public safety in our communities," said the chief of the Assembly of First Nations in an eloquent speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa.

Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine, speaking to the Canadian Club of Ottawa on Tuesday, suggested his tactic of favouring diplomacy over barricades has garnered few results.

"So here I am again today, hammering away at another group. Many of our communities have reached the breaking point. The anger and frustration are palpable."

A report in Tuesday's Globe and Mail quoted a First Nation leader in Manitoba threatening widespread economic disruption and a potential blockade of CN rail lines connecting Eastern and Western Canada. 

Fontaine did not dismiss worries about possible confrontations this summer.

While he has a track record of favouring quiet diplomacy over barricades, he suggested to his audience that this tactic has yielded few results.

"Consider where that attitude has gotten us — obviously not very far," he said.

Fontaine also urged governments to work harder to settle more than 1,100 outstanding land claims, noting that at the current pace of negotiations, it would take 130 years to resolve them.

Pointing to severe overcrowding in many native communities, Fontaine spoke of visiting Pikangikum, an Ontario reserve about 300 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, where he witnessed as many as 28 people living in small two-bedroom homes where people are forced to sleep in shifts.

Some parents go without rest so that their children can sleep, he said.

"How many of you in this room would be able to function Monday morning without sleep?" Fontaine asked.

The Conservative government has pledged $46 million over the next five years for the embattled community, which has been plagued by suicides and a lack of basic services such as indoor plumbing.

Fontaine has repeatedly called on the federal government to spend an additional $5 billion over five years to help ease aboriginal poverty.

"We only want what you already have," he said Tuesday.

'A great deal of rhetoric': Prentice

The Conservatives shelved the previous Liberal government's $5-billion Kelowna Accord to address the gap in quality of living between Canadians and First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. The deal set targets to improve education, housing, economic development, health and water services, but details of how much of the money would be spent and who would provide the services were left to be negotiated at a later date.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice responded to a speech by national native leader Phil Fontaine by saying blockades are 'counterproductive.'

Speaking outside the House of Commons on Tuesday, federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said Fontaine had a responsibility to convince aboriginal communities and their leaders not to hold blockades, which he called "counterproductive" and harmful to the "goodwill" Canadians show toward First Nations communities.

"Someone is going to get hurt and I call on all chiefs, and the national chief in particular, to make sure that doesn't happen," Prentice told reporters.

He added the government is making progress at land claims tables, and suggested Fontaine was not accurately representing the state of negotiations.

"There seems to be a great deal of rhetoric," the minister said.

Children taken from families due to poverty: Fontaine
Fontaine also spoke of how deep poverty in many First Nations communities leads child welfare officials to remove children from their families.

"The number of First Nations children today who have been removed from families and placed into state care is now three times the number of children that were in residential schools at the height of this terrible experience.

"It is my understanding that is not usually because of deliberate physical or sexual abuse, but because of poverty and its terrible consequences.… It isn't because of lack of parental love, as has been suggested," adding that the Assembly of First Nations has filed a complaint about First Nations child welfare with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Fontaine pointed out that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children states that child welfare officials must not remove children from homes due to poverty.

He then drove the point home by asking his audience to imagine how they would feel as parents if they were to return home to find their children had been taken into state care.

"Think of what it would do to them emotionally, and to you," he said. "Hopefully, you'll feel uncomfortable enough to do something about this."

ATTENTION YOUNG ABORIGINAL WRITERS!

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY AND WIN CASH PRIZES

DEADLINE FOR THE 2007 CANADIAN ABORIGINAL WRITING CHALLENGE IS JUNE 29, 2007

If you are between the ages of 14-18 or 19-29, you can showcase your creativity and explore your heritage. The Writing Challenge is open to classes and individuals. Prizes for both age categories for the 2007 Writing Challenge include:

• 1st Place - $2000.00 Cash Prize, Trip to Ottawa, Publication in The Beaver: Canada’s History Magazine
• 2nd Place - $1000.00 Cash Prize and Publication on www.our-story.ca
• 3rd place - $500.00 Cash Prize and Publication on www.ourstory.ca
• 4th – 10th place - $100.00 and Publication on www.ourstory.ca

The first four classes to submit 20 stories will receive a digital camera.

The deadline for this year’s Aboriginal Writing Challenge is June 29, 2007.

Our Story is a national storytelling initiative to educate Canadians about the defining moments in history that have shaped this country and its Aboriginal people.

Visit www.our-story.ca or call 1-866-701-1867 for more information on how to submit a story.

The Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge is an initiative of the Dominion Institute and is made possible by a dedicated group of individuals and organizations including our lead sponsor Enbridge Inc. and national partners, National Literacy Secretariat, Indian and Northern Affairs and the Royal Bank of Canada. In kind partners include The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine, Theytus Books Ltd. and Canadian Learning Television.