Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

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CanadaCanada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (engl.)
Affaires autochtones et du Nord Canada (fr.)
- INAC / AANC -
State level Federal level
Position of the authority Ministry
Supervisory authority (s) Government of Canada
Headquarters Ottawa , Ontario CanadaCanadaCanada 
Authority management Carolyn Bennett
Seamus O'Regan
Employee 4,582 (as of March 31, 2016)
Website www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca

The Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada ( INAC , English ) or, because of the Canadian bilingualism, also Affaires autochtones et du Nord Canada ( AANC French ), is an area of ​​the government of Canada . Until 2015 it was named Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development or Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada and until 2011 Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , also Indian and Northern Affairs Canada , in French analogous to Affaires indiennes et du Nord Canada . The division is responsible for the political relations between government institutions and the First Nations of the country, i.e. for the nations of the status Indians, as well as for the three northern territories and their inhabitants. This means that Inuit and Métis , who are not First Nations , also fall into the portfolio.

The area is managed separately by two ministries. On the one hand there is the Minister for Relations between the State and the Autochthons and for Northern Affairs, Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs) for all fundamental matters, and on the other hand the Minister for Services for Autochthons , Seamus O ' Regan (Minister of Indigenous Services), whose work is more application-oriented.

history

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs was a branch of the Home Office and has been responsible for all matters relating to the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 since John A. Macdonald . This law served as the basis for the proposed settlement of the prairies of central Canada and was in force until 1918. For a small price, settlers could purchase 160 or 320 acres of land. So it was clear from the start that Indian and Northern Affairs was mainly about land development and its resources. The affected peoples were mostly seen as an obstacle, their integration should end in complete assimilation. From 1867 to 1936 the department was headed by a Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs .

When the provinces of Alberta , Saskatchewan and Manitoba regained their sovereign rights over their natural resources in 1936 , the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs was consequently subordinated to the Department of Mines and Resources , as the economic focus had shifted to natural resources . But meanwhile a purely resource-oriented policy was no longer enough. In addition, the First Nations, the Métis and the Inuit fought against the often ruthless subordination of their needs to resource and therefore economic issues.

Since the objectives were apparently no longer sufficient to ensure at least adequate social and medical care, the Northern Administration and Lands Branch was set up in 1951, which in turn led to the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953).

As early as 1950, responsibility for Indian Affairs was assigned to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration , an organizational separation that focused on resources in the north and on a type of immigration for the status Indians - a spatial separation that was not sustainable in the long term.

In 1966, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , also known as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), was created. With the name, at least the focus was shifted from pure economic development to the companies concerned.

To this end, various departments have been set up or increasingly collaborated with certain offices. A Treaty Policy Directorate is responsible for the treaties that were concluded with the indigenous peoples, and an Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians is responsible for the Métis and non-status Indians who were not originally involved .

In 1983 and 1986, proposals and recommendations were made that the First Nations should lead their membership roles according to their own criteria, or that the ministry should be dissolved to the extent that the indigenous communities were given their rights, but this was never carried out so that the ministry continues. On the contrary, its competence was in some way extended to Métis and non-status Indians.

Overall, the organization is controversial, because some First Nations see themselves represented only unilaterally or not at all. They think it is prone to lobbying and indolence, which has been particularly evident in recent years in the supply of drinking water to smaller reserves.

Chuck Strahl was Minister until 2010 with the title: Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians . Strahl, born in 1957, has been elected to parliament several times since 1993, repeatedly responsible for economic development. He is thus in the historical line of the institution. From February 2006 to August 2007 he was responsible for agriculture and wheat.

He was succeeded by John Duncan from August 2010 . From 1972 to 1993 he worked in the timber industry on the coast of British Columbia.

In 2015 the ministry was renamed Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

In 2019 there are two separate ministries. Since November 2015, Carolyn Bennett has been working on all legal issues, in particular on contractual issues between Ottawa and the autochthons and on steering the numerous federal agencies operating in the north or in the contracting areas. Her title has been Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs since 2017 . As Minister of Indigenous Services, Seamus O'Regan is primarily responsible for specific social programs, i.e. for the practical implementation of policies, and serves as the first point of contact for the peoples concerned.

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency - Agence canadienne de développement économique du Nord - makes use of its tasks in the far north .

Land repurchase in Saskatchewan (Treaty Land Entitlement, since 1992)

On January 10, 2008, Strahl celebrated an agreement that had been negotiated since 1992 with the Muskoday First Nation and its chief Austin Bear, as well as June Draude, Saskatchewan Minister of First Nations and Métis Relations . Strahl's role was significant in that it involved commitments from contracts dating from 1874 onwards, the so-called Numbered Treaties , which, however, had only been partially implemented. In 1992 it was found that 33 of the 72 tribes were affected and negotiations with 25 of them entered into ( Treaty Land Entitlement ). In addition, the tribes should receive money for land purchases that can compensate for their losses. Such contracts currently exist with four tribes. In March and June 1996, the Cowessess and the Carry The Kettle First Nation, in October 2000 the Kawacatoose First Nation signed a contract.

These contracts operate in an idiosyncratic environment. The affected country is namely Crown Land , which dates back to the British colonial times. In principle, this land went into the possession of the province in 1930, in these cases Saskatchewan, so that the federal government should not be the contracting party. However, a clause stipulated that if there were any obligations on the part of the federal government with regard to this crown land - which was the case here - this land had to be returned to Ottawa . Therefore, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is responsible.

The calculation of the land area, which the Indians were entitled to under the treaties, caused great problems. One position said that historical sources must determine how many people or families had not received land from the Numbered Treaties . That number was then to be multiplied by 128 acres , the area that each individual would have been entitled to at the time. But the spirit of the treaties was different, because the tribes should be able to live comfortably. But these tribes had become much more numerous in the meantime. Ultimately, it was agreed that the percentage of those who were defrauded or forgotten at the time should be calculated and converted to today's, usually much larger, population. This area, in turn, had to be converted into an adequate price in accordance with the current price development when the contract was signed in order to be able to calculate a compensation amount for the purchase of land. This land could in turn be granted reserve status, i.e. not be for sale.

In addition, the tribe as a whole decides what to buy, and non-crown land can also be bought. In order not to drive up costs and land prices in the respective region, the payment is spread over 12 years. The total is $ 539 million for approximately 2,000,000 acres of land. Given the current value of all land abandoned by the provincial tribes is estimated at $ 61 billion, still a small sum. Saskatchewan participates with 30 to 49%, depending on the sums that the province can save by relocating the reserve supply. The province also hopes for large savings in support for impoverished reserve members. The 9% of the population that the Indians make up in the province currently own only 1% of the land, an area that is said to have doubled by the end of the process.

Treaties with the Inuit

The ministry also played an important role in contracts with the Inuit. The Baie James and North Quebec Agreement with the Inuit and Cree of Quebec was signed in 1975. In 1984, the Inuvialuit in the Northwest Territories signed a treaty with the government of Canada. On January 22, 2005, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut ( Labrador ) did the same with Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. However, the agreement that led to the founding of Nunavut in 1993 and 1999 , the province with currently the greatest autonomy, attracted much more international attention .

Analog institutions in the provinces and territories

The provinces and territories of Canada have established their own "aboriginal ministries" in accordance with the federal institution. In the Northwest Territories, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations (DAAR) is responsible, in British Columbia the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation , in Manitoba Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Honorable Carolyn Bennett. Government of Canada, October 6, 2017, accessed April 20, 2018 .
  2. ^ The Honorable Seamus O'Regan. Government of Canada, March 5, 2019, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  3. ^ Population of the Federal Public Service by Department. Government of Canada - Department of Treasury, September 22, 2016, accessed February 27, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Engl./frz. department / department
  5. ^ In the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement of 1930.
  6. ^ NT Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations
  7. ^ BC Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
  8. ^ Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs .