Canada needs to set aside their deceitful tactics and meet First Nations on equal ground
Canada was built on its relationship with First Peoples and Nations. Rather than engage in protracted warfare, it was agreed that peaceful co-existence was the best approach to living side-by-side with First Peoples on Turtle Island. As a result, the process of international treaty making was chosen as the path to peace. Over the years, however, successive Canadian governments abandoned the treaty-making process in favor of doctrine of discovery, terra nullius, and genocide to remove First Peoples form their lands.
As First Peoples, we have never relinquished our capacity as Nations with full jurisdiction, abandoned our authority to enter international agreements, nor voluntarily surrendered our inherent rights. We have reiterated, on countless occasions, that we will forever abide by our responsibility to protect our lands and resources. We have never agreed to derive our rights from the constitution of a foreign government.
Prime Minister Trudeau was elected on a platform that recognized the Federal Government hadn’t upheld its end of the nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations. The Liberals declared that it would no longer be acceptable for mainstream society to benefit from the erosion of Indigenous rights and way of life.
When it was reported that the Government of Canada had unconditionally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), including article 19, which speaks to free, prior, and informed consent, it appeared that the Trudeau government was following through with their campaign promises. Soon after, Canada announced they would begin reviewing laws and policies to bring them in line with UNDRIP, a definite and worthy task to balance the field for First Peoples.
As government officials laid out their broader approach to rectify the relationship, however, it became apparent that deceitful tactics would prevail once again. The boundaries and constraints of the new nation-to-nation relationship would now be based on Canada’s unilaterally developed Ten Principles, that openly reject Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), call for the infringement of inherent rights, and advocate for the supremacy of the Canadian constitutional framework. By using language taken directly from the 10 Principles, the law and policy review openly denied FPIC and proved to be a sham.
In the end, the 200-year-old Canadian political and legal system that sees and treats First Peoples as inferior would once again be re-packaged in an attempt to address the ‘Indian Problem’. This time around, the label on the packaging reads: Federal Recognition and Implementation of Rights Framework.
The Framework was announced February 14, 2018 by the Prime Minister. The Government of Canada decided unilaterally that engagement, as per the Crown’s ‘duty to consult’, would be utilized rather than meaningful nation-to-nation negotiations. As many of us know, engagement/consultation is a one-sided power game where supposed jurisdictional superiority is used to override the sovereignty of First Nations. The engagement period ended in June, just four months after it began, and the roll-up report is vacant of First Nations’ priorities and aspirations.
Ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Carolyn Bennet claim that the Framework will
somehow “breath life” into section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and will clarify, expand, and protect the rights of First Peoples and Nations. These same officials, however, have yet to provide any details on how this process is supposed to work. What we do know, however, is that government representatives have consistently avoided discussing substantive forms of First Nations jurisdiction and have skirted around priority issues such as treaty relations, title, land rights, and resource revenue sharing. This is nothing new. Canada and the Provinces are still working tirelessly to avoid meeting their obligations to First Nations, especially when it comes to redistribution of land and resources.
Once again, Canadian decision-makers are refusing to provide restitution for the theft of our
lands, the destruction of our communities, and the ongoing use of our resources. They are
refusing to address their role as colonizers in any real way. For indisputable proof that Canada’s new approach is more of the same, consider the fact that infringement of the rights of First Nations is still a cornerstone of Canada’s supposed nation-to-nation relationship. The Tsilhqot’in decision acknowledged that Aboriginal title includes the right to decide how to land will be used and how resources will be managed;however, Aboriginal title can still be overridden if it is in Canada’s interest to do so.
Infringement of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is non-negotiable and so should the
infringement of the rights of First Peoples and Nations.
The question, then, is where do we go from here?
1. Canada must end the Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights
Framework process effective immediately.
2. Canada must reject consultation and engagement as the basis for future
negotiations. These processes do not constitute consent.
3. New joint principles of understanding must be developed bilaterally with First
Nations and Canada’s Ten Principles document must be set aside. Canada has a
duty, based on the honour of the Crown, to negotiate with First Nations on mutually
agreeable terms.
Canada’s leaders are truly in denial if they believe decolonization can occur when First
Nations are barred from leading the process and their priorities are dismissed. As we work to
build the foundations for our children and future generations, our efforts are consistently
undermined by biased legal processes and oppressive institutions. In the end, the ability for us to exercise political or economic rights over our traditional territory is still off the table. This, in turn, will make it impossible to develop the political and cultural institutions necessary to reestablish ourselves as Nations. It’s time for Canada to meet us on equal ground, put an end to their deceitful tactics, and accept the reality of true reconciliation.