Cree-Naskapi Commission

The Cree-Naskapi Commission has produced two biennial reports at the time of writing. The 1986 Report was submitted to the Minister of DIAND in March 1987 and the 1988 Report in June 1989. Both reports were prepared in English and translated into Cree, Naskapi and French. Of the fourteen investigations conducted by the Commission, all were submitte... d by Cree or Naskapi parties, with the majority of complaints (eight) involving individual members vs. their local government. Of the remaining six representations, three involved Indian government complaints (two against the federal government and one against the Quebec government), and three may be classified as references and, as such, did not include a named respondent. To date, the federal government has not filed a representation with the Commission. The subject matter of the representations accepted ranges across a number of areas, though there seems to be a recurrent theme of issues relating to education, housing and local elections. Other issues referred to in representations primarily concern the areas of finance (taxation and capital funding), health services and the administration of justice. With few exceptions, investigations conducted by the Commission have involved issues of a local, community nature. As such, these investigations have been confined to one or two well-defined issues within the context of local government administration and, as a general rule, have been free of complex scientific or technical requirements. The average time taken to complete an investigation ranged anywhere from two months to two years. Of the six investigations which have not been completed, one has been with the Commission since 1986 and the others for two years, on average. Most of the representations accepted by the Commission for investigation occurred during the mid-point of the Commission's existence, from late 1987 to early 1988. During that period a total of eight representations, or roughly 60 percent of the total number, were accepted for investigation. Of ...Read More