Poor regulations on reserve

The federal government is not ensuring that Canada’s environmental regulations are as strict on reserves as in other Canadian communities.

That was the word in early November from Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General of Canada.

“There are few federal regulations that apply to environmental protection on reserves, and the federal government has taken little action to change this,” said Ms. Fraser. “As a result, people living on reserves have significantly less protection from environmental threats than other communities.”

Chapter 6 of Fraser’s Fall Report was titled: Land Management and Environmental Protection on Reserves. She credited Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) with developing “legislative and program measures to support key elements of land management on reserves. It has provided greater control to First Nations to enable them to address economic development challenges on reserve lands.”

But the Auditor General concluded that on-reserve activities such as solid and liquid waste management do not have regulations that exist in other communities across Canada.

INAC has “not filled the regulatory void that occurs when provincial laws governing land management do not apply on reserves; nor have they adequately managed the environmental threats that this void creates.”

More info at:

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200911_06_e_33207.html

Private lands on reserve

NEW AIYANSH, BC – At its October 2009 sitting, Wilp Si’ayuukhl Nisga’a (WSN), the legislative body of Nisga’a Lisims Government, passed the Nisga’a Landholding Transition Act.

The act gives Nisga’a citizens the opportunity to own their residential properties in fee simple. A Nisga’a citizen who obtains fee simple title to their residential property under the Act will subsequently be able to mortgage their property as security for a loan, or to transfer, bequeath, lease or sell their property, to any person.

At a roundtable discussion in 2006, WSN considered ways in which Nisga’a citizens hold their residential properties. It identified the current restrictive system of Nisga’a Village Entitlements and Nisga’a Nation Entitlements as a barrier to economic development. Over the ensuing three years, Nisga’a communities in the Nass Valley and in Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Terrace were consulted, and numerous legislative options were considered, culminating in the introduction of the new Act.

More info at: www.nisgaalisims.ca

New model of governance

Gitxsan First Nation published its Gitxsan Reconciliation Alternative Governance Model more than a year ago. But it was in the news recently when some citizens protested the petitioning of Ottawa to remove Indian status for nation members. If approved, the move would mean the Gitxsan would give up its reserve system and its citizens would become taxpaying Canadians.

In exchange, the Gitxsan's alternative governance model recommends that Indian status is exchanged for a share of resources from their traditional lands.

In the document’s introduction, the Gitxsan said: “At this point in our discussions, the Gitxsan wish to step back from what has gone before, setting that aside for the moment and opening a new and possibly more productive initiative.

“Governments have long said that settlements must respect local conditions and traditions. We agree, and in that spirit propose a specific Gitxsan approach to our future relationship with the governments of Canada and BC.”

More info at: www.gitxsan.com