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Honouring Treaties

National Strategy on Treaty Implementation

The Assembly of First Nations’ National Strategy on Treaty Implementation is guided by our resolution Sacred Treaties – Sacred Trust: Working Together for Treaty Implementation and Advancing our Sovereignty as Nations (no. 07/2010) adopted by the Chiefs at the Annual General Assembly last July in Winnipeg.

Key Issues and Activities

First Nation leaders have affirmed a path to move forward not based on the Indian Act, but based on the original Treaty relationship, our rights and on strengthening and building our governments. The strategy calls on the AFN to fulfill its advocacy role and to stand behind the efforts of Treaty holders to secure the full recognition and respectful implementation of Treaties with the Crown.

 

As part of our national strategy, the AFN recognizes and fully supports the Spirit and Intent of the Treaties and continues to stress that appropriate ceremonies and protocols must always be conducted when Treaties are being discussed. As part of this approach, the AFN is engaging our Elders in a dialogue regarding ceremony and protocol at this Special Chiefs Assembly to provide direction to our ongoing discussions. The AFN is also working with our Elders to establish appropriate mechanisms for recognition of those groups demonstrating utmost leadership on Treaty implementation.

The resolution speaks to the importance of legal action to achieve Treaty implementation. Accordingly, the AFN is working to support the establishment of an impartial tribunal to adjudicate conflicts that arise with respect to the implementation of Treaties, as there is no question that independent and impartial dispute resolution is emerging as a central element in Treaty implementation. As such, Dr. Sharon Venne has been contracted to develop a paper to scope-out the full range of issues pertaining to the establishment of a Tribunal to adjudicate disputes relating to Treaties in Canada.

The AFN has undertaken work to establish a Treaty Litigation Trust Fund to ensure that resources are available to pursue alternative remedies where it is considered strategic to use legal action in aid of political action. Work on the establishment of a Treaty Litigation Trust Fund is complete. This fund will aim at a national strategy for both Aboriginal and Treaty rights, and will support efforts such as Grand Council Treaty #3’s approach to implementation of the Treaty Right to education.

The AFN is advancing a number of related initiatives focused on moving beyond the Indian Act. This includes research on developing approaches to land tenure and property rights based on Treaty that is currently underway. This also includes further work on approaches to fiscal relations, elections, and justice based on Treaty.

The AFN also supports the examination and development of alternate formulations of fiscal relations between First Nations and the Crown that will lead to increased flexibility and self-sufficiency. Research is underway to develop an alternative model to contribution agreement funding for First Nations based on a new fiscal relationship that is truly government to government.

The AFN has also begun work on the development of a series of proposed roundtables to establish an appropriate process for Treaty implementation that identifies common principles flowing from the sovereignty of First Nations. As part of these discussions, the AFN is focusing on the confirmation of a Terms of Reference for two roundtables to take place in the coming months that will have a focus based on pre- and post-1867 Treaties, as well as dispute resolution and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). There is also ongoing engagement with Parliamentarians to support Crown involvement/engagement as a part of roundtable process and advocacy on issues including citizenship and land.

The endorsement of the UNDRIP provides a significant focal point for a Treaty-based dialogue with the federal government and between Treaty holders. The UNDRIP provides a common framework to guide Treaty implementation, self-determination and recognition of rights, and the AFN will aggressively pursue the fullest and unqualified implementation of the UNDRIP with the Crown.

Lastly, the AFN continues to support First Nations in their development of resource revenue sharing frameworks that can be used as the basis for implementing Treaties. Work is ongoing on resource revenue sharing options/models, building upon regional successes. As part of this approach, the AFN has also stood arm-in-arm with a number of different regional efforts that challenged violations of Treaties, such as impacts based on decisions stemming from the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (NRTA), and other government decisions that circumscribed or attempted to minimize/eliminate the ability of Treaty nations to benefit from their lands, and/or undermined First Nation jurisdiction and rights.

Looking-Forward Agenda to Annual General Assembly – July 2011

  • Progress regarding exploring the establishment of an independent Tribunal.
  • Fundraising efforts pertaining to the Treaty Litigation Trust Fund.
  • New approaches to land tenure and property rights, as well as new fiscal relationship models based on the Treaty relationship.
  • Results of pre- and post-Confederation roundtables and outcomes.
  • UNDRIP implementation with the Crown.
  • Development of revenue sharing frameworks.