Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Presentation by Regena Crowchild, Sharon Venne and Eric Tootoosis, Indian Association of Alberta

This file contains a presentation by four members of the Indian Association of Alberta. The first speaker, Regena Crowchild, expresses disappointment with the Royal Commission's recommendation that "the right to self-determination is to 'pursue self-government within the structure of Confederation to join in the process of building a country that derives its strength from the contributions of all its peoples' is to misconstrue the meaning of the right of self-determination." Chowchild believes that "states have a duty to accommodate the aspirations of Indigenous peoples. This is Canada's duty, not our duty." After the presentation, Commissioners Erasmus and Chartrand explain that what the presenters perceive as recommendations by the Commission are actually statements reflecting ideas from previous presentations to the Commission. A prickly question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.