Double Identities: Aboriginal Policy Agencies in Ontario and British Columbia

Extract

This article argues that provincial government units for Aboriginal affairs in Ontario and British Columbia have ''double identities'' stemming from contradictory mandates anchored in two different policy communities. Aboriginal policy agencies act as Crown negotiators with Aboriginal nations over land claims and self-government, but are also responsible for co-ordinating government policies affecting Aboriginals. Consequently, they interact with two different policy communities. One involves economic and resource ministries, which engage in a pressure pluralist relationship with Aboriginal groups. The second involves social policy ministries who engage in more clientele pluralist relationships with Aboriginals. Consequently, Aboriginal policy agencies display different identities and play different and sometimes contradictory roles. These ''double identities'' illustrate the complexity and contradictions of provincial-Aboriginal relations in Canada.