Edward Allen L.L.B is Executive Director of the National Centre First Nation Governance (NCFNG). He has a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and, "always had an interest and passion for social justice." He practiced law for a few years and continues to belong to the BC Bar Association, however, the interest in law included governance and Aboriginal rights and title issues.
"But I guess what I noticed in the practice of law you are dealing with individual concerns and it struck me a lot of times you couldn't get at the issues to make change. You needed to really get at the root of what Aboriginal people need, and that meant going into an area of law based on the Canadian court rulings on Aboriginal rights and title," Campbell, Delgamuukw, Haida:
[EXCERPT - In the Delgamuukw decision "(…) the court held that Aboriginal title is a communally held right in land and, as such, comprehends more than the right to engage in specific activities (e.g., hunting, fishing) which may themselves constitute Aboriginal rights. Based on the fact of prior occupancy, Aboriginal title confers the right to exclusive use and occupation of land for a variety of activities, not all of which need be aspects of [End Page 17] practices, customs or traditions integral to the distinctive cultures of Aboriginal societies.]
The spirit of the endeavor in the NCFNG, "is exciting, the group of people in these offices and especially the communities across the country that have people saying, 'I am fed up with the position our people have in Canadian society.'"
Allen said, "People tell me, 'I want to step forward and make a positive future for myself and my children,'" and he is meeting people in these communities where the focus has turned forward-looking. "Legal recognition of the inherent rights of First Nations people and the Aboriginal rights and title in their claims also supports positive change destined to benefit people of First Nations coast to coast."
The NCFNG organization has personnel who, "are very experienced asserting their rights," in contrast to their grandfathers who struggled to survive without the same rights as other Canadians (to vote, to justice, to work). He said this generation is great at tasking and working toward objectives which themselves are understood very well.
"We are really working with a good understanding of the process." In fact, he said, "I am learning a few things from managers who have been out establishing these relationships for the past year." For the NCFNG, it is about communities exercising Aboriginal rights and title, and Inherent Rights. "These are things the law in Canada has recognized, including ownership of the land and resources, and decisions about what to do with them," and these relate to self-government.
"The inescapable component to these rights," is the failure to recognize them, it brings consequences. "Each time we have infringement this entitles the communities to accommodations and a restoration of the balance."
This has been proven repeatedly, "Crown failures have been struck down in court and enforced accomodations include jobs, equity in ownership of companies involved with the land and resources, joint ventures, and orders granting fee simple grants to compensate damaged interests."
Canada is changing, "Any developments that take place in territory must respect Aboriginal rights and title in this country and consultations must be established to accommodate the legal framework. The courts of Canada have enunciated, through Campbell, Delgamuukw, and Haida decisions, that Section 35 contains the right of self-government that was never extinguished and groups can assert that right."
He said, it is possible to imagine the future of First Nation communities, "achieving success in empowerment under the law by simply saying, 'We are going ahead to exercise inherent right,' in whatever form they define it, whether Aboriginal Rights and Title, in treaty, as sovereign nations, it doesn't matter because Aboriginal people have these rights."
Whether they recognizing themselves as a Band or reserve or as a nation it matters not. If they are coming together, and saying, 'we are a nation,' the NCFNG Will work with them as they see fit. Some communities say of the Indian Act that it is limiting them in what they can do and the act is inconsistent with their values. "Some communities are doing okay with it and say they are not worried or can use it."
The approach a community takes toward the Crown is up the community. Allen said, "Each will define its relationship and work with the Crown." The NCFNG is there to assist in the possible affirmation of the approach. "These communities are coming to us from across the country, and it is interesting how the concept is universal, how a host of unique nations have these shared ideas of the rights we hold."
