Doubts arise about Grits’ indigenous agenda
Trudeau talks a good game, but talk is cheap, writes Peter McKenna.
The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has, so far at least, talked a good game about rebuilding goodwill between Ottawa and Canada’s First Peoples. He has said publicly on more than one occasion that he wants to reestablish a “nation-to-nation” relationship with aboriginal communities.
Trudeau has promised to end decades-old boil water advisories on countless reserves in Canada within five years, earmarking roughly $1.8 billion to the task. Additionally, he has acknowledged the need to develop a strategy for dealing with unconscionable suicide rates among aboriginal Canadians.
Most significantly, he has launched a wide-ranging inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. And he pledged to not move forward on major resource development projects that don’t have sufficient social licence — especially from indigenous communities.
The government has also indicated its intention to follow through on the 94 “calls to action” of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report. But it has been silent recently on how exactly that objective will be accomplished, and how much money will be allocated for doing so.
First Nations leaders know, of course, that just about anything is better than the way things were when the Conservative government was in power. But they are also starting to have serious doubts about the precise intentions of the Liberals.
Toward the end of July, the Liberal government granted approval permits for work to begin on the Site C hydro dam in northern British Columbia, which First Nations have been vigorously opposing for environmental and cultural reasons. Undoubtedly, this came as a shock to aboriginal leadership, and sent an unwelcome message to those hoping to stop the project.
That move could also have important implications for the impending Kinder-Morgan and Energy East pipeline projects. First Nations communities in B.C. will have to keep reminding the 17 Liberal MPs in that province of their promises and overtures toward aboriginal communities. Furthermore, both the Mi’kmaq and the Maliseet in New Brunswick may wish to brace themselves for future direct political engagement and court action.
And on the thorny question of implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Ottawa has waffled more than it has clarified its true position on free, prior and informed consent. At this point, it doesn’t look as if the Liberal government is going to allow Aboriginal Peoples to have veto power over natural resource development on their ancestral lands.
Most citizens of this country have little understanding of the endless indignities that were visited upon the First Peoples of Canada (and continue to be to this day) by European settlers and then by Canadians themselves. But Aboriginal Peoples have not. And they have long memories.
They know better than anyone else that words are cheap. So they have every right to expect that this Liberal government translate its encouraging words into concrete action. The problem is that taking action means taking political risks and thus creating problems for the government’s re-election in 2019.
Surely, the patience of indigenous people is wearing thin by now. They are not going to wait much longer to take their rightful place in Canada. Recall that First Nations comprise a very young, growing and educated demographic. More to the point, they are most assuredly not going to go away any time soon.
The last thing that we want to see in this country is anything resembling the violent standoff around Oka in 1990. And if governments at all levels have been paying any attention to indigenous issues in Canada, they will know that the Supreme Court has been rendering decisions lately in favour of aboriginal communities.
So, if not the Liberal government, then the next government after that. But sooner or later, Canadians will need to establish a respectful, collaborative and mutually beneficial partnership with Canada’s First Peoples.