Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
George Hemeon
• Introduction• Background• Current Realities• Challenges/Barriers• Benchmarks• Looking Forward• Questions
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
• Context
• Squamish
• Two Row Wampum
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
• Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
• Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
• Royal Proclamation, 1763
• Confederation, 1867 & The Indian Act
• Aboriginal Rights Movement: A White Paper and a non-decision
• S.35 Constitution Act, 1982
• Gathering Strength, 1997
Collaborative Aboriginal GovernanceThe Calder Case
• Demographics & Disparities
- unemployment, 19.1%
- income, 64%
- health and life expectancies
- infant mortality
- family violence and sexual abuse
- youth suicide, 8 times higher
- alcohol & drug abuse
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance“We are entitled to lay blame, but not to make excuses. Colonization created the conditions of material and social deprivation, but the failure to confront them is our own.” Taiaiake Alfred
• S.91(24), 92A, 93, 92(7) Constitution Act – federal and provincial jurisdictions
• Limited Consultation
• Aboriginal Policy is Complex• Vertical & horizontal barriers• Turf protection
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance“My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on.” John F. Kennedy
Challenges Facing Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
Shifting Political Will
We take great offence to the arrogant notion that these comprehensive 10 year goals and objectives were scribbled on the back of a napkin at the last moment. …The proposals discussed at the Kelowna First Ministers meeting were the result of nearly two years of nationwide consultations and conferences.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
Frustration
Grand Chief Phil Fontaine
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
Shifting Political Will
BC Treaty ReferendumA New Relationship
• First Nation’s Capacity to Collaborate• Devolution & the Reporting Burden• Sound Leadership
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
• Reaching Agreement• Co-managing Resources in the Yukon
Collaborative Aboriginal GovernanceLessons Learned
• Developing Shared Frameworks• Sharing Power – Sharing Responsibility
• Managing Disputes• Nova Scotia, BC, Nisga’a
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
•Finding Common Ground•Tsawwassen Final Agreement
Lessons Learned
• Joint Planning• First Nations, Yukon & Municipal Governments
Like the Thunderbird of old I shall rise again out of the sea; I shall grab the instruments of the white man's success---his education, his skills, and with these new tools I shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society. Chief Dan George, 1967.
Collaborative Aboriginal Governance
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