Mr. Chairman and members of the Standing Committee:

INTRODUCTION

• I am the Ontario Regional Chief. This position is subject to election by the 134 Ontario First Nation Chiefs every three years. The status Indian population of Ontario is the largest of any province. The Ontario Regional Chief is a member of the Political Confederacy (PC), which is the Ontario First Nations executive body composed of regional Grand Chiefs and other First Nation leaders. In addition, I sit on the Executive of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN).

• The Ontario Chiefs gather every year in the All Ontario Chiefs Conference (AOCC) in one of the communities. As well, there are Special Assemblies from time-to-time to deal with pressing issues. The Chiefs pass resolutions that dictate political position-taking.

Basic Position of the Chiefs of Ontario on Bill C-7 (First Nations Governance Act)

• The basic position of COO is that Bill C-7, in its entirety, is unacceptable. Tinkering amendments are not possible and COO will not discuss them.

• If the Bill is passed, there will be permanent long term damage to the bilateral relationship between First Nations and Canada. The next federal government will have to deal with the negative consequences.

• The Bill should be scrapped immediately. Instead, there should be a discussion between First Nations and the federal government on concrete measures that are mutually agreeable, based on the Penner Report and the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP).

• An intriguing possibility would be to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court of Canada for constitutional review. In the meantime, First Nations and Canada could develop a workplan for bilateral discussion.