Justin Trudeau’s hopeless promise

Justin Trudeau didn’t wait long to sign on for the recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report delivered Tuesday. “On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary Caucus, I affirm our unwavering support for the TRC’s recommendations, and call on the Government of Canada to take immediate action to implement them,” he said. Unwavering support. For the full list. No exceptions.

Trudeau made no mention of the practical implications involved. He hadn’t even considered the cost, he told one interviewer. As an expression of his deep sympathy for Canada’s aboriginal people, and a sincere desire to compensate for the epic wrongs done to them, it was admirable, and no doubt shared by millions of Canadians. But as a pledge by a potential prime minister, it was something else. After more than two years as party leader, and just weeks from the launch of a general election, the Liberal leader has still not learned that authority comes with responsibility, and that leaders need to consider what they’re saying before they say it.

There are 94 recommendations in the TRC report in all, but many include multiple parts, often accompanied by calls for “adequate funding” or extensive consultation involving many levels of government and society. Just marshalling, organizing and directing the people and facilities required to fulfil the level of national consultation and commitment sought by the report would tax the government’s capabilities, while the costs could be staggering.

Consider, just as an example, the section on language. The commission wants Ottawa to acknowledge that aboriginal rights include language rights. That sounds reasonable enough, but what does it mean? Do First Nations envision native languages gaining the same level of protection as French, requiring translation of documents, provision of native-speaking officials in federal offices, and simultaneous translation for all public declarations?

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, there are more than 630 recognized First Nations in Canada, with more than 50 distinct languages. Would they all require equal protection? The report doesn’t specify, but it does call for passage of an Aboriginal Languages Act, establishment of an Aboriginal Languages Commissioner to promote native tongues and “report on the adequacy of federal funding,” federal financing for aboriginal-language “revitalization and preservation,” and more money for the CBC to promote aboriginal languages and culture.

The report similarly includes an ambitious overhaul of education. Money would be needed to “educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms,” to help aboriginal schools “utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods,” and establish positions in government dedicated to aboriginal content in education. Everyone from journalists to lawyers to health-care workers would need training on the residential schools scandal and native history. Schools would need a new curriculum integrating native learning from kindergarten to Grade 12.

The Commission wants a $10 million contribution to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, plus an equal amount for communities to collect local histories; it wants monuments in every provincial capital; it wants an annual statutory holiday; an “elite” athletic program for native athletes; more jobs at the CBC/Radio-Canada for natives; programs for coaches, trainers and sports officials; and a new oath for Canadian citizenship.

Trudeau has now committed himself to deliver on this, in those areas under federal jurisdiction. Should he get the opportunity, he will no doubt quickly learn, as did Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that pledging support for Canadian natives is easily done but fiendishly difficult to deliver. Harper sought to follow up his public apology to Canada’s aboriginals with an ambitious new agreement on education, only to see it founder among infighting by native chiefs. There is no single representa-

McParland: ‘( Justin Trudeau) still has a long way to go. He could start by thinking through his promises before committing to them.’ No government could implement all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations

tive body that speaks for natives, and dozens — perhaps hundreds — of competing interests. The collaborative, consensual nature of native culture makes it excruciatingly difficult to discern just which camp authentically represents native interests, and once a conclusion has been reached, nothing stops dissenting interests from challenging its validity. The founders of the “Idle No More” movement, who saw it as a non-political grassroots movement, found it quickly co-opted and transformed into a catch-all protest movement for a battery of political and activist causes that bore little resemblance to the original. How will Trudeau deliver on all 94-plus demands to the satisfaction of all these disparate camps?

The answer is, he can’t. He can’t even hope to. And holding out the promise to do so is either deeply cynical or awfully naive. It could only end in Canada’s First Nations becoming even more deeply embittered at Ottawa’s continued willingness to make pledges it can’t keep. The Liberal leader had a steep learning curve to master when he took on his job. He still obviously has a long way to go. He could start by thinking through his promises before committing to them.