June 6, 2002

URGENT

Members of Parliament in Ontario Liberal Party of Canada

Chair of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs,
Northern Development and Natural Resources

I am writing to request a meeting with you at your very earliest convenience on a very urgent matter.

As a Member of Parliament, you may be aware that your colleague, Federal Minister of Indian Affairs will soon be tabling in the House of Commons the well-publicized and controversial “First Nations Governance Initiative”. For the past year, First Nations across Canada have extensively campaigned against the FNGI without any progress. The Minister who has the fiduciary obligation to the Aboriginal People of Canada, and as a representative to the Crown has failed to respond to our concerns and calls for a meaningful and respectful partnership to address the FNGI and other grave and important issues that require proactive action. We are vehemently opposed to the FNGI especially with the overall approach it procured to our people. Given that the draft bill on First Nations Governance may be tabled as early as next week we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you. We would like to personally inform you of our position on the federal proposal that will have reverberating impacts to the present and future generations of our people.

We would also like to discuss with you on how you can support our position. For example, you can raise the Governance Initiative in your Caucus, privately with your colleagues and with the Minister, his parliamentary Secretary, and the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs. National Chief Matthew Coon Come is on record in stating that “the FNGI is a fundamentally flawed process that will produce fundamentally flawed results.” In her letter to all members of Government, Chief Roberta Jamieson of Six Nations of the Grand River states: Let the Prime Minister be aware of the deep concern that the Minister is doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. There is no use in throwing more good money at a bad investment. The way is easy: all the Minister has to do is say, “Let’s go back to the drawing board and sit down together to work something out that we can both live with”. The Chiefs of Ontario unequivocally supports these statements.

Again, I am prepared to meet with you in your office anytime and at a mutual convenient time. My office will immediately be following up with your officials to arrange a meeting.

I look forward to our meeting.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

CHIEFS OF ONTARIO

Charles D. Fox
Ontario Regional Chief