Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement negotiations in the final stages
By Cindy Males
NIPISSING FIRST NATION—The Anishinabek Nation and the Government of Canada have been negotiating the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement since 1995 and these negotiations are now nearing completion. A ratification vote by the citizens of the Anishinabek Nation member First Nations is expected to take place next summer.
The Anishinabek Nation member First Nations who ratify the agreement will have the legal power and authority to enact their own laws on how they would like to elect their Chief and Council; determine for themselves who their citizens will be; determine how they will manage and operate their First Nation Government; and determine how they will protect and promote the Anishinaabe language and culture.
The Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement will establish a new government-to-government relationship between the Anishinabek Government, who will act on behalf of the First Nations who ratify the agreement and Canada that will include a new fiscal transfer framework for governance related functions.
Anishinabek Nation First Nations Chiefs have been guiding the negotiations through Grand Council Resolutions that continue to provide a mandate to the Anishinabek Nation to negotiate self-government agreements with Canada on behalf of the member First Nations.
A Chiefs Committee on Governance, comprised of the Grand Council Chief and the four Regional Deputy Grand Council Chiefs along with two representatives from each of the Anishinabek Nation’s four regions, was mandated by the Chiefs-in-Assembly to provide direction. The committee and the Anishinabek Nation Leadership Council came together at the Anishinabek Nation head office on September 6-7 to get a progress update and provide feedback on the negotiations so far.
The committee will come together with the negotiators again in November.
The Governance Working Group, comprised of community representatives, has also been providing input to the negotiators. The group was established to help design and develop better government processes. The group is scheduled to meet again in October.
“If we continue to govern ourselves the same way under the Indian Act, we will just get the same unacceptable results,” says Chief Negotiator Martin Bayer. “And our people will continue to suffer from poor health, housing shortages, and high unemployment, lack of proper water and sewage treatment systems, and low rates of education. We now have a chance to start turning things around by looking at better ways of governing ourselves and the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement will give us that chance.”
The Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement will not limit or take away any Aboriginal or Treaty rights of citizens in the member First Nations. The fiduciary relationship between Canada and the First Nations will continue and any change to those obligations must be agreed to by the First Nations.
An official launch is underway for this fall and negotiators will begin visiting Anishinabek Nation First Nations soon to discuss the draft Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement in more detail. Community meetings are also planned for both citizens who live in First Nations and for those who do not.