And the Chiefs cannot appear weak- they will make demands that some will see as unacceptable- But it is a start-
I Understand rev sharing- BC does it- But holding an economy hostage is also unacceptable.
To much corruption within Indian Affairs and the same applies to some FN peoples- last thing anyone wants is to lock in corruption.
Both sides have to be held accountable-
Idle No More: Shawn Atleo says Friday meeting will be ‘moment of reckoning’ for Stephen Harper: | Canadian Politics | Canada | News | National Post
Also needed at Friday’s meeting, Atleo said, is a “high-level” commitment from the government to create a long-term plan to consult, meet, track and evaluate the progress on issues facing aboriginal reserves. That, the AFN believes,
would require a new “machinery of government” to be placed either inside the Prime Minister’s Office or in the Privy Council Office, the central bureaucracy that assists the prime minister and cabinet.
Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said his chiefs are looking for more than a minor policy shift Friday; they want a major change in the relationship between the federal government and First Nations. He said he wanted to see a new revenue-sharing model between First Nations and provincial and federal governments, along with co-management between aboriginals and other governments of resource extraction, a key component of Harper’s economic development policy.
Nepinak said if the government didn’t acquiesce to demands, aboriginals and the Idle No More protest movement had the “people and numbers that can bring the Canadian economy to its knees.”
“These are demands, not requests,” he said. “We’re demanding (Harper) agree with us because we have the true power.”
