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Conseil Attikamek Montagnais ˇ Council for Yukon Indians ˇ Dene Nationˇ Métis Association of the N.W.T. Kaska-Denaˇ Labrador Inuit Associationˇ Nishga Tribal Councilˇ Taku River Tlingitˇ Tungavik Federation of Nunavut

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Introduction

 The Report of the Task Force to Review Comprehensive Claims Policy, released in March 1986, recommends fundamental changes to current federal policy. These briefing notes outline the key elements that aboriginal peoples feel must be addressed in the new policy. It is important for all to realize that the existing policy is no longer tenable. Maintaining the status quo will lead to prolonged disagreement between aboriginal peoples and the federal government, and could result in litigation. The task before the federal government and aboriginal peoples is to design a new comprehensive claims policy that benefits both parties.

 Aims

 We want the comprehensive claims process to help define and implement new and lasting relationships between aboriginal peoples and Canada. We view comprehensive claims as the main vehicle to promote our social, political, economic, and cultural development, and settlements must provide us with the ability to make decisions about our future. The national interest will be served if, through settlement of comprehensive claims, aboriginal peoples become confident, distinctive, and self-sufficient societies within Confederation. We share with government the goal of encouraging economic growth and job creation throughout Canada, including areas occupied by aboriginal peoples.

 The new comprehensive claims policy must permit claims settlements that reflect regional differences based on certain fundamental principles. It must give federal chief negotiators easy access to members of Cabinet and senior civil servants, and authority to conclude binding agreements on behalf of the federal government.

Fundamental Principles

 Political Development

 Political development and the recognition of basic political rights is fundamental to the objectives of aboriginal peoples. Effective participation in the management of lands and resources, the achievement of economic self-sufficiency, and the preservation of cultural identity are virtually impossible under the current claims policy. Limited rights to land and constrained participation in political and economic decisions under the existing policy serve only to perpetuate the current impasse in claims negotiations.

Without recognition of the need to negotiate political matters and the development of political, social, economic, and cultural institutions, our ability to govern our future is limited. A renewed relationship with Canada is required: one that respects our rights to self-government and allows us to become self-sufficient and to participate effectively in the future of our country.

 The different cultures of each aboriginal society and the varied jurisdictions under which we live require an imaginative and creative approach to political development. The federal policy must allow claimant groups to take different approaches to self-government that will result in culturally appropriate institutions in, and relationships with, Canada.

Affirmation of Aboriginal Rights

Comprehensive claims settlements should affirm aboriginal rights and must provide for an evolving relationship between aboriginal peoples and Canada.

 In the past, the federal government has sought to clear title to land by extinguishing aboriginal rights. However, legal clarity to provide for orderly disposition and development of land and resources does not require that aboriginal rights be extinguished or that title to land be cleared. Instead, government and aboriginal groups must formally agree on management systems to guide the development of land and natural resources and allow all parties to evolve with changing needs and circumstances. We see government's past insistence on extinguishment as an attempt to abolish our unique identity. Government has no need to take this drastic action when all it requires is clarification of rights to develop and use land and resources.

 Economic Rights

 Aboriginal peoples must participate in the economic development of natural resources to ensure that such development supports our social and cultural growth. This is why comprehensive claims must deal with both political control and economic development of land and resources. We must benefit from the development of resources in our traditional areas. Government must be prepared to share with aboriginal peoples the revenue derived from resource development in these areas, and must be willing to negotiate how this will be done within the comprehensive claims forum.

Decision Making for Natural Resources

 Aboriginal peoples traditionally harvested natural resources for their livelihood and still do. Yet, we are afforded little participation in making decisions about how land, water, wildlife, and oceans will be used and developed. Government has offered us advisory roles in managing natural resources, but we wish to share with government the authority to decide how these resources will be developed and managed. Institutions that allow aboriginal peoples to exercise decision-making authority must be established for the management of wildlife, land, fresh water, oceans, and other natural resources. Not only will this enable aboriginal peoples to have a say in resource development, it will also improve decisions. In many instances, aboriginal peoples have knowledge not now used in resource management. Management institutions in which aboriginal peoples are full participants would solve this problem.

 The Negotiating Process

 The federal government is an extraordinarily complex institution and it has proven difficult-sometimes impossible-to get individual government agencies to agree on a common position and to pursue negotiations as vigorously as they should.

 The role of the federal chief negotiator is crucial to the success of comprehensive claims negotiations. It was no accident that the only claim to be settled under the 1981 land claims policy had as its federal chief negotiator an individual who had served as deputy minister of finance and who, for the purpose of settling the claim, had been invested with sufficient political authority to complete the task. Future federal negotiators must have similar political authority and easy access to senior federal politicians. In the absence of this, civil servants will continue to monopolize the negotiating process and slow it down. In addition, the federal government should persuade the provinces to adopt the new comprehensive claims policy and to become part of the negotiating process.

 Financing Negotiations

 The financing of comprehensive claims negotiations must be approached fairly and equitably. Aboriginal peoples must be guaranteed financial resources to enter into and complete negotiations. Long-term financial commitments by government to aboriginal groups, rather than annual contributions, will allow us to plan, negotiate, and conclude comprehensive claims without undue delay. It should be kept in mind that funding for negotiations is a loan from the Government of Canada to claimants that must be fully repaid from settlement monies. Government must not threaten to withhold funds to pressure claimant groups in negotiations.

 Implementing Settlements

 Implementing settled claims has proved to be as difficult as negotiating them. We want to be able to choose to implement negotiated parts of our settlements before reaching complete agreements that are enshrined in legislation. This requires a planned, phased approach to implementation. Phased implementation will be a strong incentive to finalize settlements and agreements, and will actively involve us in new institutions to enhance our self-sufficiency. In addition, it will lighten the financial and administrative burden of implementation after final agreements have come into force.

 Implementation of claims settlements requires sufficient federal resources for training for aboriginal peoples. Unfortunately, in settled claims, advance funding has not been readily available for training. Moreover, many costs of implementation have been charged against compensation monies. This is inappropriate. We wish to choose how to use compensation monies.

 April 1986

Self-Government Policy Statement

The objectives of the new comprehensive land claims policy of the Government of Canada include the conclusion of just and equitable agreements with aboriginal peoples which establish a framework of certainty concerning lands and resources that is acceptable to aboriginal peoples and other Canadians; and the conclusion of agreements which enable aboriginal peoples to define and exercise their right of self-government over land, resources, and people.

 To achieve these objectives, matters relating to jurisdiction and authority over lands and resources (including the offshore), culture, language, economics, and other matters-by definition,

 self-government-form the basis of negotiations. The extent of jurisdiction and authority over these matters and the appropriate institutions of self-government may vary in different parts of the country to reflect the particular circumstances of each distinct aboriginal group. The details and variances will be defined through the land claims negotiation process.

Therefore, it will be necessary to develop a memorandum of understanding with each group to define the parties involved, as well as the timing, nature, and scope of the self-government aspects of land claims agreements. The conclusion of memoranda of understanding will avoid duplicate arrangements and institutions of self-government being developed in different forums. These memoranda of understanding can also identify those aspects of self-government that will not be included in land claims negotiations and the way that alternative processes for negotiation of self-government will relate to and be integrated with comprehensive land claims agreements.

There are various forums where the right of aboriginal self-government is being addressed. The two most significant and encompassing processes are the First Ministers Conference and comprehensive land claims negotiations These two processes are not exclusive but, rather, complimentary. It is clear that comprehensive land claims agreements, by their very substance, define aspects of aboriginal self-government irrespective of the First Ministers Conference process. On the other hand, the First Ministers Conference process alone is not capable of giving explicit definition to the aboriginal rights of self-government in each case. Though comprehensive land claims agreements, including the self-government aspects, will receive constitutional protection under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, government policy alone is not a substitute for an entrenched constitutional right of self-government.

 Our new policy of negotiating self-government in comprehensive land claims agreements will not preclude or prejudice potential agreements resulting from the entrenchment of the aboriginal peoples' right to self-government.

 30 October 1986