All eyes on aboriginal affairs
Challenging cabinet post could go to indigenous MP for the first time
Some cabinet appointments are symbolic of a government’s vision, like environment and justice. Some are scrutinized with a Kremlinologist’s eye, like finance.
Some are all this and more, and when Justin Trudeau reveals his cabinet Wednesday, no posting will be as thoroughly fraught as the office charged with giving full life to the Indian Act, one of the abiding political controversies of Canada.
His pick for Aboriginal Affairs will be watched especially closely not only for the acrimony between the outgoing Conservative government and Canada’s First Nations, but also because of Trudeau’s emphasis on aboriginal reconciliation, his promise for a nation- to-nation approach, and possibly also his Haida tattoo.
The new cabinet also offers a rare possibility, that after decades under the ministry of white men ( and two white women), the former “Indian Affairs” might for the first time be headed by an aboriginal, even perhaps an Inuk.
“It’s going to be the first indicator. Not necessarily who was selected, but the priority it’s given,” said Patrick Smith, director of the Institute of Governance Studies at Simon Fraser University.
There are several possible candidates, thanks to the election of a record 10 indigenous MPs, of whom eight are Liberal and two NDP. Their constituencies span urban, rural and northern ridings, but their fortunes were buoyed by a national spike in aboriginal voting aimed broadly at getting rid of the Conservative government, along with its Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who lost in New Brunswick.
That means aboriginals are a constituency that deserves to be acknowledged, and the idea of an indigenous minister of Aboriginal Affairs has caught on. Hayden King, director of the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, offered a humorous poll on Twitter about who will be the minister, with both options being Jody Wilson- Raybould, the Liberals’ native star in Vancouver.
But the possibility of an indigenous minister raises dangerous potential for conflict between the duties to serve the government, to represent one’s constituents, and to serve one’s people. As a point of law, the Aboriginal Affairs minister represents the Crown, not aboriginal people.
For the government, it might carry the whiff of tokenism, of symbolism outweighing substance on a crucial government file, or the pigeonholing of indigenous MPs.
As the writer and broadcaster Wab Kinew put it, recalling comments he has heard, just like you do not appoint a general to defence or a doctor to health, you do not appoint an indigenous person to aboriginal affairs.
“That same logic might apply,” said Kinew, associate vice- president of Indigenous Affairs at the University of Winnipeg. “One of my friends shared this with me, they said being a native Indian Affairs minister would be like being a police officer in your own community. On the one hand, you’ve got a job to do, but you’re tasked with laying down the law, and you may alienate people you have a longstanding relationship with in the service of your duty.”
Smith said a key thing to watch for will be whether the new minister is on the cabinet’s priorities and planning committee — as Valcourt was — which will offer a better chance to turn Trudeau’s campaign pledges into reality.
As a result, Smith said he expects it will go to someone with a bit of “heft,” a Liberal with longestablished political standing who can set an authoritative tone on a complex and perilous file, perhaps a woman to lighten those burdens of history.
Kinew acknowledged Robert-Falcon Ouellette of Winnipeg is a long shot given his youthful inexperience, but said choosing him would send a message that “hey, the future is young, indigenous people.” There is also Dan Vandal, who is Métis and also from Winnipeg, and Hunter Tootoo from Nunavut, both experienced politicians new to Ottawa.
Smith said familiarity with First Nations advocacy and governance is a strong point in favour of Wilson-Raybould, a former Crown prosecutor and AFN regional chief, who was inspired to federal politics by the Conservative government’s response to the Idle No More protests. But fronting the Aboriginal Affairs ministry could force her into advocating what she once criticized, or vice versa.
“If things go sideways, that would be the shortest political career you could imagine,” Smith said.
Kinew also sees her as a candidate, but would prefer to see her in a “mainstream” portfolio. “She may burn through her political capital in her own community on some issues, which I do expect will continue being very difficult,” he said. “And so if that is going to be a very difficult file, then why almost sacrifice one of the very promising up and coming indigenous leaders to that? Why not put them in a role where they can develop and gain experience and then be positioned to do good things in the future?”