Thank you for this opportunity.
The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians was established primarily as a political organization in 1969 to represent its members in relations with any level of government affecting the well-being of the members as a whole. The association currently represents eight member nations, with a combined membership of approximately 20,000 people. These include the Batchewana First Nation, Caldwell First Nation, Delaware Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Mississaugas of the New Credit, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Wahta Mohawks.
Again, the association provides political representation and policy analysis, and AIAI is committed to protect, defend, and enhance the inherent rights of our member nations.
First, the association would like to acknowledge our disappointment with the Assembly of First Nations and their decision to submit this new legislation for consideration by Parliament. AIAI feels that AFN did not have such a mandate for this action and wants this to be acknowledged. We feel there was an important consultation function that was not performed. The AFN was mandated by resolution 08/2007 and 23/2007, which I have attached to our package.
Both resolutions speak to a mandate of advocacy for a new specific claims process, but nowhere do they state that AFN has the authority to make decisions on behalf of first nations, that they have the authority to agree to develop the process, and/or that they have the authority to submit such significant legislation to Parliament for consideration.
It was always our understanding that AFN would work on developing a new specific claims process with the Government of Canada, but that before any serious movements were made on a new process such as a submission of the bill for consideration, that first nations could and would review the bill. This important consultation never occurred, and the association is adamant that it should have occurred and that the AFN had no mandate to move it forward as it did.
When the AFN passed resolution 50/2007, which is attached, the AIAI chiefs and/or proxies opposed this new resolution, which encouraged first nations to review Bill C-30 and forward their views to the crown and the parliamentary committee on aboriginal affairs. First nations should have been consulted before this legislation was submitted to the parliamentary process. At this point, the only option first nations have to be consulted is in this committee forum, and therefore our decision-making ability has been taken away from us. We are now at the mercy of the parliamentary process.
On the importance of land, Canadians have seen, over the years and decades, first nations peoples working and fighting for the return of their lands. Some first nations peoples make use of the avenues of advocacy set up by the Canadian government, and some resort to the infamous tactics of blockades and protests. First nations people work and fight for land because it is so important to our way of life and to our people's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual survival. Canadians may never fully understand the connection first nations feel to our land. Because of the importance of land to first nations people, it's difficult to put it into words.
Keith Basso, an anthropologist, describes the impact of depriving peoples of their connection to the land. He says:...deprived of these attachments...
--meaning connections to places--we
find ourselves adrift, literally dislocated, in unfamiliar surroundings we do not comprehend and care for even less. ...sense of place may assert itself in pressing and powerful ways, and its often subtle components--as subtle, perhaps, as absent smells in the air or not enough visible sky--come surging into awareness. It is then we come to see that attachments to places may be nothing less than profound, and that when these attachments are threatened, we may feel threatened as well. Places, we realize, are as much a part of us as we are a part of them....
Keith Basso nicely articulates the deep-rooted connection that first nations people feel to our land, and it is very much a part of who we are.
Now, here are our comments on Bill C-30. The association understands that, if passed, Bill C-30 would continue to deprive first nations peoples of their attachment to their land and to their places. The most damaging aspect of Bill C-30 is about the monetary compensation and not about the land. AIAI understands that there is an initial negotiation process that could have small possibilities of resulting in settlement that includes land. However, we also understand that this is highly unlikely.
When negotiations fail, which they certainly will in most cases, the claim will be moved to the independent tribunal process for a decision. The tribunal has no authority to award land. Subclause 20(1) of Bill C-30 outlines the basis and limitations for decisions on compensation. It is this clause that states that the tribunal will only award monetary compensation, that this compensation shall in no way exceed $150 million, and that it shall not be given out for punitive and exemplary damages or harm or loss, including those of a cultural or spiritual nature.
Not only is this process not about land, but it is also not about the things that the land informs, such as culture and spirituality. These are important aspects of the way of life for first nations, and they are also being removed from the factoring into this process.
AIAI is not willing to support a specific land claims process that has no true ability to return land. Our communities are not focused on money, although we will concede that money does play a role in land claim settlements.
At the core of land claims is the land and our connection to it. This is what we would like the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development to remember when reviewing Bill C-30, the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, an act that has no real ability to settle land claims in a manner that will honour our connection to the land.
We share our comments with the committee in hopes that our grave concerns do not fall upon deaf ears. The association recommends that Bill C-30 be withdrawn.
Thank you.