The National Assembly of Remote Communities
Empowering Remote Communities, Advocating for Equity and Sovereignty
The National Assembly of Remote Communities
Empowering Remote Communities, Advocating for Equity and Sovereignty
About the National Assembly of Remote Communities
Background
The National Assembly of Remote Communities Established in 2021 as an unincorporated association, NARC represents the unified voices of remote First Nations communities across Turtle Island. Rather than limiting its scope and responsibilities by arbitrary geographic factors (e.g., communities located over 350 km away from a service centre with year-round road access), NARC instead strives to advocate for communities that lack access to services related to child welfare, its social determinants (e.g., education, healthcare, and infrastructure), and potentially other issues.
Specifically, NARC was created to address the needs, interests, and circumstances of remote First Nation communities in the ongoing work to inform the negotiations of the final settlement for the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s (“CHRT”) Long-Term Reform of First Nations Child and Family Services Program.
As a precursor to NARC, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) worked with Canada at a joint table (the NAN-Canada Remoteness Quotient Table) and developed a Remoteness Quotient to account for the higher costs of providing Child and Family Services in First Nation communities that are “remote.” NARC was established to continue this work, and to apply the principles nationally and to other sectors.
NARC’s role also includes establishing a Remoteness Secretariat to provide technical analysis and services to NARC and creating roles for representatives to support remote First Nations. Additionally, NARC is to ensure that Canada equitably distributes equitable payments to remote Nations from the CHRT’s final settlement agreement on compensation and the long-term reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan’s Principle. NARC intends to ensure that remote communities also receive equitable funding in sectors beyond child welfare.
Founding members consist of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, along with the Alberta and Northwest Territories regions of the Assembly of First Nations.
Currently, NARC consists of representatives from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories, and aims to expand membership to incorporate the voices and perspectives of First Nations all across Canada so that these communities may collectively define remoteness and, through NARC, act as a united voice to address remote First Nations issues on a national level.