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Exclusive Report

January 26, 2001

The following is from an address by British Columbia Premier Dosanjh to the Aboriginal Peoples Council roundtable in Victoria.

I don't need to tell you that we have come some ways on treaty questions but we have a long ways to go but that's a focus for another time.

I just want you to know that we believe in doing treaties because we believe that that's the right thing to do and it's the just thing to do, and we've believed that for a long time, this is nothing new.

But the focus today is the First Nations people off- reserve in British Columbia and I'm told by some of you that it's 80 per cent, so anywhere from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of First Nations people in British Columbia live off reserve and that's who you represent and that's who we need to talk about.

I don't need to repeat the statistics.  I just want you to know that I know, as having been the Attorney-General for several years, I know the number of Aboriginal people disproportionately represented in the prison population and I know in terms of issues around children and families, one third of the children in care of the Government are First Nations' children.

I know about the differential in the life expectancy, and the dropout rate and the suicide rate and all of those issues that bring to the fore the fundamental realization for all of us that we need to do more to ensure that our First Nations people that are off-reserve have the tools and the skills and the resources to deal with their lives with dignity and fairness, and live among us as equals.

I don't have any major announcements but I want to tell you ... that I do know that you require a well-coordinated approach to issues from our perspective and I have asked David Zirnhelt to chair a committee of cabinet ministers that would include ministers that are appropriate to your needs - might be housing, might be health, others, so that you can sit with them around one table rather than you having to call one minister at a time, and that there is a coordinated approach from our government.

I do know that there is a federal counterpart to that approach and I think that then we can really get into a tripartite arrangement.

I do want to tell you that Ed John symbolizes for me, in my cabinet, as having a seat around that table because I believe that the First Nations population, which by the way if your estimates are its 290,000 First Nations people off-reserve in British Columbia - am I right?

Well that's a little more than the Indo-Canadian population in British Columbia.  So you need to be around, you deserve to be around the cabinet table and I was so delighted when I was able to put Ed John into Cabinet and he continuously reminds me of how far we have to go and what a long journey we have that we need to complete.

So, without saying anything more, I just want to tell you that I'm cognizant of your concerns.  I've heard some of them specifically … Ministry is working on some of your issues but I want a concerted, co-ordinated approach so that as we move forward you feel that you have your voices heard around the table, that's the most important table in government, and that's the Cabinet.  Okay?  Thank you for having me here.  Thank you.

Exclusive Report
The following is from a January 26, 2001 letter from the British Columbia Minister of Aboriginal Affairs  David Zirnhelt to the Aboriginal Peoples Council -APC

Let me first assure you of my commitment to deal with the concerns facing the off-reserve Aboriginal community.  My commitment will be demonstrated by some specific actions not the least of which is maintaining a provincial commitment to continue supporting negotiations with the Aboriginal Peoples Council.

As a follow-up item from our meeting I will be speaking with my colleagues in the Ministry of Health, Child and Families, Attorney-General, Education and Advanced Education, Training and Technology, with respect to the work being pursued by the APC.

It is my intention to seek both a commitment from these organizations to work on the significant issues facing the off-reserve, and where possible, to obtain additional supporting resources towards achieving those objectives.

Premier Dosanjh has asked me to lead a Cabinet working group to oversee a coordinated approach to the needs of all Aboriginal people.  This working group will establish a more coherent approach with Canada to address the gaps that off-reserve people encounter in the delivery of services and programmes.

I will also consider the merits of establishing social interim measures, funding, for aspects of the work that is being contemplated by the APC.

Your input is welcome in this matter and I expect our discussions can be informed by some of the outcomes from your round table sessions and other tripartite work.

Finally, the matter of the Memorandum of Understanding with the APC is uppermost in my list of follow-up items. I remain confident that we can reach agreement on the items of this MOU by speaking directly to the matter of what we are seeking to achieve.

In my view what is needed in the MOU is a clear indication of our mutual objective seeking to define and establish locally controlled institutions run by and for the off-reserve community.

Terminological issues should not impede the work that the APC has completed to date and will continue to pursue in the future.

I believe we can resolve this matter using some creative thinking and maintaining a commitment to clear communication of our mutual intention.

So you are aware, I will also be communicating with my federal colleague, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, to signal my commitment to achieving a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding.

David Zirnhelt Minister

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