by Michael Erskine
M'CHIGEENG--- Chief Glen Hare and the
M'Chigeeng Band Council's struggle for recognition as the
legitimate leaders of their community moved into the national
limelight on April 24, as Assembly of First Nations National
Chief Matthew Coon Come came to the community to lend support
to the battle.
"Your fight is our fight," said Grand
Chief Coon Come, "you can count on our support."
Chief Coon Come called on the Minister
of Indian and Northern Affairs, Robert Nault, to use his
discretionary powers to end the issue quickly. "Maybe this was
a decision of his bureaucrats, Minister Nault says he believes
in communication, here is an example where he can prove what
he says," said Chief Coon Come.
The M'Chigeeng community has announced a
Freedom March on Ottawa, and are preparing pledge sheets where
community members and other supporters can pledge to walk all
or part of the distance to Ottawa to protest the refusal of
the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs to recognize their
leadership.
Local Island First Nations Chiefs, Pat
Madahbee of the Ojibwes of Sucker Creek, Albert Cada of
Sheshegwaning and Gladys Wakegijig of Wikwemikong Unceded
Reserve, were also on hand to back up the demands of their
neighbours.
The Ministry refused to recognize the
M'Chigeeng First Nation's electoral procedures because those
procedures do not incorporate a provision for mail-in ballots,
ostensibly to allow off-reserve members to easily vote in
elections. As a consequence, the Ministry of Indian and
Northern Affairs has refused to recognize last year's election
of Chief Hare and the M'Chigeeng Band Council, tossing the
band into an administrative limbo and threatening millions of
dollars in development funds.
"The provincial and federal governments
don't recognize mail-in ballots for their own elections," said
Chief Hare. "Why are they shoving something down our throats
that they don't even want themselves?"
Chief Hare pointed out that the
Anishnaabek people are by tradition, very mobile and
independent and that the mail-in ballot idea was simply a
waste of precious resources.
"We sent out letters to everyone on our
list," he said. "Most of them came back, the people had moved.
We didn't just decide to do this for the fun of it, the cost
of sending out mail-in ballots just isn't justified by the
returns."
The M'Chigeeng electoral procedures were
developed after in-depth and exhaustive community
consultations, said Chief Hare. "We worked very hard on those
election rules," he said, "to this day no member of the
community, on or off reserve has come forward to complain
about them, so why is the Canadian government sticking its
nose in? These are our rules, made by our people. They talk
about self government, but it is just more of the same talk we
have been getting for hundreds of years. They want to dictate
how we are governed."
The community meeting heard M'Chigeeng
councillor and Master of Ceremonies Joey Fox give a history of
the different interference's by the European settlers and
their government representatives in the choosing of First
Nation representatives. Including a long history of duplicity
and double-dealing, well recorded in the records kept by the
Jesuit and Native communities. Those incidents included the
government representatives selecting people they wanted to be
'chiefs' and then serving large quantities of alcohol to the
bemused 'representatives' of the First Nations to encourage
them to make decisions they were not authorized to.
The issue of the recognition of
M'Chigeeng's leadership spills far beyond their borders to
impact upon the entire Island community, pointed out
M'Chigeeng Councillor Terry Debassige, as federal agencies
have either withdrawn or stalled numerous development projects
as a pressure tactic to force the band to comply with their
wishes.
"The school expansion alone is a $1.5
million project," he said. "We hire local people for as much
of the work as possible. You realize that 90 per cent of the
money which flows into the Island First Nations is spent
off-reserve, and most of it goes into the non-native
businesses on the Island. You think tourism is a big economic
contributor, that sector has nothing on us when it comes to
putting money into Island communities."
Lori Ransom, Director of Executive
Services and Communication for the Ministry of Indian and
Northern Affairs, denied that funds are being withheld,
"except perhaps some discretionary programming."
"They are playing word games," said
M'Chigeeng councillor Dan Simon, "sure they provide base
funding for housing, but the amount hasn't changed for years.
We need to be able to access CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation) support to be able to go to the banks for enough
money to be able to build adequate homes. Is it just a
co-incidence that CMHC started doing this right after the
Ministry withheld recognition?"
Grand Chief Coon Come is known for his
tough stance with the Canadian government over longstanding
issues, and his willingness to call the government to task on
the international stage, often in terms which the general
Canadian public finds offensive. But although he minced few
words, he quickly brought what he called the unacceptable
government pressure tactics to the fore and made clear where
he thought such methods belonged. "This country was created on
the backs of the First Nations," he said. "That era belongs in
the garbage can of history."
Grand Chief Coon Come congratulated
Canada on the 20th anniversary of the Constitution. "A
constitution which recognizes Aboriginal treaty rights," he
said. "But we had those rights long before the coming of the
Europeans."
He pointed out that there are 84 First
Nations which lie within the boundaries of Canada, each with
its own history, culture and traditions, and to try and treat
each as a single monolithic entity was doomed to failure.
"It shows no respect for our society, no
respect for our traditions, no respect for our people," he
said "Minister Nault wishes to impose a 'one size fits all'
solution and to dictate that solution to our people. It will
not work."
The M'Chigeeng First Nation has received
numerous citations from the Ministry of Indian and Northern
Affairs for its sound fiscal management and the professional
way in which it conducts its affairs. There is no suggestion
that there is any impropriety in the operation of the band.
The issue stems solely from the electoral regulations not
meeting Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs guidelines.
The M'Chigeeng First Nation has applied
to the courts for an order recognizing its legitimacy, and the
Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs appears to be willing
to await a decision by the courts.
"This may all be settled by the courts,"
said Ms. Ransom. Although there is an application to the court
challenging the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs right
to dictate the means of electing M'Chigeeng's leaders, there
has as yet been no court date set.
In the interim, two trustees have been
appointed to oversee the band's affairs. Band administrator
Alfred Debassige and Penny Debassige, are currently in charge,
according to the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs.
The community fears that the Ministry of
Indian and Northern Affairs will move in a third party
administrator to run the band when the current trustee
agreement has run out, a charge the Ministry of Indian and
Northern Affairs denies.
"There are no plans at present to bring
in a third party administrator," said Ms. Ransom, who said it
was the government's belief the matter would likely be settled
prior to the September deadline. "The agreement has an ending
date, that is all, you should not read any more into it than
that."
M'Chigeeng First Nation and its
supporters are not at all reassured.
"The government is sending one message
to the First Nations, and another one to the Canadian public,"
said Grand Chief Coon Come. "Threatening to cut off funding,
these kind of intimidation tactics, are totally unacceptable
in the 20th century."
The Freedom March is a peaceful attempt
to resolve the issue, but Chief Hare made it clear that there
were other options being considered borne out of hundreds
years of frustration in dealing with the rulers of Canada.
"We have a plan in place, but we want to
do this first," said Chief Hare. "We do not want to place
lives in jeopardy. We want to be treated as human beings, we
are trying to work this out."