Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 04/00) - The leader of Canada's First Nations says aboriginal peoples need to get their "fair share" of land and resources.

That will only happen if there is "a major redistribution of land and resources across the country," said Matthew Coon Come as he addressed aboriginal economic development officers from across the country Friday in Yellowknife.

"Will the Canadian public or government authorities allow the First Nations' people to have a share in the wealth of this country or will we be excluded?" said Coon Come, Assembly of First Nations national chief.

The status quo will only contribute to First Nations being "administrators of our own poverty.

"We will be lobbying for a first ministers' conference to deal with redistribution of land and resources, so we can get our fair share," he said.

"Burnt Church (where aboriginal fishermen have clashed with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans over fishing rights) is not just about fish, or lobster traps, it's about lands and resources."

Coon Come, a lawyer born on his parents' trapline in Northern Quebec, spoke at the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers national conference.

Coon Come fought against the multi-billion dollar James Bay hydroelectric project. In protest, he led a group of elders on a canoe trip from James Bay to New York, a customer of Hydro Quebec's. The project ultimately went ahead. In 1974, a deal was signed giving James Bay aboriginals cash and land rights.

In 1994, Coon Come won the Goldman Prize, considered the environmental Nobel Prize.

The conference was held at the Explorer Hotel. It was the first time the organization has held the event in the North.

"By getting a fair share (of land and resources) we can concentrate on problems," Coon Come adds.

More money needed

He suggested the federal government should consider directing $1 billion of the budget surplus into the First Nations economy. Land claim money is not strengthening First Nations economies by recirculating with the aboriginal community. This money is flowing out of the aboriginal economy, he said.

Coon Come also said by having this conference in the North, there is an opportunity to learn about the success in the North. "I'm no stranger to making deals."

Coon Come adds he knows the obstacles to economic development.

"I was involved in economic development in my own community (in Quebec) and with the Cree Nation."

During Coon Come's tenure as chair of the James Bay Native Development Corp., the corporation started 54 businesses in the Cree community. Coon Come was also chair of the James Bay Eeyou Corp. and founding director of the First Nations Bank of Canada.

Economic development officers will play a key role in the future of First Nation's communities, Coon Come told delegates.

Economic development officers play a role in rebuilding First Nations' communities, he said.

"I would definitely recommend aboriginal economic development as a career path."