AFN promises to continue fight governance act

The Assembly of First Nations has wrapped up its three-day annual meeting, held this year at the Kahnawake Reserve, south of Montreal. A wide range of resolutions were adopted, but Ottawa's new First Nations Governance Act took centre stage for most of the meeting, as nearly 1,000 delegates rejected the bill.

Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says progress was made on a series of problems, from suicide to housing. But he says there's a lot of work to be done to fight Ottawa's governance act.

Coon Come says the Assembly will ask communities to come up with strategies to fight the act.

Some chiefs have already taken action. Grand Chief Leon Jourdain is from the Anishinabeh Nation in Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's northern Ontario riding. He's started working with mayors in his region on a self-government plan.

Jourdain says the native community in northern Ontario is bringing back aboriginal traditions. "It's more productive for governments and people to come up with alternate answers. We believe we have the answers," he said.

The Nisnabe Aski nation in northern Ontario is taking a different approach. Deputy Chief Dan Kooses says it plans to organize a large rally in Nault's riding next month.

"We're hoping we'll have a good turnout from our own area. Also we're hoping to get good support from other regions, especially in Ontario. We hope it's going to be a peaceful rally."

But not everyone is satisfied with the work being done by the Assembly of First Nations on the governance act. Michele Audette, president of the Quebec Native Women's association, says the bill discriminates against female aboriginals.

She says the AFN isn't doing enough to protect their rights. "Where do we go? The minister doesn't want to listen to us, and here there's no real action to solve that problem."

Audette says many native women and their children still aren't allowed to live or benefit from services on reserves because they are married to non-natives.

She fears that in 40 years there won't be any aboriginals left who will be able to qualify for advantages under the Indian Act.