ABORIGINAL ISSUES LOST
If we’ve heard far too much about the niqab in the current federal election campaign, what we’ve heard far too little about are the fundamental and urgent issues involving aboriginal people in this country.
It’s only now, with less than a week to go before election day Oct. 19, that the party leaders increasingly are addressing those issues, which include the scandalous shortage of proper housing and clean water in many communities, underspending on education for aboriginals and the high number of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Last week, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair unveiled the indigenous plank of his party’s platform, pledging a “nation-to-nation” relationship with aboriginal peoples and big spending, concerning education in particular.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he would devote part of his proposed infrastructure spending to providing clean drinking water to the 93 communities subject to Health Canada boil-water advisories, some for decades.
While the ambitious nature of those spending initiatives might give rise to skepticism about their fulfilment, at least those parties are signalling that these urgent problems are priorities. As well, both parties are committed to holding an inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women, something that would focus our attention on this continuing and multi-faceted issue. The Harper government has rejected an inquiry as unnecessary.
One byproduct of the difficult relations that the Harper government has had with aboriginals is that more of them than ever are expected to vote in this election. Very few Mohawks will be among them, in keeping with their rejection of anything that would seem to acknowledge Canadian sovereignty over their territory. But many others are heeding Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde’s call for participation; the more aboriginals who become voters, the more that national politicians will need to pay attention to their views.
But aboriginal issues should not be of interest only to aboriginals, any more than women’s issues should be of interest only to women. These are crucial matters for our society as a whole, and addressing them in a just and effective manner is vitally important to the future of this nation.