Northern Nations Alliance
Voices of the Far North
The regional engagement process wrapped up with a meeting the Northern Nations Alliance, a coalition of First Nation leaders from northern BC and the Yukon. With a small group in attendance, participants were aligned in virtually all of their concerns and priorities. One key priority repeatedly stressed was the need for capacity to deal with resource development and related land stewardship issues in the region.
The north is experiencing an enormous amount of activity in the areas of mining, oil and gas exploration. First Nation leaders present at the meeting expressed several concerns about the current trend in resource development in their territories. In general, participants spoke of the trend for government to work with industry to expedite exploration and development processes. First Nations organizations have a lack of capacity (time, resources and technical expertise) to adequately address development plans.
Participants spoke of the desire to take advantage of revenue sharing opportunities related to resource development, but not at the expense of local wildlife and environment. Several members of the group presented examples of development projects that had gone forward without adequate research into environmental implications, nor appropriate consultation (i.e. early in the process) with First Nations. As a result, Bands have seen negative impacts to their own hunting and fishing industries. A general sentiment was that the development process should be slowed down to include First Nations, and to give them enough time to make informed decisions.
Other priorities identified were land stewardship planning, housing, healthcare, healing, economic development, and education. As in all previous meetings, the importance of supporting off-reserve people and organizations was raised. One participant who represents a northern Band but lives in Vancouver stressed that relying on Bands to funnel funding to urban (off-reserve) organizations and projects was both unfair and unrealistic; her point was that Councils are not in touch with urban issues, and they have a mandate to deal with on-reserve issues first. For the same reason, the participant felt that joint application would not work, and that the solution was to ensure that First Nations organizations, such as Friendship Centres, could apply for funding.
Another eligibility issue that was raised repeatedly was how the fund would serve Bands and First Nations organizations based in the Yukon. The Trust fund is legislated for use by BC First Nations, but
most of the northern region bands have members and traditional interests in both jurisdictions. Traditional territories and are not defined by provincial boundaries. Several attendees from both BC and the Yukon expressed the importance of opening the fund up to Yukon-based organizations to allow for continued cooperation and Nation building.
In general, the meeting with the Northern Nations exposed a high level of skepticism regarding the intent of government, and in particular with this new relationship. Nations have heard the messages of the new relationship, but have not experienced any shifts in their realities of dealing with government. Consequently, there was some discussion of the importance of further defining and understanding what the ‘new relationship’ would look like, from a First Nations’ perspective. The group felt that it would be worthwhile to use some of the funds to strengthen the ability of First Nations, collectively, by creating policies that would lead to greater autonomy and by addressing the issue of accommodation.
In terms of disbursing the fund, representatives present felt that communities should be able to identify their own priority areas, and that the money should be distributed according to need. Those present felt the money should go to those Nations and organizations that don’t already have capacity – not to those who are able to put together impressive proposals.
Overall, the meeting with the NNA was very focused. The key issues raised were related to resource development and cross-border (Yukon-BC) cooperation. Organizations represented were: Champagne/Aishihik First Nation (YT), Dakh Ka Tlingit Nation, Dease River First Nation, Iskut First Nation, Kaska Dena Council, Tahltan Central Council, Taku River Tlingit First Nation and the Teslin Tlingit Council (YT