Building off of last week's post exploring the growing aboriginal rights grassroots movement Idle No More, there are a few headlines that are worth highlighting.
- Harper to Meet with First Nations Chiefs Friday. Harper will hold a meeting with aboriginal leaders, including the face of the Idle No More movement Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, Friday. And Governor General David Lloyd Johnston will be attending.
- Harper Faces Federal Court Defeats on Cases Related to Aboriginal Issues. Two recent court decisions show some of the issues driving the Idle No More social movement. From o.canada.com's Natalie Stechyson:
Treaties, land rights and economic opportunities are all on the agenda for the meeting Friday that comes almost a year to the day after a landmark gathering in Ottawa designed to renew and review the relationship between the Crown and First Nations.
That relationship has been tested in court, with the Federal Court the focus of two cases Tuesday, including a ruling in one that said Metis and non-status Indians should be considered “Indians” under the Constitution Act, thus falling under federal jurisdiction. The ruling ended a 13-year legal battle.
While the court didn’t say exactly how the government must work with Metis and non-status Indians, it expected that off-reserve aboriginals would have just as much right to consult with the government over proposed legislation as do those on-reserve.
In the second case, two Alberta-based First Nations are taking the Harper government to court over its budget legislation, adding another layer to the actions aboriginals have taken across the country to protest Bills C-45 and C-38. The chief of one of the First Nations at the centre of the case, said the request for judicial review was a separate and distinct process from Idle No More, the actions of hunger-striking chief Theresa Spence, and the meeting Friday.
- Making Friday's Meeting Successful. What constitutes success for Friday's meeting? The National Post offers an insightful editorial from University of Calgary professor and former chief of staff to the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from 2006-2008 Jean-Sébastien Rioux:
Leaving aside the specific controversies surrounding Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, or whether Idle No More’s criticisms of omnibus Bill C-45 have merit, let us focus on the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and aboriginal leaders on January 11. What would constitute success? What could move the file in a productive direction, for both the government and First Nations?
I have some insight into these issues, having served as the chief of staff to Jim Prentice, Prime Minister Harper’s first Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister (as the Department was then called), after the Conservatives formed government in early 2006. We dealt with all these difficult issues then, including the backlash from “cancelling” Paul Martin’s Kelowna Accord, which promised $5-billion in cash to First Nation, Inuit and Métis leaders days before the December 2005 writ.
There were successes, and they were built on a policy of keeping the channels of communication open, and continuing to meet with aboriginal leaders through thick and thin. Prentice led the federal plan to improve water quality on reserves; matrimonial real property legislation was introduced to protect the rights of women who divorced on reserve; settlement of comprehensive claims in British Columbia, including Tsawwassen and Maa-nulth, were concluded — with more to come. And, of powerful symbolic importance was the agreement to settle the sad legacy of Residential Schools.
So, while many of today’s issues seem intractable, success in advancing tough files can be achieved with the right set of people at the table, and through perseverance.
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To return to the original question: What would constitute success on Friday?
First of all, the Prime Minister and national aboriginal leaders should refocus the broadly-titled agenda items: No one can honestly tackle “Inherent Aboriginal and Treaty Rights” in one gathering. Focusing on, say, economic development would be a practical solution.
Within a known set of parameters, such as the budgetary envelope for the next five years, a joint AFN-Government of Canada Task Force with a strong mandate could be appointed to write a plan to engage the country’s most significant untapped labour force by the end of this calendar year. Start with a pilot project and engage successful First Nations leaders in the process as advisors and mentors (one can think of Chief Clarence Louie of Osoyoos; Chief Darcy Bear of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation; and many others).
The danger is that the “grassroots” movement may spin out of control. The government needs the AFN to be a legitimate interlocutor, and both sides need to keep channels open and keep working together to find solutions to the difficult problems facing First Nations. Only the demonstration of progress — not just its promise — will quell the Idle No More movement.
- Attawapiskat First Nations Faces Audit, Distraction or Real Issue? And CTV offers an interview with aboriginal activist Ellen Gabriel, who discusses the Idle No More movement in general and responds to the federal audit of Attawapiskat First Nations. Theresa Spence is chief of Attawapiskat First Nations.
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