A Communiqué from National Chief Shawn Atleo

The Assembly of First Nations is embarking on a strategic and forward looking agenda. I believe this is our time, a time for Indigenous peoples to come together in recognition and respect to lead the change that is required for our people. I am pleased to provide the following update on recent activities.

Canada’s endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on November 12 continues to be a major focus for First Nations in Canada.  This will be an important topic of discussion at our upcoming Special Chiefs Assembly to be held December 14-16 (there is more information on the SCA in this Bulletin).

I am pleased to say that the AFN is making a great deal of information and public education tools available on our website. We have a special webpage on the Declaration itself where you can find a series of posters with the actual articles of the Declaration and explanations, as well as a Fact Sheet that you can use when talking about the Declaration to your people and the general public. These can be downloaded right off our website. I encourage you to visit our website and use these materials.

One question that has come up in discussions with First Nations is the issue of whether or not Canada has “signed” the Declaration. To clarify this issue, I want to point out that there are no formal signings of United Nations declarations. UN protocols and conventions require governments to “sign on”, but declarations do not and this may be where the confusion comes from.

In effect, what Canada did on November 12 was to change its original “no” vote to a “yes”. The Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations met with the President of the UN General Assembly to inform the President that Canada was changing its vote.  This places Canada in the group of countries voting “yes” to the UN Declaration.

More importantly, what does this mean for First Nations in Canada? Among many other things, it means that Canada is now guided by the articles, principles and intent of the UN Declaration in its day-to-day dealings with First Nations.  We fully expect Canada to work with First Nations and other Indigenous peoples to achieve the standards set out in the Declaration, and we will hold Canada to these standards at every opportunity.

I encourage you to visit our website to get more information about the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and I look forward to an engaging and informative discussion on this matter at our Special Chiefs Assembly.

National Planning and Dialogue Forum

Several hundred First Nations leaders and technicians from across Canada gathered in Montreal on November 8 – 9 to participate in the Fall 2010 AFN Planning and Dialogue Forum. I would like to thank the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador for their strong leadership and effort in making this event a success.

The Forum focused on Nation Building and Re-building: Supporting First Nations Governments’ Capacity, and provided an excellent opportunity to advance and support dialogue among our Nations. There were presentations and constructive discussions on key topics like citizenship, treaty implementation, land tenure, developing a strong First Nations public service, fiscal relations, water rights and resource management, advancing economic development and effective public administration and accountability at the community level.

As well, the inaugural fundraising reception for the First Nations Rights Fund, profiling both well-known and up-and-coming local Indigenous performers Florent Volant, Elisapie Isaac, Shauit and Katia Rock, raised more than $10, 000 in pledges. In addition, we kicked off an auction of donated items to raise additional funds, including boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali and a Willie Nelson guitar!  You can check our website for more information and to place a bid. The auction will wrap-up at the Special Chiefs Assembly.

I am very encouraged by the ideas and approaches that were discussed at the Forum and I believe First Nations are leading the way to build stronger governments and healthy communities. We have the solutions and we will work together to achieve success. There are more than 200 First Nations working to advance self-government with fully established government and accountability mechanisms. We need to continue sharing our experiences and ideas in order to build a better future for our youth.  AFN will continue this dialogue over the coming months. We are issuing an engagement and input paper that focuses on practical measures to support capacity, and will be speaking directly with First Nations leadership and citizens on specific issues.  We hope to have a focused consideration of a framework to support First Nations governments for the 2011 Annual General Assembly in Moncton, New Brunswick.

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