First Nations summit in Halifax focuses on self-government, self-determination

HALIFAX -- First Nations leaders from across Canada gathered in Halifax Tuesday for a regional summit on self-governance, with a focus on finding a pathway to nationhood for Indigenous Peoples in the Atlantic region known as Mi'kma'ki.

In a keynote address to hundreds of delegates, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said an overriding goal for First Nations is to exercise the right to self-determination.

The leader of the country's largest Aboriginal group said it's time to move beyond the Indian Act and recognize treaties -- intended to jointly benefit both settlers and Indigenous Peoples through shared land and resources.

Bellegarde said First Nations sovereignty has to include a "new fiscal relationship with the Crown" that hinges on First Nations receiving a percentage of land and resource wealth.

"We've always said we don't need your taxpayer dollars, we just need a percentage of all the land and resource wealth -- everything we're sharing," he said.

Bellegarde added that providing First Nations with a share of the GDP would address a yawning gap between the quality of life of Indigenous Peoples compared to the rest of Canada.

Regional Chief Morley Googoo said First Nations never gave up the ability to govern themselves, and that the federal government is continuing to fail Indigenous communities.

He said the inaugural summit is an opportunity to examine different approaches to self-government taken in other areas, and the lessons learned.

"We need to improve the quality of life of our people, and get rid of the stigma that we're getting so much money and just a taxpayer burden," said Googoo, who represents Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. "It's crucial we work together as communities."

Regional Chief Roger Augustine, who represents New Brunswick and P.E.I., called the inaugural summit on First Nations self-government "the start of a great thing."

"We are a strong resilient people and we continue to have hope and one of these days we're going to get it right," he said. "This is the start of that."

Ovide Mercredi, former national chief, said First Nations communities in the Atlantic region should negotiate a new treaty with the federal government.

He said the new treaty would "pick up from where those peace and friendship treaties left off because the only commitment -- and the last commitment -- you made in one of those treaties was to allow for settlement."

"Your ancestors were governors of the land ... you never surrendered your Aboriginal title."

Mercredi, also a former chief of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, said First Nations leaders are working hard to improve the standard of living for their people through better housing, health care and employment opportunities.

But he said there needs to be a bigger focus on self-determination and sovereignty.

"When it comes to the recognition of our rights, the application of our rights within the context of Canada, we're not doing that well," he said.

"We have been preoccupied by quality of life issues -- as we should be -- but our leaders also need to spend some time ... advocating for the recognition and the full implementation of our treaty and Aboriginal rights."

The three-day summit at the Halifax Convention Centre features First Nations speakers from across the country, as well as a trade show with local Indigenous artisans.