The Common Table was created by a Protocol Agreement on October 31, 1996. The Common Table provides a forum for the FSIN Chief, the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and the provincial Minister of First Nation & Metis Relations to:

• Discuss treaty matters of mutual concern and priority that affect all three governments
• Identify and help with the processes for negotiating and implementing a new framework, defining the intergovernmental relationship with Treaty First Nations
• Discuss how jurisdiction and financial matters are linked in First Nation government.

Discussions at the Common Table led to the creation of two other tripartite tables: the Governance Table and the Fiscal Relations Table.

Activities

On October 17, 2003, the First Nations of Saskatchewan elected Alphonse Bird as the new Chief of the FSIN. Upon taking office, the FSIN initiated a review of the work under FSIN’s Treaty Governance Processes.

On November 7, 2003, Chief Bird had an opportunity to meet with Minister Nault to discuss the status of this and other matters. It was decided that the FSIN Community Review process would continue through to June 2004 to identify what changes were required in the Agreements-in-Principle. Internally, the FSIN are reviewing the Agreements-in-Principle, part of which is to examine original mandates and visions to ensure TGO and the agreements are consistent and on track with directions given.

Chief Bird also met with Senior INAC officials on September 1, 2004 to discuss the obstacles facing the Governance & Fiscal Relations Table discussions. They agreed to arrange for a “visioning session” scheduled for November 30 – December 2, 2004 to determine whether the three parties still had a common vision of First Nations governance and Treaty implementation to continue. Canada has told the FSIN that it cannot move very far from its current position without getting a new mandate, but agreed to hold another meeting between the Chief and INAC Senior officials in early March 2005.