Skip to content
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Patrick Brazeau
Larry W. Campbell
Jacques Demers
Lillian Eva Dyck
Elizabeth Hubley
Sandra Lovelace-Nicholas
Dennis Glen Patterson
Rose-May Poirier
Nancy Greene Raine
Nick G. Sibbeston
Gerry St. Germain, P.C.
Carolyn Stewart Olsen


 
 
 
Ceri Au
Communications Officer
613-944-9145
Toll-free:
1-800-267-7362
auc@sen.parl.gc.ca

Marcy Zlotnick
Committee Clerk
613-990-6080
Toll-free:
1-800-267-7362
aborig-autoch
@sen.parl.gc.ca


 
 


Introduction

The issue of how we select our leaders and how we choose those
who will represent us is at the very heart of our people.1

For over a century, Canadian policies have eroded the traditional political systems of Aboriginal peoples, and imposed a governance system – band council and elections – disconnected from, and alien to, their cultures. Aboriginal peoples are now struggling to reconstitute their traditional forms of political representation and governance practices. A key aspect of this struggle for self-determination is the fundamental right to determine both their process of leadership selection and the basis upon which these leaders derive and exercise their authority.

There is growing evidence that it is through the exercise of self-government and the development of legitimate and culturally appropriate institutions that the challenges confronting Aboriginal communities might best be addressed. Prominent among this research has been the work of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, which suggests that effective governance practices and institutions, rooted in a community’s culture, are a crucial prerequisite to addressing the social and economic circumstances in Aboriginal communities.2

Increasingly, First Nations are attempting to address the limitations of the Indian Act electoral system, imposed upon them in the late 1800s, through the negotiation of self-government agreements and the creation of community-designed election codes. At the forefront of many of these efforts is the struggle to deal with the historical roots of these contemporary governance challenges and to revitalize traditional forms of governance. While First Nations have called for fundamental reforms to the Indian Act, including reform to its electoral provisions, such processes are often protracted. The question of how to address the common concerns around the Indian Act electoral regime, in a respectful and judicious way, is a matter this Committee has sought to address in its examination of this issue.

_____________________

1 Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, Proceedings, Shawn Atleo, Regional Chief, British Columbia, Assembly of First Nations, 12 May 2009. Following his appearance before the Committee, Shawn Atleo was elected National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

2 The findings and related publications of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development can be consulted on line at: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hpaied/.


 



Back to top