ONTARIO FIRST NATIONS:ORGANIZE AND SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE
“We can build our own damn houses”, stated presenter, Satsan (Herb George) President, National Centre for First Nations Governance (NCFNG) to the applause of a packed house of First Nation citizens, including two former Attiwapiskat chiefs. Satsan was referring to the opportunity for First Nations to raise revenue as a result of tapping in to the inescapable economic component that arises when working towards reconciliation with the Crown. First Nations need to get organized and strategize to fairly benefit from the revenue that is being generated as a result of activities on their territories. Only then will they be in a position to raise revenue and as a result successfully oversee housing and other economic development activities.
On November 29th over 100 delegates attended “a First Nation Strategy for the Ring of Fire”, a two-day forum held in Thunder Bay, Ontario to discuss mining in the Ring of Fire. Hosted by the National Centre for First Nations Governance in partnership with Aroland First Nation, the forum focused on assisting participants to design a roadmap for developing positive government-to-government relationships and engaging in meaningful negotiations with resource companies.
Participants heard from a panel of experts on aboriginal and treaty rights with the central message that First Nations must be organized if they are to negotiate mining agreements that adequately address social, poverty and environmental issues.
“First Nations want their Treaty and Aboriginal rights addressed in order to fairly benefit from business taking place on their traditional territories, industry and Government want economic certainty, and all Canadians want to address the third world conditions in many of our communities”, stated Satsan, “First Nations citizens in Ring of Fire territory must start by unifying around their own strategy, both at the community level and at the treaty level....First Nation citizens want the same thing as all Canadians. Healthy communities, a future for their youth, education, jobs, clean water and to minimize all impacts on their lands”, stated Satsan (Herb George), “This can be done through smart land use, smart agreements and respect for the rights of all parties.”
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