Mixed reaction to new Indian, northern affairs minister

Northern and aboriginal leaders had a lukewarm reaction to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's choice to replace Jim Prentice as Indian and northern affairs minister.

Former agriculture minister Chuck Strahl was sworn in Tuesday as Indian and Northern Affairs minister. He replaces Prentice, who moved to the industry portfolio. He had held the Indian and northern affairs portfolio since February 2006.

The federal department has a major presence in the North, especially in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which have yet to work out devolution agreements with Ottawa.

Devolution agreements would give the territorial governments more province-like powers and control over land and resources. The Yukon has already settled a devolution agreement that took effect in 2003.

In the Northwest Territories, Premier Joe Handley told CBC News thatnegotiators came close to reaching an agreement in principle, and had hoped to have it ready before the territorial government dissolves this fall for an Oct. 1 election.

"We were only two items away from settling and having an agreement in principle. We came very close last week," Handley said Tuesday.

"Now with MinisterStrahl responsible, I expect he's going to want some time to get up to speed on the issues. I'm still going to hope to meet with him before the end of our government's term."

Handley said he hopes Strahl will pick up where Prentice left off, rather than start a whole new negotiation process.

"It certainly reduces the possibility of getting an [agreement in principle] in the life of this government, but it doesn't make it impossible," he said.

Prentice valued for his experience

When Prentice became minister last year, some northern aboriginal leaders approved of the choice because he is considered an expert on aboriginal land claims issues.

A lawyer by profession, Prentice had been a commissioner of the Indian Specific Claims Commission from 1992 to 2001. The commission, an independent body, investigates land claims disputes.

Asan opposition MP, Prentice was the Conservative party's Indian and northern affairs critic.

By comparison, Strahl — a five-term Reform, Canadian Alliance and now Conservative MP from the Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon riding in southern British Columbia — served as the party's opposition critic for northern economic development in 2004. He also sat on the standing committee on aboriginal affairs, northern development and natural resources.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus said he's willing to work with the minister, even thoughStrahl is not well-known in the North.

"I'm optimistic but I'm not," Erasmus said Tuesday.

"The big thing that needs change is the policies that guide the government. For example, with First Nation governments, part of the difficulty right now is the existing policies don't really see our governments as having the kind of jurisdiction that our people have always envisioned."

Fishing rights remarks questioned

Erasmus said he's alsoconcerned about remarks Strahl made as a Reform MP in1999 in regard to native fishing rights in Atlantic Canada.

At the time, his party was asking the governing Liberals and the Supreme Court to suspend a decision upholding the rights of some First Nations to fish out of season. Strahl had said the federal government should extend year-round fishing rights to non-aboriginal fishermen.

"A question is, does he still hold those same beliefs?" Erasmus said Tuesday. "Is that the message the prime minister is trying to give us? Or is it a fresh new approach where his thinking has matured?"

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington, who is the NDP's critic for northern development, said that opposition to exclusive aboriginal fishing rights — and Strahl's history with the Reform party overall — will put him at odds with many northerners.

"It'll be very interesting to see how he approaches some of the issues, given his past record and his ideology," Bevington said Wednesday.

In a release issued Wednesday, Grand Chief Andy Carvill of the Council of Yukon First Nations said his organization can work with the new minister.

Strahl visited the Yukon last week while he was still agriculture minister. Carvill said that at the time, he and Strahl discussed a broad range of First Nations issues and concerns, adding that Strahl seemed truly interested.

A spokesman for Strahl told CBC News that the new minister is spending the rest of this week reading briefing books before making any public comments.