Minister says Aboriginal Affairs office is appropriately located

Tom Rideout, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, today stated the Aboriginal Affairs office in St. John�s is appropriately located.

Minister Rideout said, "St. John�s is where the seat of the provincial government is located. It is essential to have some departmental staff here, while others are appropriately located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The staff of Aboriginal Affairs that are currently located in St. John�s are primarily active in policy development, land claims and self-government negotiations. They provide services that necessitate a location near senior government officials and ministers."

The office of Aboriginal Affairs is responsible not for service delivery but for developing government�s negotiating positions and leading negotiations for land claims or self-government agreements, on behalf of the provincial government. The staff located in St. John�s primarily act as government�s senior negotiating teams on these very important files. They participate in negotiations on behalf of the provincial government in a variety of locations including Nain, Natuashish, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Sheshatshiu, Conne River, Ottawa, Amherst, Halifax and St. John�s.

The Aboriginal Affairs office in St. John�s is also involved in intergovernmental negotiations and preparing government�s response to national aboriginal initiatives. The staff assist and advise other government departments headquartered in St. John�s regarding their relationships with all the Aboriginal people of the province. "This recent interest in moving the Aboriginal Affairs staff to Labrador originated in Labrador. We must not forget that the island portion of the province has a significant Mi�kmaq population, in central Newfoundland and on the west and south coasts of the island," said the minister.

"In order to effectively serve Aboriginal peoples throughout the province it is critical that there be staff in St. John�s who have continued contact with senior officials of all government departments. The office of Aboriginal Affairs functions very much as a central agency in this regard. These staff also have strong and effective relationships with all of the Aboriginal groups throughout the province, enabling them to provide an important perspective to senior government officials and myself as minister."

"Most provincial programs and services provided to Aboriginal people in Labrador are delivered either by government departments with offices in the area or by boards, agencies or Crown corporations with offices in Labrador. If Aboriginal or non-aboriginal people have concerns about those programs and services they can raise them directly with the service providers. Moreover, the staff of the Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay can respond to the issues of concern to the people in Labrador," said the minister. "Furthermore, we are currently in the process of selecting a deputy minister responsible for Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs who will also be located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

"It is typical for any Aboriginal group that is involved in negotiations with the federal and provincial governments to have to travel to many of their negotiation sessions. In addition, all the Aboriginal groups in this province make use of advisors who live and practice outside the province. The Innu, for example, in their dealings with professional service providers, avail of expertise in a variety of locations including Toronto, St. John�s and Sackville, New Brunswick. It is to be expected, then, that they would also have dealings with Aboriginal Affairs staff that are located in St. John�s and federal officials in Ottawa and Amherst, Nova Scotia."

Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, ABC, Communications, (709) 729-3015, 690-8403

2005 02 23                   12:15 p.m.