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Call for Papers
Theme: Aboriginal Multilevel Governance
Type: 2013 State of the Federation Conference
Institution: Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's
University
Location: Kingston, ON (Canada)
Date: 28.–30.11.2013
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In 2003, the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations held its annual
State of the Federation conference on the theme of Aboriginal-State
relations. The conference highlighted the disjuncture between the
institutions and policies that govern our relations and a rapidly
changing Aboriginal reality on the ground. Ten years later, the Idle
No More movement starkly reminds Canada of its limited success in
addressing Aboriginal rights and land claims, not to mention the
ongoing socio-economic challenges facing First Nations, Métis and
Inuit communities.
Addressing the complex legacies and ongoing consequences of
colonialism is a challenging task. Not only is it exceedingly
difficult to transform deeply rooted institutions, practices and
attitudes, but there are also fundamental disagreements as to the
direction change should take. What has become increasingly clear in
recent years is that the federal government cannot act alone.
Aboriginal peoples are no longer willing to see policy reforms
imposed from the top without appropriate consultation and substantive
participation. Many communities and nations are also revitalizing
traditional models of governance, thereby inviting Canadian
authorities to recognize alternative forms of decision-making.
Moreover, while some Aboriginal nations are reluctant to engage with
provincial and territorial authorities, many core issues facing
communities relate to areas of provincial jurisdictions, from
education and health care to lands and resources management.
Provinces and territories are therefore increasingly active at
developing their own approaches to relationships with Aboriginal
peoples. Aboriginal governance is, in other words, an increasingly
multilevel reality.
The shift from a federal-centred to a multilevel model of Aboriginal
governance is also reflected in the growing number of bilateral and
trilateral governance arrangements that have emerged in recent years
in response to ongoing political and judicial developments.
Self-government and land claims settlements are but one example of
such arrangements. Lesser-known but nonetheless significant
sector-specific agreements between Aboriginal, federal, provincial
and territorial governments in areas as diverse as lands and
resources management, training, education, health care, child welfare
and housing, to name a few, also contribute to the reconfiguration of
Aboriginal governance. While the constitutional foundations of
Aboriginal-state relations are not altered by these agreements, they
do transform practices of governance and policy-making.
The 2013 State of the Federation conference will focus on the
implications, challenges and transformative potential of these
developments, with a focus on the growing interplay between
Aboriginal, federal, provincial and territorial governments in the
context of multilevel governance. What can we learn from Aboriginal
nations and communities that are seeking to reassert their own
approaches to governance? Can Aboriginal, provincial, territorial and
federal governments work together in developing innovative approaches
to multilevel governance? Do existing governance arrangements in, for
example, natural resources management or in the delivery of social
services, create opportunities for real and substantive Aboriginal
participation in decision-making? What are, in other words, the main
challenges, limits of such models? And what are the implications of
these multilevel arrangements for Aboriginal rights and political
aspirations, as well as for Canadian federalism? Can they be
conducive to fundamental changes in our relationships?
We will explore these questions through a series of panels designed
to facilitate dialogue between researchers and practitioners of
Aboriginal governance along the following themes:
- Aboriginal perspectives on governance
~ Innovative approaches in revitalizing traditional governance
practices
~ Self-determination through community-based
constitution-making
- Provincial and territorial perspectives on Aboriginal governance
~ What is (and should be) the role of provincial and
territorial governments in Aboriginal governance?
~ Key challenges in developing sustained Aboriginal,
provincial relations
- Multilevel governance agreements: lessons from the field
~ Trilateral agreements in education, health, housing: do
they work?
~ Accountability in multilevel governance regimes:
accountable to whom, and how?
~ Urban Aboriginal multilevel initiatives
- Multilevel governance in the natural resources economy
~ The changing role of Aboriginal peoples in natural resources
development: emerging practices in forestry, mining and the
oil and gas industry
~ Consultation and accommodation: evolution, limits and
practical implications
~ The politics of revenue sharing
- Multilevel governance under modern treaties: lessons learned and
the way forward
~ The potential and limits of treaties as multilevel
governance models
~ The challenges of treaty implementation
- Métis Multilevel Governance
~ Implications of Daniels and Manitoba Metis Federation court
decisions
~ Innovate practices in Metis governance
- Governance and the grassroots: lessons from the Idle No More
movement
- Comparative perspectives on Aboriginal governance in federal state
Conference website:
http://www.queensu.ca/iigr/conf/upcoming/sotf2013.html
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InterPhil List Administration:
http://interphil.polylog.org
Intercultural Philosophy Calendar:
http://cal.polylog.org
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