Greater Responsibility
•
ᒐᒋ
ᐊᔭᔭᑎᓂᒪᑎᓱᓇᓄᒡ ᐊᑐᔅᒐᐅᓐ
Although minor improvements can undoubtedly be
made to the CNQA, the Nation’s vision of local
government for the Naskapis involves primarily
broadening the scope of the responsibilities of
Council. As a single community of only some 700
persons, the Nation’s capacity to absorb more
responsibility and to discharge additional governmental
responsibilities at a reasonable cost is relatively
limited. That situation may, of course, change
over the years as the population grows.
One of the greatest weaknesses of the NEQA is,
in the Nation’s opinion, that it distributes the
powers and responsibilities that the Nation has
across many Naskapi organizations. For example,
health and social services are currently the responsibility
of the Board of Directors of the Naskapi Local
Community Service Centre. Education is the responsibility
of the Education Committee. Responsibility for
economic development is divided between the Nation
and Naskapi Development Corporation, while the
latter has a major responsibility for the protection
of Naskapi language and culture.
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An Expanded Council •
ᐊᒥᓯᑎᒡ
ᐃᔪᒋᒪᑲᓐᒡ ᒐᒂᔪᐤ ᐊᑐᔅᑲᔅᑕᒡ
Having numerous organizations that work in closely
related areas weakens the concept of local government
and is particularly inappropriate for a small
Nation such as the Nation, where the number of
qualified and interested persons is relatively
small. One relatively easy way of strengthening
local control would be to amalgamate all authority
under an expanded Council. Under that vision,
the responsibilities, personnel, and resources
of all Naskapi entities that have responsibility
for some aspect of the Naskapis’ collective life
would be combined under the authority of an enlarged
Council. In the same way as the Government of
Canada has departments and agencies, so the expanded
Band Council would create counterparts, each with
clearly defined responsibilities, such as education,
health and social services, economic development,
and cultural affairs, but all of them would report
ultimately to Council.
The Nation has made some progress in that direction
in the Administrative Agreement arising from the
review of Section 10 of the NEQA. It gives Council
a modest level of oversight of the administration
of the Naskapi Local Community Service Centre
by its board of directors.
Proceeding as described above, would bring with
it economies of scale, increased coordination,
and better use of personnel, buildings, and equipment.
Most important, it would give fuller expression
to the concept of local government and might constitute
a step towards significantly enhanced autonomy.
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Regional Self-government
•
ᑕᑐᐎᒡ
ᐅᒋᒪᐅᓐ ᒐᒋ ᔭᔭᑎᓐᑎᓱᒡ
The Nation appreciates that, achieving the preceding
goals would encounter numerous obstacles, including
issues of provincial and federal jurisdiction
and, probably, the reluctance of some Naskapi
organizations to relinquish their exclusive powers.
It is, therefore, a very long-term goal.
The Nation’s vision also encompasses an enhanced
level of regional self-government. In the same
way as, and for the same reasons that, the Inuit
are attempting to negotiate enhanced regional
self-government with the Governments of Quebec
and Canada, the Nation would like an opportunity
to negotiate a strengthened form of non-ethnic
government over all of the territory in which
it exercises rights pursuant to the NEQA. That
territory corresponds roughly to the Nation’s
traditional lands.
The Nation appreciates that, achieving the preceding
goals would encounter numerous obstacles, including
issues of provincial and federal jurisdiction
and, probably, the reluctance of some Naskapi
organizations to relinquish their exclusive powers.
It is, therefore, a very long-term goal.
The Nation’s vision also encompasses an enhanced
level of regional self-government. In the same
way as, and for the same reasons that, the Inuit
are attempting to negotiate enhanced regional
self-government with the Governments of Quebec
and Canada, the Nation would like an opportunity
to negotiate a strengthened form of non-ethnic
government over all of the territory in which
it exercises rights pursuant to the NEQA. That
territory corresponds roughly to the Nation’s
traditional lands.
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