Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "Stop Press -- Canada's Aboriginal Constitutional Conference" [1987] AboriginalLawB 19; (1987) 1(25) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 12

• Stop Press Canada’s Aboriginal Constitutional Conference

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Stop Press

Canada’s Aboriginal Constitutional Conference

Canada recently completed its fourth First Ministers Conference on Aboriginal Constitutional issues, which was the last one required to be held by the Canadian Constitution'

It has been described by one Inuit leader as a "rescinding non-success". Like the FMCS in 1984 and 1985, it focussed almost exclusively on entrenching the right of Aboriginal peoples to self-government in the Constitution.

Despite numerous meetings by senior officials and by Ministers over the last few years, neither a common proposal by the four national Aboriginal groups nor a less ambitious one by the federal government was able to ensure an amendnent (approval by Parliament and 7 provincial legislatures).

Nevertheless, significant progress was achieved from the perspective of the Aboriginal organizations. For the first tine, they finally reached consensus on the precise wording of an amendment proposal. Despite federal attempts to divide than, the high level of unity among the different groups is without parallel in Canadian history. Furthermore, the Priors minister and 5 of 10 Premiers publicly committed themselves to support an amendment that includes a freestanding and legally enforceable right of self-government. Another Premier who rejected these proposals declared his willingness to negotiate self-government agreements with Aboriginal groups in his province and to seek to entrench such agreements in the Constitution after they have been readied. Two other Premiers tentatively supported this latter approach.

Finally, the media and the Canadian public was overwhelmingly supportive of the Aboriginal cause. A recent opinion poll indicated that 77% of Canadians favoured the right of Aboriginal peoples to govern themselves. Media attention was massive with national TV coverage of the EM and hundreds of articles, editorials, radio broadcasts and TV shags. It is not yet clear, however, what will happen now. The Aboriginal groups are currently developing their strategy for the caning months, designed to continue the struggle for constitutional change and justice. The next issue of the AboriginalLB will contain a more detailed story and update.