Phil Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), gathered with northern first nation chiefs in Whitehorse last Tuesday in part to discuss how the AFN could better address their interests.

A recurring theme of the meeting was related to the perception of the AFN's inadequate contrast between northern self-governing first nations and other first nation groups across Canada.

Another major theme concerned the ongoing difficulty of northern chiefs to easily access funding from Ottawa to address their needs.

'You've heard around the table that as governments, we've had trouble establishing government-to-government relationships with the feds, and also in some cases with with the AFN,' said James Allen, chief of the Champagne Aishihik First Nation.

Allen said he'd like to see the AFN restructure a part of its organization so it can deal with northern self-governments and self-government issues.

'You've heard remarks about on-reserve and off-reserve; status and non-status. (These) are words that we in the North do not use in any of our funding or program or services areas,' Allen said.

'As first nation governments, we have to look after all our people, whether they're status or non-status. We have really different issues.'

Examples can be found by looking at self-governing first nations, Allen added.

He spoke of funding inadequacy in the area of housing.

'We don't have enough funding or resources to meet our people's needs,' he added.

Allen asked the AFN to support its home ownership initiatives.

'If AFN can support and lobby to make that possible, one of the areas that is really a concern is the deficit in our housing programs,' Allen said.

Some of his first nation's housing issues were created through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).

'We're taking our own people to court for huge rental deficits.'

'The AFN has to help us deal with some of those issues at the national level because it's happening right across Canada,' Allen added.

Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Joe Linklater also queried Fontaine about housing. He requested further clarification about how funding would trickle down to Old Crow.

He also requested further definitions related to the respective roles of first nations, the AFN and the federal government throughout the process.

'Where does the money come from; what are the commitments made by AFN? We need the full picture,' Linklater said.

'We would like to be able to roll this housing money into our base, so it's ongoing.

'If we're talking about getting first nations out of poverty, and becoming equal to all Canadians, this money cannot be one time-money, otherwise, we come out and poverty, and right back into it and it's gone we need to have ongoing funding,' he added.

Furthermore, Linklater said reporting requirements and accountability issues are not clearly defined when it comes to housing dollars.

Fontaine replied to Linklater's concerns.

'One thing is clear. The AFN will not control any of this money. We don't have the mandate for this,' Fontaine said.

'First nation leaders will not be sent to AFN to negotiate for any of the money. We expect that money will go directly to FN governments,' he added.

Fontaine said one of the propositions on the table is the creation of a First Nations Housing Authority which would in practice take over full responsibility from the CMHC and Indian Affairs.

'If we proceed with this, we will have to negotiate one the creation of this body with regional components, we will have to structure it, we will have to introduce a number of elements so that this body works more effectively, efficiently and fairly than CMHC has managed to do so until now,' Fontaine said.

Darren Taylor, chief of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, spoke of the difficulties he's had in accessing promised federal money and of getting his messages through to the AFN and Ottawa.

'I don't think we should be blind-sided by a $5-billion figure,' Taylor said, referring to the figure promised by Ottawa to close the gap between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians in education, health, housing and economic opportunities.

Taylor said five organizations want to access that money, including the AFN 'and they're accessing money on our behalf.'

'What I want to know is, of the $5 billion, how much is the AFN going to get, and out of that how much of it will reach the Yukon and get into the communities so we can make use of this money?' Taylor asked.

Taylor wants the AFN to elevate the Tr'ondek Hwech'in and northern first nations to give them recognition.

'I don't mean to be critical; the AFN is a powerful organization. But I'm also under the opinion that if anyone is going to represent us, they need to have a clear understanding of us.

'I just don't want us to be painted with the same brush as the rest of first nations across Canada,' Taylor said.