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All Rights Reserved

To whom it may concern,

December 24th, 2001

Letter to the Editor
National Post

Re: Article entitled "Coon come insists he speaks for natives" (December 20th, 2001) and Editorials the week of December 17th, 2001

Dear Editor:

I am writing in my capacity as a Chief of my First Nation community the Penticton Indian Band, and as someone who has a direct interest in the issue of Minister Nault's proposed First Nations Governance (FNG) Initiative.

First of all, the article referred to above, does not address the source of the current conflict between our National Chief, Matthew Coon Come and the federal Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault. The issue quite simply is should the federal government be allowed to amend the Indian Act, or for that matter introduce and adopt new legislation affecting "Indians and lands reserved for Indians" (section 91(24) Constitution Act 1867) without First Nations consent?

For you information, the Chiefs of Ontario organization has commissioned a legal opinion, which indicates that the proposed "First Nations Governance" (FNG) Initiative may negatively impact on the inherent right of self-government, already protected in Canadian law by section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982. The AFN Confederacy meeting held in Ottawa December 4,5,6, 2001 heard from the lawyer who penned the legal opinion, and decided that the proposed federal FNG Initiative was not a prudent way to proceed.

I should note that this is the third meeting convened by the AFN where serious and substantive discussion regarding the FNG initiative occurred. All three meetings, the May Confederacy meeting in North Vancouver, the July Annual General Assembly in Halifax and now the December Confederacy meeting in Ottawa the Chiefs passed resolutions that opposed the FNG initiative.

There is a legal duty on the part of the federal government to consult with First Nations, and the methods used by the Department of Indian Affairs so far, with very minimal community participation, does not meet the threshold required by Canada's Constitution.

Secondly, with respect to whether or not National Chief Coon Come represents "all regions of the country" as Minister Nault has questioned.

My response goes back to the legal consultations the federal government is required to carry out, with those First Nation communities directly affected by the Indian Act. The federal Indian Affairs Minister knows, not all regions of Canada have First Nations who are still affected by the Indian Act.

For example, in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, the Indian Act, for the most part doesn't apply, the Crees of Northern Quebec are operating under the federal Cree-Naskapi Act. Here in British Columbia the former Sechelt Band is now under the federal Sechelt Act. Moreover, there is the federal act removing the Nisga'a from the Indian Act, and presumably those First Nations negotiating under the B.C. Treaty Commission process are seeking to also remove themselves from the Indian Act.

So, as a Chief of a community directly affected by the Indian Act and as a member of the First Nations Coalition for Inherent Rights, we are confident our careful, diligent point of view opposing the federal FNG Initiative, will win out, as the predominant position among those First Nations, with a direct interest in this matter of amending the Indian Act. This matter does not involve all 633 First Nations communities across Canada, as Minister Nault would have you believe.

Our community will be among those actively opposing Minister Nault's FNG initiative in the New Year. We are very confident our National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations will respect the rights-based mandate he received from the December 2001 AFN Confederacy and organize an AFN Special Assembly to plan our collective response to the unilateral efforts of the federal government. If this is done then yes, our National Chief does speak for us with a clear mandate that will further secure the future of our children's children.

I hope I have helped to clarify the nature of the current dispute between our National Chief and the federal Indian Affairs Minister, regarding the issue of amending the Indian Act.

Yours Truly,

/S/ Chief Stewart Phillip
Penticton Indian Band

For more information, questions, or comments contact Chief Phillip via cell phone: 250-490-5314.