The Liberals’ over-promises, under-delivery
Aserious attempt to deal with the causes of the problems afflicting Canada’s Indigenous community requires a level of commitment the Trudeau government simply doesn’t have. It would demand a dedication of resources and political will unprecedented in Canada outside wartime.
The Liberals aren’t willing to make it, despite their talk. Though the Prime Minister has consistently promised Indigenous concerns would be a top priority, there’s no sign they are.
Trudeau said his government would forge a new and trusting relationship with Indigenous Canadians. It hasn’t. He vowed to adopt all the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He hasn’t. He pledged the Liberals would adopt the UN declaration on Indigenous rights into law. They haven’t. He said his government would ensure natives were treated with the respect accorded other Canadians. But in naming a new Governor General, it has once again let pass an opportunity to do so, deciding that a French- speaking female astronaut from Quebec was just too perfect a candidate to let pass, there being far more women and far more Quebec voters than there are Indigenous Canadians.
The Prime Minister pledged a Liberal government would launch an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. The inquiry has indeed been launched, but it’s held just one hearing and appears to be unravelling. Indigenous leaders assail it, key staff are beating a path to the exit, the chief commissioner is under fire, and native activists have started demanding the inquiry go back to the beginning and start again.
Trudeau’s response? More of the empty banalities to which he is so addicted: “Canada has for decades now dealt inadequately with what is an ongoing national tragedy.” And, “The inquiry needs to provide justice for the victims, healing for the families and put an end to this ongoing tragedy.”
The inquiry is struggling for the same reasons so many previous attempts to address native problems have failed: it tries to take the ways of Ottawa, and of non- Indigenous Canada, and put them to work in a culture that operates to a different tune. As reported by Postmedia’s Maura Forrest, chief commissioner Marion Buller is viewed as a nice person, but lacking the skills to manage such a complex endeavour. The commission tried valiantly to operate on a consensus basis, but, not surprisingly, found it difficult to make decisions by consensus across time zones and geographical divides. When it switched to taking votes, commission member Marilyn Poitras quit. She dismissed the “traditional colonial style” of the inquiry, though she acknowledged few people agree with her own vision of what it should be.
“Colonial” is the vogue terminology for the way Canada operates, and the structure it employs to address and solve problems. It investigates, searches for solutions, and tries to adopt them. History suggests it fits badly with Indigenous culture. Canada’s Indigenous peoples do not speak with one voice, or hold one set of goals. They don’t operate through a united leadership, or have an agreed-upon representative. There are 617 First Nations in Canada, speaking 60 distinct languages. Almost half live off reserves. Some communities are well- run and prosperous, others are afflicted with poverty, violence and serious social problems. There are as many opinions on how their issues should be addressed as there are chiefs, of which there are 133 in Ontario alone. They are deeply held, and often in conflict.
While Ottawa evidently has little idea how to resolve the issues that have been festering for decades ( and which are often aggravated by ignorant, ham-handed or bigoted initiatives), Indigenous communities have also often failed to put forward practical and achievable programs that might act as a start. Instead we have the likes of Cree MP Romeo Saganash denouncing the House of Commons because it doesn’t have translation capabilities for his language. Being told this “was the most terrible thing I have heard in this chamber in the six years that I have been sitting in this place,” said Saganash. He must have had his ears plugged much of the time.
Ottawa can’t solve the problems of Indigenous people for them, but the problems can’t even start to be dealt with without its help. The inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women reflects how ineffective both sides are at finding a workable medium: almost two years into the Liberal mandate, the inquiry is already behind schedule and looking for more money, beset by quarrels as contending camps look to assign blame. Those quietly seeking to achieve some progress find themselves in the shadow of louder voices and stronger opinions.
In truth, the Liberals can’t be blamed for their failure. The problems are deep, complex and intractable, more than any one government could be expected to solve. The Liberals’ sin was to cynically ignore that reality while playing to Canadians’ sense of guilt, setting the table for another round of failure and recriminations in return for votes. The confusion and disarray of the inquiry into murdered and missing women is the predictable result, and yet another opportunity squandered.