Political update from Anishinabek Nation leadership

Aanii,

The Political Office schedule has been busy during the month of September and we will continue to be active in the upcoming months.

We devoted significant time preparing for the Anishinabek Nation – Ontario Summit to ensure that the summit was successful. The Anishinabek Nation made significant progress at the summit with Premier Wynne and the eight Cabinet Minsters that attended the summit. We will be working with our Ontario colleagues to ensure that the progress is maintained. We have written letters to Premier Wynne and each of the Cabinet Ministers that attended the Summit to follow up on the topics presented. We want to ensure that we continue the momentum that was achieved at the Summit. We were successful at coordinating several side meetings between the Anishinabek Chiefs and the appropriate Cabinet Ministers during the summit. Premier Wynne and I also had a one on one meeting during the summit.

There were important resolutions passed at Grand Council. The Union of Ontario Indians staff are developing work plans for the Grand Council resolutions. Implementing these resolutions will be our priority moving forward.

The Anishinabek Nation has been engaged in education self-government negotiations with Canada for over 20 years to secure Canada’s recognition of First Nation jurisdiction. This year marks the completion of the negotiations with Canada and the start of the First Nation decision-making process on those negotiated arrangements. We are pleased to report that twenty-two Anishinabek First Nations have passed Band Council Resolutions approving the initialling of the Anishinabek Nation Education Agreement.

The Province of Ontario will move forward to negotiate a Master Education Agreement with Anishinabek First Nations. The Master Education Framework Agreement and the proposed Master Education Agreement are separate agreements between the Anishinabek First Nations and Ontario which are complementary to the Anishinabek Nation Education Agreement (ANEA) between the Anishinabek First Nation and Canada. The Anishinabek Nation Education Negotiation team is working together with the Ontario team on the work plan to advance the negotiations on the proposed Master Education Agreement.

The Anishinabek Nation has developed draft laws in consultation with Anishinabek First Nations in the areas of matrimonial real property and Anishinabek citizenship. I encourage the Anishinabek First Nations to review these draft laws and consider adopting these laws in consultation with your community. We are under constant threat of federal legislation in areas where we have not developed our own laws. Implementation of our own laws is a significant amount of work; however, it is worth the effort. A resolution referring to the implementation of Anishinabek Nation Laws was passed at Grand Council.

The Leadership Council held their preliminary meeting on July 28th and 29th. Leadership Council portfolio holders were determined at this meeting. Elder Gordon Waindubence provided us with a teaching about the responsibility of our bonnets. The next Leadership Council meeting is planned for October 6th and 7th. The October Leadership Council meeting will focus on planning.

The federal election will occur on October 19, 2015. This is a critical election and it is an opportunity for First Nation voices to be heard. The current federal government has not been our friend, their legislation and policy violates our inherent and treaty rights, this election is an opportunity to vote for change. Elections Canada identification regulations at the polls have changed since the last federal election.

The Union of Ontario Indians is conducting research into the regulation changes and we have distributed information detailing some of the changes to ensure that everybody who wants to vote is able to cast their ballot. It is also important that we communicate the location of polling stations and advance polls to ensure that Community members have the proper locations. Some of the information cards sent out by Elections Canada have the incorrect locations.

Parties will be trying to buy votes during the election by offering incentives to entice support. It is important that we understand which parties and candidates offer the most benefit for First Nations. We will be distributing weekly communiques leading up to the election.

The Political Confederacy has been developing a work plan to develop a new relationship with the government of Ontario. We have been extensively involved in developing this work plan. The Political Accord was adopted at the All Ontario Chiefs Conference on June 17, 2015. The Political Accord was signed by Premier Wynne and Ontario Regional Chief Day on August 24th. We will be involved in developing the next steps for the Political Accord.

The Political Accord does not affect any Anishinabek Nation processes. The Leadership Table meetings that we have with Ontario Cabinet Ministers will continue. These tables are an opportunity to discuss and resolve Anishinabek Nation issues directly with the appropriate Cabinet Ministers.

There are several new Chiefs that have been recently elected. Deputy Grand Chief Hare and I have either met or will be meeting new the Leadership in the near future. We welcome the new Anishinabek First Nation Leadership, we are looking forward to working with all of the Leadership.

We held our annual staff days and Grand Council Chief Awards on September 29th and 30th. We take this opportunity to show our appreciation to the staff for the work that they do every day. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of the staff.

Deputy Grand Chief and I enjoy travelling to Anishinabek communities. We have visited all of our communities during the last year. If you would like to schedule us for events in your community please contact Lynn Bowerman, Executive Liaison, who manages our travel schedule.

We have attended the following events recently:
• Political Confederacy meeting
• Child Well Being meeting
• Meetings with new Leadership
• Meeting with Aboriginal Affairs Minister Zimmer
• Meeting with Finance Minister Souza
• Meeting with Environment Minister Murray
• Conference call with Children and Youth Services Minister MacCharles
• Presentation at Curve Lake First Nation
• Meeting with Chiefs Committee on the Safety of Our Citizens
• Meeting with Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Chiefs and Dilico Board
• Michipicoten First Nation – return of artifacts
• Meeting – Aboriginal Ontario Resource Management Council
• Meeting with INAC Regional Director General
• Attended several Community powwows
• Numerous meetings on behalf or with Anishinabek First Nation leadership

Miigwetch,
Grand Council Chief Patrick Wedaseh Madahbee
Deputy Grand Council Chief Glen Hare