Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 02/99) - Aboriginals living in Yellowknife recently had a chance to air their concerns in front of a national delegation of Assembly of First Nations representatives.

The Urban Issues Task Force -- mandated by the Assembly of First Nations to determine the breadth and scope of problems faced by Aboriginals outside their home communities -- was in town, June 23-24, in the hope of gathering local input for a report to be tabled to the AFN chiefs-in-assembly.

"There are now about 45 per cent of our citizens living in urban or rural areas, away from their home community," Phil Fontaine, national chief of the AFN, said.

"Many have left for reasons beyond their control, such as a lack of adequate housing, employment and economic opportunities and land base.

Task force chairperson, Peter Manywounds, said it will be the people attending the meetings that will determine the outcome of the report.

"What we set out to do is to see what peoples' needs are outside of the communities," Manywounds said. "To see what the problems are that they are facing and hopefully they will be able to provide us with some solutions of how to deal with these problems."

The task force, which will visit 11 cities, began their cross-country mission June 17 in Vancouver and will wrap up in Halifax, July 14.

The AFN chiefs-in-assembly will review the report and conclusions at their annual general assembly to be held in Vancouver near the end of July.

Executive director of the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre -- where the meeting was held -- Tom Eagle, felt the meetings ended on a positive note.

"The meetings went extremely well," Eagle said. "However, please allow me to make a judgement later when the report comes out.

"One of the biggest issues we have in the North is who is responsible for who and the diversity of Aboriginal people in the city. I think the youth issue is particularly important as well, and practices by the government in affirmative action must be addressed."

Task force member Jim Sinclair, felt there was a need for Yellowknife to raise its profile in dealing with Aboriginal concerns.

"Yellowknife is the capital but is not treated as such," Sinclair said. "It is seen as a small town in the south and in the (federal) government's mind, it means out of sight out of mind."

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs within the federal government, meanwhile, contends that they are paying close attention to developments that may arise out of the AFN Urban Task Force's nationwide mission.

"The federal government is supportive of the Assembly of First Nations on urban Aboriginal issues," a spokesperson for DIAND, Steve Outhouse, said when reached for comment in Ottawa. "We are looking forward to hearing what they might find.

"It will take a government-wide approach to reach real solutions and that is what the federal government has begun to do through 'Gathering Strength', which was the federal government's response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People in January of 1998."