Strahl vows to work on renewing agreements

Several first nations are still without renewed financial transfer agreements with Ottawa but federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl says he's committed to changing that.

Several first nations are still without renewed financial transfer agreements with Ottawa but federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl says he’s committed to changing that.

Strahl was in Whitehorse on Monday and Tuesday to meet with the chiefs, Premier Dennis Fentie and their staffs to talk about what needs to be done to meet the deadline of next March 31 to renew the agreements.

“It was really important to all levels of government here to really set the tone for the work we’ll do behind the scenes over the next couple of months, and give our officials directions,” the minister said Tuesday afternoon during a press conference following the intergovernmental meeting.

The premier pointed out that if a federal election or some other reason delay the work, there is a plan to provide another two-year extension to complete negotiations.

Ottawa and the first seven Yukon first nations to sign land claim and self-government agreements have been unable to negotiate the renewal of financial transfer agreements for several years.

Strahl said before his department can sit down to negotiate, he will first need a new mandate from his cabinet colleagues in Ottawa.

But officials have been directed to begin assembling a work plan and identifying which issues can be expected to move quickly, and which ones will be more difficult, the minister said.

He’s also committed his office to keep in close contact with first nation representatives to flag any problems that may arise during his efforts to get a new negotiating mandate.

First nations have long held that current federal funding is insufficient to properly implement their land claim and self-government agreements. A mandatory five-year review to address the adequacy of funding and other aspects of the agreements was built into the agreements.

The first review for the first four first nations who had the agreements proclaimed in 1995 came and went.

A second review, which included the next three first nations to sign agreements, was completed last fall. The federal government provided its response to that review last month.

The different government leaders agreed that negotiating the renewal of financial transfer agreements with self-governing first nations was new ground, not just in the territory, but in Canada.

Chief Joe Linklater explained this morning that when the Vuntut Gwichin became one of the first four in 1995, the accompanying financial transfer agreements were more a product of Canada providing what it thought was required, more or less on a “take it, or leave it basis.”

At the end of the first review, the federal government was still not willing to move much, saying it didn’t yet have enough experience with the self-government model, he said.

The review completed last October, Linklater points out, was done with the full participation of the first seven first nations to finalize agreements, the Yukon government and the Ottawa.

While the other four first nations to sign agreements are participating in intergovernmental meetings, the five-year review period doesn’t technically apply yet, as Kwanlin Dun only signed its agreement in 2005, for instance.

Linklater said the review completed last October acknowledges the first nation governments are significantly underfunded.

In the area of providing governance - staffing and operating their offices - the review concludes the first nations are about 75 per cent underfunded, the Vuntut Gwichin chief said from Old Crow, where he returned this morning following Tuesday’s meeting.

Linklater explained the land claim and self-government agreements commit Ottawa to supporting first nation governments at a level comparative to the Yukon government.

Staff with first nations governments, he said, are sometimes doing the equivalent of three jobs.

As a bit of an extreme example, the chief pointed out that when he travels on business, he does not have an assistant or assistants travelling with him, like Fentie and Strahl do. The elected Vuntut Gwichin councillors do not have executive assistants, like the members of cabinet members do.

Linklater emphasized the first nation isn’t looking for funding on that magnitude.

It’s looking for additional core funding, essential for adequate and comfortable management of its first nation government.

“We definitely need to have more support,” the chief said. “There is a fairly high burnout rate in first nations.

“A lot of them actually go to work for the territorial government or federal government, and burnout is part of it.”

Linklater says he’s not optimistic they’ll be able to meet the March 31 deadline to negotiate new financial transfer agreements, though his focus right now is not the deadline, but ensuring Strahl comes up with a new negotiating mandate.

Addressing shortcomings in the Yukon agreements, and providing new financial agreements to self-governing first nations is so complex and new, the federal bureaucracy won’t touch it without a new set of clear instructions from cabinet, the chief said.

He said when it comes to financial transfer agreements, the federal bureaucracy is pretty much working with instructions that are 15 years old.

“That is why the mandate is such a key here,” Linklater said.

He said he’s hopeful the Indian Affairs minister can have a new mandate before year’s end.

Once it’s inside the system, the federal bureaucracy can begin preparing for, and conducting negotiations to establish the new financial agreements with Yukon first nations, he said. Linklater said once inside the system, the mandate would be insulated from the disruptions of a federal election.

Grand Chief Andy Carvill of the Council of Yukon First Nations said at Tuesday’s press conference it is of the utmost importance to get the work done and the financial agreements renewed.

“I think when you talk about the relationship that we are able to build and develop upon, it is a relationship that is going to be beneficial to all Yukon, not just to first nation people, but to all Yukoners,” Carvill said.

The grand chief, however, also expressed some apprehension with the March 31 deadline in an interview afterward.

“I am pleased with the fact there is back-up plan in place,” he said. “I don’t feel it will be finished by March. It is slow going at times.

“It’s mostly the wheels of government and how they work, but our officials are ready to get the work done.”

Chief Diane Strand of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations emphasized that negotiating these types of financial arrangements with self-governing first nations is new for the country.

“We have never done this before, and this has not been done in the past,” said Strand.

She said she accepts the commitment from both Fentie and Strahl that it’s time to “roll up our sleeves and get to work.”