"Clark Plans Meeting with Aboriginal Leaders"

OTTAWA (CP) - Constitutional Affairs Minister Joe Clark plans to meet aboriginal leaders in early July to discuss their participation in talks about Canada's future.

"We are looking for ways to achieve the kind of participation in the constitutional process which the aboriginal people seek," Clark said Wednesday outside the Commons.

Clark made the announcement the day after Ovide Mercredi, the new chief of the Assembly of First Nations, expressed fears that natives would be treated as second-class citizens in upcoming discussions.

Clark said he has agreed to review different ways to involve natives, possibly through a special panel attached to a new parliamentary committee on constitutional reform.

The July 4-5 meeting with the assembly, which represents Canada's status Indians, is at the Stoney reserve in Morley, Alta.

Mercredi is pushing for "a real seat" at the constitutional table and wants Clark to come to the meeting with concrete proposals.

"Like some in Quebec, native people need constitutional change," Mercredi said in a written statement.

"Unlike some in Quebec, native people want to be included in Canada.

"Perhaps, if the goodwill we have to Canada can lead to successful negotiations, that success could serve as a model for Canada's dealings with Quebec."