Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 - (Page 10)

Photo © istockphoto.com/Clayton Hansen “It’s important for municipalities to consider First Nations opinions, particularly with issues that potentially affect land claims, access to services and those kind of issues,” says John Baird, CAO Clerk Treasurer for the Township of Greater Madawaska. “Around here, we’re part of the Algonquin land claim process, and if there’s going to be any development or significant subdivision building, we should be consulting with First Nations communities to get their opinion and see how it fits in with their plans.” “We have taken the position that with anything to do with land development, road building, parklands and so on, we will consult,” says McLeod. “To us, consultation means that we have to alert any applicable First Nations, forward them any information we can and ask for their input.” He mentions a Supreme Court statement that “the duty to consult is the duty to inform oneself.” “What I take that to mean is the requirement to listen,” he says. “I’ve had it explained to me that a lot of times a First Nations group is told they’re going to have consultation, and a group of bureaucrats gets up and tells them what’s going to happen. That’s not very useful, because you’re not entering into any meaningful dialogue.” “Long before municipalities have a need to consult, they should start to develop a relationship with First Nations communities that are in their jurisdiction, recognizing that these First Nations are small national governments unto themselves,” says Collins. 10 • municipal MONITOR In early discussions, Williams says, general rules as to which types of issues require consultation could be established. “You might be able to agree that no notice need be given where a decision affects an area of less than 50 acres, or that certain kinds of decisions will require direct meetings beforehand, or that in some cases simple advance notice of a proposed decision can be enough.” “There is a finite number of First Nations communities, and it’s really just a matter of reaching out.” The question of sufficient notice is of course significant. “The earlier that First Nations are brought into the discussions, the better. It’s just a courtesy,” says Baird. “In many First Nations, decision-making is different from a council in the sense that a lot of it is done on consensus and they have a lot of consulting and discussion on an issue internally before they settle on a decision. In many ways, they’re better at consultation than the rest of us are,” he adds. “The other thing is that they pay an awful lot of heed to the older members of the community. Through the years of working with First Nations people, it’s always been impressive to see how much stock they put in the elders of the community and their opinions. I’ve noticed, particularly up north, where the younger members of the band council pay very close attention to what the elders say about what’s on the table, and if the elders don’t buy into it, then it’s a very uphill battle,” he says. The initial contact may require some research. “Because there will be an ongoing relationship with the same people over a long period of time, we’re trying to figure out who they are, develop a mailing list so we can give them information and make it easy for them to get back to us,” says McLeod. This can be challenging: “We have some small nations near us, and that particular people were mainly hunters, not farmers, so they had a traditional lifestyle that was different from an Iroquois one of planting corn. It was less centralized, so we’re trying to figure out how to communicate with different groups.” Besides local groups, McLeod is currently in touch with a Huron group in Quebec, Mohawks at Six Nations, and others in the U.S. “AMCTO and AMO will have some ability to assist in identifying who you may be in contact with, but there is a finite number of First Nations communities, and it’s really just a matter of reaching out,” McLeod says. “Somebody has to be assigned the job to be the leader in this communication. Some of the communities are small so it may just take a bit of phoning and other forms of research, but that’s no different than any other municipal project you deal with.” “The average Canadian would be stunned at how patient Aboriginal Peoples have been,” says Williams. “The [aboriginal] claims represent injustices and illegalities often over a century old. If one makes a claim in Ontario today, the average time for a federal response is about 12 years; the average time for a provincial government response has been closer to 20 years. Negotiations last between five and 10 years. Implementation takes at least 10 years after that. Who else would take part in a process of ‘justice’ that takes 30 years?” ◆ January/February 2008 http://istockphoto.com/Clayton

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 Contents President’s Message: Recognizing Achievement Viewpoint: Increasing Voter Turnout Building Bridges The Municipal Buddy System Harnessing the Wind Water Under the Bridge Municipal Memos Index to Advertisers

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.