A new model for making Aboriginal policy? Evaluating the Kelowna Accord and the promise of multilevel governance in Canada

Government policy‐making affecting Indigenous communities in Canada has often been met with stiff resistance from Indigenous leadership. We examine multilevel governance as an alternate model for Aboriginal policy‐making by examining a particular case study: the process leading up to the 2005 Kelowna Accord. We find that although multilevel governance may have the potential to produce highly desirable outcomes, its emergence seems to depend heavily on political agency. Meaningful and enduring change to Aboriginal policy‐making will therefore likely require significant institutional adjustments to the Canadian federation.     

Improving First Nations water security through governance

Many First Nations communities lack access to safe drinking water. In this article, we examine an under-appreciated tool for improving First Nations water security – governance – and develop a framework for guiding the design and analysis of First Nations water governance models. In particular, we argue that three key ideas from the public administration literature – financial resources, regulation, and formalization – should be integrated with Indigenous insights and philosophies that are specific to each First Nations community. We illustrate how this might work by focusing on the insights, traditions, and philosophies of an Anishinaabek community in southern Ontario.     

Strengthening the ties that bind? An analysis of aboriginal–municipal inter‐governmental agreements in British Columbia

Abstract: Despite a rich and well‐developed literature on Canadian federalism, multilevel governance, and aboriginal–settler relations, scholars have tended to ignore the variety of inter‐governmental agreements that have emerged between aboriginal and municipal governments in Canada. This article examines ninety‐three such agreements to construct a typology of aboriginal–municipal inter‐governmental partnerships in British Columbia. It finds that over time there has been a shift from mundane, service‐provision agreements towards more collaborative, cooperative and sometimes decolonizing, horizontal and multilevel governance partnerships. As a result, the authors suggest that scholars study these agreements to further explain and understand the evolution of aboriginal–settler relations and multilevel governance in Canada.     

Reforming election dates in Canada: Towards an explanatory framework

Since 2001, ten governments in Canada have passed fixed election date legislation. The typical assumption in the literature is that governments did so as a way to address public concerns about the undemocratic nature of calling and timing elections. This argument, however, does not explain the timing (that is, when the legislation was passed by each jurisdiction) of this policy change. We approach this puzzle deductively by applying the theoretical insights of multiple streams theory to the Canadian experiences. Our findings suggest that although all three streams were important, the political stream is crucial for explaining the timing of the legislation.     

The election timing advantage: Empirical fact or fiction?

Do non-fixed election dates in Westminster parliamentary democracies create an unfair incumbent advantage? The consensus in the literature is that the incumbent party can gain an advantage at the ballot box by controlling election timing (Bakvis, 2001; Docherty, 2010; Smith, 2004; White, 2005; Wolinetz, 2005). Surprisingly, however, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this claim. We address this lacuna by providing an empirical test of whether the election-timing power matters for incumbent vote support. We do so by employing an innovative web-based voting experiment. Our findings show that the government does gain an advantage by timing an election when it is to their advantage, but the context is limited to conditions where the election follows immediately after a heightened level of positive government coverage.     

Aboriginal policy reform and the subsidiarity principle: A case study of the division of matrimonial real property on Canadian Indian reserves

Abstract: According to the Indian Act, aboriginal women in Canada do not have the same equality rights as aboriginal men living on‐reserve and non‐aboriginal women living off‐reserve. The Indian Act's provisions governing the division of matrimonial real property on Canadian Indian reserves have dispossessed many aboriginal women of their property entitlements during and after separation and divorce proceedings. Despite the existence of this problem for the last fifty‐five years, the Indian Act has proven highly resistant to reform. A number of First Nations, however, have recently been able to address this issue by developing local matrimonial property laws through the First Nations Land Management Act, a federal piece of legislation that is separate from the Indian Act. Not only have these local laws provided solutions to a policy problem left unaddressed by the federal government, they have also given aboriginal women greater equality rights during and after divorce proceedings while respecting local preferences. This article argues that government and aboriginal policy‐makers should consider making greater use of the subsidiarity principle when engaging in reforms to the Indian Act. Sommaire: Aux termes de la Loi sur les Indiens, les femmes autochtones au Canada n'ont pas les mêmes droits à l'égalité que les hommes autochtones dans les réserves et que les femmes non autochtones hors des réserves. Les dispositions de la Loi sur les Indiens régissant la division des biens immobiliers matrimoniaux sur les réserves indiennes canadiennes ont dépossédé de nombreuses femmes autochtones de leurs droits de propriété pendant et après les procédures de séparation et de divorce. Alors que ce problème existe depuis 55 ans, il se trouve que la Loi sur les Indiens a fortement résistéà la réforme. Cependant, un certain nombre de Premières nations ont réussi récemment à aborder ce problème en élaborant des lois locales sur les biens matrimoniaux par l'intermédiaire de la Loi sur la gestion des terres des premières nations, texte de loi fédéral distinct de la Loi sur les Indiens. Non seulement ces lois locales ont‐elles apporté des solutions à un problème de politique que le gouvernement fédéral n'avait pas réglé, mais elles ont également donné aux femmes autochtones de plus grands droits en matière d'égalité pendant et après les procédures de divorce tout en respectant les préférences locales. Le présent article indique que le gouvernement et les décideurs de politiques autochtones devraient envisager faire un plus grand usage du principe de subsidiarité lorsqu'ils entreprennent des réformes de la Loi sur les Indiens.     

The Dynamics of Intra-jurisdictional Relations in the Inuit Regions of the Canadian Arctic: An Institutionalist Perspective

One of the most exciting developments in Canadian federalism has been the emergence of Aboriginal self-governing regions. This paper constructs a theoretical framework for exploring the evolution of intra-jurisdictional relations in the self-governing Inuit regions of the Canadian Arctic. Intra-jurisdictional relations in these regions are characterized by a unique set of relationships between elected governments and organizations that represent the beneficiaries of land-claims agreements. Using the literature on historical institutionalism, we argue that the nature of Inuit intra-jurisdictional relations following the establishment of self-government can be explained by the institutional choices made prior to the signing of land-claims agreements and/or self-government agreements. To illustrate the potential of our framework for analysing Inuit intra-jurisdictional relations, we briefly examine the experiences of Nunavut, an Inuit-dominated region and the newest territory in the Canadian federation.     

Institutional design and the accountability paradox: A case study of three Aboriginal accountability regimes in Canada

While academic interest in accountability and transparency mechanisms in Aboriginal governance has risen over the past few years, very few studies have examined how these mechanisms operate in practice. One author, Shin Imai ( 2007 ), argues that Indigenous groups in Canada are faced with an accountability paradox that gives too much power to the federal government to intervene in band affairs, while giving too little power to band members to hold their local officials accountable for their actions. This paper examines the extent to which Aboriginal groups can avoid this paradox by reviewing three experiments in institutional design and self‐government in Aboriginal communities: the Sechelt Indian Band and the Westbank First Nation in British Columbia, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador. While considerable variation exists in terms of how well these communities overcome Imai's paradox, each community's accountability regime is an improvement over the one imposed by the Indian Act. The effectiveness of these regimes depends heavily on the institutional designs chosen by the Indigenous groups.     

Reduce transaction costs? Yes. Strengthen property rights? Maybe: The First Nations Land Management Act and economic development on Canadian Indian reserves

Economic development on Canadian Indian reserves is hindered by the fact that aboriginal peoples living on these reserves lack efficient and effective property rights. In 1999, the federal government passed the First Nations Land Management Act, which allows participating First Nations to develop their own land codes for administering their reserve lands. After analyzing two First Nation land codes in Ontario and Saskatchewan, this paper finds that land codes are effective mechanisms for addressing drag on on-reserve development.