I'm not sure if this leak has been around for a while, but I guess it's getting some limelight because of the recent events.
Canada’s First Nations policies cause friction, human rights challenges: U.S. diplomatic cable
OTTAWA — Officials in the U.S. embassy in Ottawa worry that unless Canada gets a comprehensive policy for dealing with First Nations rights, tension between Aboriginals and governments will continue to fester and will “pose ongoing human rights challenges,” according to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable.
U.S. diplomats say in the document — unclassified but labelled “sensitive” — that the government’s lack of a clear policy on First Nations rights is detrimental to relations with First Nations.
“Lack of a standard model for resolving comprehensive land claims, self-government agreements, and the absence of a clear legal definition of what constitutes an ‘aboriginal right’ have resulted in complex multi-year negotiations, a significant claims backlog, and friction between aboriginal communities and the federal and provincial governments,” the cable says.
The federal government put the Northern Ontario community’s finances under a third-party manager who will directly administer the band’s funding from Aboriginal Affairs, which is usually managed by the First Nation itself.
Under a section labelled comment, one diplomat says, “Canadian courts have been the primary drivers of federal and provincial efforts to resolve Aboriginal grievances, both in imposing new obligations and in encouraging negotiations to pre-empt litigation.”
The diplomat, who signs his or her name only as Hopper, goes on to say that without a comprehensive policy, Canada won’t be able to effectively deal with grievances in a timely manner.
The cable, dated Aug. 21, 2009, was written in response to a border dispute between Mohawks and the Canadian Border Services Agency because customs agents were given firearms at the Cornwall Island crossing to the United States. The Mohawks had to cross into the U.S to reach the island, part of the Akwesasne First Nation.
The cable is part of a trove of more than 251,000 classified and sensitive U.S. diplomatic documents released by Wikileaks in November 2010.
“This is perhaps a moment that we grasp, we seize this opportunity and that this government can grasp this moment to work with First Nations and we can begin to look forward to supporting the unleashing of potential of our young people,” Atleo told reporters.
WikiLeaks cables: Canada
