Chief says repeal Canada's Indian Act

WINNIPEG, Ontario, July 20 (UPI) -- The national chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations said Tuesday the Indian Act has hurt the country's aboriginal people and must be repealed.

Speaking at a national tribal gathering in Winnipeg, Ontario, Shawn Atleo blamed the act for high suicide and incarceration rates, poverty and low educational levels among First Nation members, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.

Atleo said the act should be repealed in two to five years, and called for a national summit that includes Prime Minister Stephen Harper and First Nation leaders.

"Let's focus our energies and seize the initiative," he said. "Let's cut to the heart of the problem and once and for all deal with the Indian Act."

He called for the act to be replaced by an agreement that gives First Nations "real decision-making authority" and provides funding based on "population, inflation and need."

"We have a responsibility to carefully rebuild our nations and our governments," he said. "We must ensure full accountability and transparency in the process."

The Assembly of First Nations receives almost all of its funding from federal government, leaving it with a "fundamental conflict of interest" that hinders self-sufficiency, he said.