PM given model for fresh start with First Nations
Canoe for Trudeau symbolic of new relationship
A small, finely crafted model of a West Coast cedar war canoe, complete with paddles, has become a symbol of the renewed relationship that First Nations hope is growing between them and the federal government.
In his visit to Vancouver City Hall Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was presented with the model by the chiefs of the three First Nations that cover much of Metro Vancouver.
For First Nations, the canoe is a powerful symbol signifying people pulling together in a shared journey.
But the model presented to Trudeau by chiefs Ian Campbell, Maureen Thomas and Wayne Sparrow of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam, carried much more promise because of remarks the new aboriginal affairs minister, Carolyn Bennett, made last week at the Assembly of First Nations in Gatineau.
In her closing remarks, Bennett used the analogy of the relationship between First Nations and the previous federal government as a canoe that had capsized. “Some of the chiefs in the delegation had said the canoe had actually sunk,” Campbell said Friday. “Bennett said it is time to right the canoe and point it in the right direction; it was a turning of the tide and there is room in the canoe for all of us to reset that relationship.”
So when Campbell, Thomas and Sparrow were invited to be at the head the receiving line at City Hall, they thought there was no better gift for the prime minister than a new canoe, even though it is tiny compared to the leviathans their people had paddled in the past.
Campbell said he told Trudeau the context of Bennett’s comments and thanked him for his words about needing to change how Canada deals with First Nations. He said Trudeau said it was the right thing to do and that he was pleased to be welcomed by them.
“I said, well, welcome home, this is your home too,” Campbell said.
Despite that optimistic new beginning, Campbell said he’s disappointed Trudeau didn’t take a stand on Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline and expand oil tanker use on the West Coast.