Establishing a new layer of bureaucracy in Canada to administer programs for Indian communities will not improve those communities, it will only create additional waste and overlap. Yet that hasn't stopped the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) from requesting over $1.7 billion from taxpayers to establish a new layer of bureaucracy within the lobby group.

A federal finance committee was recently presented with the AFN's pre-budget submission for the 2003-04 fiscal year. The AFN requested $1.7 billion - in addition to what is currently spent on Indian programs - in order for the lobby group to administer a third set of exclusive programs for Indians. Such programs would include: health care; education and training programs; justice; child welfare and social services; a housing strategy; economic partnerships; infrastructure; and cultural and language programs.

The social and economic problems of Indian people in Canada did not emerge overnight. The Canadian Constitution gives the federal government explicit responsibility for "Indians and lands reserved for the Indians". Thus the myriad of programs available to any other citizen of a province are not available to Indians living on reserve land, thereby resulting in a separate level of federal bureaucratic overlap.

That said, although the Constitution precludes provinces from legislating for Indians, it does not stop provincial and municipal governments from spending approximately $3 billion per year on various Indian programs in their jurisdictions.

Currently, the Department of Indian Affairs and12 other federal departments spend over $7.5 billion annually to fund and provide a range of services to Indians. A few of the services are: education; social support services; Indian government support; construction and maintenance of houses, schools, roads, bridges, sewers and other community facilities; management of lands, oil and gas management and development; community economic development; commercial development; and Indian taxation services.

Needless to say, the duplication and overlap of expenditures and resources are enormous as the expenditures by federal departments, and many provincial and municipal agencies, are not generally tracked in an easily identifiable way to determine how much is directed toward Indian people. Adding the AFN to the mix will only create more bureaucracy and duplication.

There are no legal or constitutional barriers to ending the federal overlap of Indian Affairs, because the Constitution allows but does not require the federal government to legislate for Indians. Just because the federal government has sole jurisdiction does not mean it must exercise it. Therefore, the federal government can abolish the Indian Act and its policies of segregation at any time. By doing so, the federal government could devolve many of the programs currently administered by them to the provinces.

Clearly, treating one group of Canadians differently is wrong both morally and intellectually. If the federal government accepts the AFN's $1.7 billion proposal, Canada will increase bureaucratic overlap for Indian Affairs and continue to move down the path of further balkanization.