Toward a fresh start
If Canada’s First Nations are going to overcome a tragic burden of racism, political neglect and poverty, they’ll need a willing partner in the federal government.
That’s something they have not had in 10 years of bad relations with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Its first act was to kill Paul Martin’s $5-billion Kelowna Accord that aimed to raise living standards on reserves, setting the stage for a decade of mistrust and worse. Things got so sour that aboriginal chiefs rejected a Harper proposal to invest $1.9 billion in native education, because of the strings attached to it.
So it’s heartening to see both New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau offering the prospect of a better relationship with Canada’s 1.4 million indigenous people. Speaking to a gathering of the Assembly of First Nations in Montreal on Tuesday, they committed themselves to policies that could go a long way to resolving native issues that include high unemployment, youth suicide, underfunded schools and services, mouldy housing, unfit water, and missing and murdered women.
Their promises were well received. And the absence of members of the Harper cabinet didn’t go unnoticed, amid talk of the Oct. 19 federal election.
Mulcair promised to review all federal decisions to ensure they reflect Ottawa’s responsibilities toward aboriginal people. He also promised to increase funding for education, and to toughen up environmental assessments for resource development.
For his part, Trudeau promised to scrap or amend laws that violate aboriginal constitutional rights. He promised an annual meeting between the prime minister and First Nations leaders. And he would lift the current 2-per-cent freeze on aboriginal funding to boost education, health and housing.
Both leaders also promised a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, something the Tories have rejected.
The opposition still has an election to fight before they can be held to these promises. But by meeting with First Nations leaders in an atmosphere of respect, they have put a fresh start on offer and set a higher bar for whoever leads the next government.
The absence of members of Stephen Harper’s cabinet at the gathering of the Assembly of First Nations didn’t go unnoticed