First Nations Strategic Bulletin and Updates on Termination Plan – Idle No More

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By Russell Diabo
As I wrote in my last newsletter (FNSB Vol. 10, Issues 7-10) on September 4, 2012, Prime Minister Harper launched three new policy measures intended to speed up Canada’s longstanding Plan to Terminate First Nations Inherent, Aboriginal and Treaty rights. Download the full PDf version of the First Nations Strategic Bulletin.

Termination—means the ending of First Nations pre-existing sovereign status through federal coercion of First Nations into Comprehensive Land Claims and/or Self-Government Final Agreements at 93 Termination Tables, impacting 402 bands/non-status/metis and a total population of 331,945.

The federal government “Core Mandates” for negotiation of final agreements and the main tenets of Harper’s Termination Plan are to get First Nations to:

· Accept the extinguishment (modification) of Aboriginal Title;

· Accept the legal release of Crown liability for past violations of Aboriginal Title & Rights;

· Accept elimination of Indian Reserves by accepting lands in fee simple;

· Accept removing on-reserve tax exemptions;

· Respect existing Private Lands/Third Party Interests (and therefore alienation of Aboriginal Title territory without compensation);

· Accept (to be assimilated into) existing federal & provincial orders of government;

· Accept application of Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms over governance & institutions in all matters;

· Accept Funding on a formula basis being linked to own source revenue;

Other measures too, essentially accepting to become Aboriginal municipalities. [Adapted from Federal Powerpoint entitled “Results Based Approach to Canada’s Participation in Treaty and Self-Government Negotiations – Engagement Process]

 

Attached are the federal powerpoint with the “core mandates” for negotiation, the internal federal assessment guide and a link to the 93 Termination Tables:

http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1346782327802/1346782485058

Power Point on the “New Approach for Engagement Process”

Assessment of Negotiations Template Questionnaire