The new year brings hopes and expectations

Now is the time for pundits and prognosticators to sift through the ashes of the previous year, and like oracles of old, comment on the entrails. I, on the other hand, am reminded of a friend who drove an old rez truck and when the rear-view mirror fell off he remarked that it was fine because he wanted to see where he was going and not where he had been.

I prefer to look at the year ahead because it should be an eventful year.

In January the trial of Gerald Stanley in the death of Colten Boushie is expected to begin in Battleford. Two weeks have been set aside for the trial, and racial tension is high on both sides.

Stanley has been charged with second degree murder in the death of Boushie, a resident of the Red Pheasant First Nation.

This trial will be watched across Canada and internationally. It will be a test of our race relations, and the Battlefords area and Saskatchewan will feel the full glare of the nation’s scrutiny.

Whatever the outcome, I hope that it is a fair and accurate judgment based on the facts. Revenge and hatred have no place in the courtroom.

We also have the ongoing saga of the inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. At the recent chiefs assembly in Ottawa, a motion was passed calling on the head of the commission to step down and for the inquiry to be extended to accommodate the change.

The item came on the agenda in the afternoon of the third day as the meeting was nearing an end. The vote passed by 45 to 15 chiefs, which is roughly 10 per cent of the chiefs in Canada casting some doubt on the validity of the motion.

This commission of inquiry has been beset with problems from the beginning, but now the process is too far along to continue to bicker and complain about the chair and other problems.

I attended parts of the session in Saskatoon, and I was struck by the level of respect and consideration that was present on all sides. I did not hear calls for change but rather appeals to come together and address the very real tragedy that is faced by our people.

The time has come to let the inquiry get about its important work and present a report that directs the government to action.

Meanwhile the government continues to reform the financial excesses of the Harper government. The two per cent cap on funding increases have been removed but we have yet to see meaningful increases to bring us up to parity with the rest of the country. Indian country is waiting to see what the next budget will bring.

Also, Jordan’s Principle must be applied fairly across the country, and in spite of Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott’s opposition to my previous comments, the situation remains unresolved. Jordan’s Principle is an agreement between the First Nations and the federal and provincial governments that no First Nations person will be denied services because of a disagreement between the federal and provincial governments. The individual is to be helped first and the dispute worked out later.

According to Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Services Caring Society, concerns remain about implementation in British Columbia, Yukon and Alberta, where only a small number of services have been provided. There are also concerns about Canada’s compliance in education, early childhood education and child welfare. In Saskatchewan it is being implemented by a provincial agency and concerns continue about provincial workers on First Nations jurisdiction.

The push for full compliance of Jordan’s Principle will continue in the new year.

So far, the federal government has done little more than pay lip service to the serious Third World conditions many of our people face. The government must move on and not rest on the laurels of its actions to erase the excesses of the Harper years.

As if it won’t be a busy enough year, we have elections for the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations this summer and the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan will be elected in the fall.

It appears 2018 will be a busy and eventful year. How positive it will be remains to be seen.