We must all work to uphold Treaty rights

This letter concerns the complex and tragic situation of the inshore lobster fishery in Nova Scotia.

It has been more than three months since the Sipekne'katik First Nation launched its own selfregulated lobster fishery off the Saulnierville wharf in Southwest Nova Scotia in an effort to exercise the 1760-61 Treaty rights of the Mi'kmaq to fish for a “moderate livelihood,” rights that were affirmed 21 years ago by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Marshall Decision.

For weeks, the media was awash with stories about violence, ugly confrontations, arson and vandalism directed at Sipekne'katik First Nation fishers and resulting in criminal charges that are still under investigation. Then the drama passed and, in the eyes of the public, perhaps it seemed that all was over. However, we know that the work of resolving the deep issues of injustice in this ongoing situation must continue.

I write as a leader within The United Church of Canada who has joined with others in my organization to call upon our government to negotiate in good faith, nation to nation, to see that Treaty rights are honoured and the rights of the Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Peskotomuhkati to fish peacefully for a moderate livelihood are upheld. We are hoping that others in Canada and Nova Scotia will be moved to do the same.

We are asking this as settler peoples seeking to be allies of the First Nations and seeking to transform the racist structural systems that affect us all. We seek to recognize more deeply the benefits that we have and continue to receive at the expense of the Indigenous peoples of this land. We seek to do better and we call upon our governments to do better.

We believe that a just and peaceful Canadian society must be one that upholds Treaty rights and we need to know that our government is committed to working toward this goal on behalf of every Canadian citizen, because we are all Treaty people.