Indigenous voters can play kingmaker in the federal election
Wed., September 8, 2021
This federal election sees a record-number of self-declared Indigenous candidates vying for seats in Ottawa at 77 and that could translate into a record number of Members of Parliament.
Courtney Skye, research fellow with the Indigenous think-tank the Yellowhead Institute, isn’t confident that higher numbers of Indigenous MPs will mean a stronger stand on Indigenous issues.
“I think until Indigenous people are elected they don’t really know the dynamics of being in caucus and being a part of a party,” she said.
She points to Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was recruited by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, elected in 2015 in the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville, and appointed as Attorney General.
By the time Wilson-Raybould ran successfully for re-election in 2019 she had been expelled from the Liberal caucus and seeking a seat as an Independent. Wilson-Raybould, who was a former Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief for BC and a lawyer, had plenty of experience in the political realm.
“She was confronted with a lot of issues. (She) had a very strong agenda, very motivated to create change for her people and was stymied within the Liberal Party in not being able to affect the change she wanted to see. She came out very vocally that there was no hope in changing the system from within,” said Skye.
Wilson-Raybould’s book “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power comes out on Sept. 14. The tell-all book will examine her experience in the Trudeau Cabinet and her struggles.
Wilson-Raybould is one of two Indigenous incumbents not running this time around. Eight incumbents are trying to win their seats again: six from the Liberals and one each from the New Democrats and Conservatives. Of those, four are Métis, three are First Nations and one is Inuk.
In 2015 and 2019, the election of 10 Indigenous MPs set a record.
According to numbers confirmed by Windspeaker.com, the NDP leads this election with 27 Indigenous candidates; the Liberals have 25; and the Conservatives have five. Unconfirmed numbers have the Green Party at 11 and the People’s Party of Canada with four.
As a policy analyst, Skye holds that while she has seen changes made in programming, she has not seen changes made in Canada’s systems.
“I think the system as it exists is embedded with colonialism, systemic racism and white supremacy and it is very hard to deconstruct that internally,” she said.
“What I’m interested in is nationhood and governance and restoring our traditional practices and that’s the kind of thing that can only be done in our communities internally. So that’s where I put my attention to,” said Skye, who has never voted in a federal election.
She says there is enormous pressure riding on the wins of Indigenous candidates.
“I think there are very high expectations,” she said.
Niigaan Sinclair, assistant professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba, goes a step further saying those expectations are unrealistic in a party system as “Canadian political parties serve Canadian political interests, period.”
“The Indigenous MPs will always serve Canadian interests. The only time in history that we’ve ever seen an Indigenous MP who could serve Indigenous interests it was Jody Wilson-Raybould when she was independent because she didn’t have to follow a party,” he said.
Indigenous MPs can only make an “incremental difference,” he says.
That’s not a view held by Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who points to the work accomplished by Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou NDP MP Romeo Saganash, who did not run for re-election in 2019. Saganash, a Cree lawyer, laid the groundwork for what eventually became Bill C-15, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The bill was passed into law this past June.
“I truly appreciate his individual efforts. Romeo singlehandedly brought forward United Nations legislation. He stimulated conversations and opportunities,” said Dumas in a television interview.
“Individually people can choose to use the opportunity they have to advocate and change discussions and conversations.”
Both Dumas and Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald have been vocal in encouraging First Nations voters to support First Nations and other Indigenous candidates.
The AFN has even gone as far as analyzing population data from Statistics Canada and Elections Canada and has identified 24 ridings in which First Nations electors could have made a difference in the 2019 election. In those ridings the representation of First Nations electors was higher than the margin of victory for the winning candidate; and First Nations electors represented at least five per cent of the electors and the margin of victory for the winning candidate was less than five per cent. These ridings are right across the country.
“All parties should consider the role that First Nations issues and electors play in the potential role of ‘kingmaker’ in the upcoming September 20, 2021 election. In this list, 10 seats are held by Liberals, 8 by New Democrats, 5 by Conservatives, and 1 by the Bloc Québécois,” says the AFN.
While leaders have been fairly quiet on Indigenous issues throughout most of the election campaign, Indigenous issues are topics in both the French and English leaders’ debates.
In the French debate tonight, “Indigenous peoples, cultural industries and cultural identity” is the issue, while tomorrow night’s English debate will address “Reconciliation.”
Joining Trudeau in the debates, both to be held in Gatineau, are Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Québécois), Erin O’Toole (Conservatives), Annamie Paul (Green Party), and Jagmeet Singh (NDP).
Sinclair points out that the Trudeau government served the interests of Indigenous peoples best in its second term when the Liberals sat as a minority.
“It’s worth noting they’ve passed the most amount of bills in relation to Indigenous peoples when they have the NDP in their government, propping them up.
“Notice when you have a minority parliament you have the most amount of success for Indigenous peoples. Notice when the Liberals were a majority, almost nothing got done for Indigenous peoples. That just tells you how a minority parliament is the best situation for Indigenous peoples,” said Sinclair.
Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com
UN asked to censure discrimination against off-reserve, non-status Indigenous PeopleWed., September 8, 2021
This federal election sees a record-number of self-declared Indigenous candidates vying for seats in Ottawa at 77 and that could translate into a record number of Members of Parliament.
Courtney Skye, research fellow with the Indigenous think-tank the Yellowhead Institute, isn’t confident that higher numbers of Indigenous MPs will mean a stronger stand on Indigenous issues.
“I think until Indigenous people are elected they don’t really know the dynamics of being in caucus and being a part of a party,” she said.
She points to Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was recruited by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, elected in 2015 in the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville, and appointed as Attorney General.
By the time Wilson-Raybould ran successfully for re-election in 2019 she had been expelled from the Liberal caucus and seeking a seat as an Independent. Wilson-Raybould, who was a former Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief for BC and a lawyer, had plenty of experience in the political realm.
“She was confronted with a lot of issues. (She) had a very strong agenda, very motivated to create change for her people and was stymied within the Liberal Party in not being able to affect the change she wanted to see. She came out very vocally that there was no hope in changing the system from within,” said Skye.
Wilson-Raybould’s book “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power comes out on Sept. 14. The tell-all book will examine her experience in the Trudeau Cabinet and her struggles.
Wilson-Raybould is one of two Indigenous incumbents not running this time around. Eight incumbents are trying to win their seats again: six from the Liberals and one each from the New Democrats and Conservatives. Of those, four are Métis, three are First Nations and one is Inuk.
In 2015 and 2019, the election of 10 Indigenous MPs set a record.
According to numbers confirmed by Windspeaker.com, the NDP leads this election with 27 Indigenous candidates; the Liberals have 25; and the Conservatives have five. Unconfirmed numbers have the Green Party at 11 and the People’s Party of Canada with four.
As a policy analyst, Skye holds that while she has seen changes made in programming, she has not seen changes made in Canada’s systems.
“I think the system as it exists is embedded with colonialism, systemic racism and white supremacy and it is very hard to deconstruct that internally,” she said.
“What I’m interested in is nationhood and governance and restoring our traditional practices and that’s the kind of thing that can only be done in our communities internally. So that’s where I put my attention to,” said Skye, who has never voted in a federal election.
She says there is enormous pressure riding on the wins of Indigenous candidates.
“I think there are very high expectations,” she said.
Niigaan Sinclair, assistant professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba, goes a step further saying those expectations are unrealistic in a party system as “Canadian political parties serve Canadian political interests, period.”
“The Indigenous MPs will always serve Canadian interests. The only time in history that we’ve ever seen an Indigenous MP who could serve Indigenous interests it was Jody Wilson-Raybould when she was independent because she didn’t have to follow a party,” he said.
Indigenous MPs can only make an “incremental difference,” he says.
That’s not a view held by Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who points to the work accomplished by Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou NDP MP Romeo Saganash, who did not run for re-election in 2019. Saganash, a Cree lawyer, laid the groundwork for what eventually became Bill C-15, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The bill was passed into law this past June.
“I truly appreciate his individual efforts. Romeo singlehandedly brought forward United Nations legislation. He stimulated conversations and opportunities,” said Dumas in a television interview.
“Individually people can choose to use the opportunity they have to advocate and change discussions and conversations.”
Both Dumas and Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald have been vocal in encouraging First Nations voters to support First Nations and other Indigenous candidates.
The AFN has even gone as far as analyzing population data from Statistics Canada and Elections Canada and has identified 24 ridings in which First Nations electors could have made a difference in the 2019 election. In those ridings the representation of First Nations electors was higher than the margin of victory for the winning candidate; and First Nations electors represented at least five per cent of the electors and the margin of victory for the winning candidate was less than five per cent. These ridings are right across the country.
“All parties should consider the role that First Nations issues and electors play in the potential role of ‘kingmaker’ in the upcoming September 20, 2021 election. In this list, 10 seats are held by Liberals, 8 by New Democrats, 5 by Conservatives, and 1 by the Bloc Québécois,” says the AFN.
While leaders have been fairly quiet on Indigenous issues throughout most of the election campaign, Indigenous issues are topics in both the French and English leaders’ debates.
In the French debate tonight, “Indigenous peoples, cultural industries and cultural identity” is the issue, while tomorrow night’s English debate will address “Reconciliation.”
Joining Trudeau in the debates, both to be held in Gatineau, are Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Québécois), Erin O’Toole (Conservatives), Annamie Paul (Green Party), and Jagmeet Singh (NDP).
Sinclair points out that the Trudeau government served the interests of Indigenous peoples best in its second term when the Liberals sat as a minority.
“It’s worth noting they’ve passed the most amount of bills in relation to Indigenous peoples when they have the NDP in their government, propping them up.
“Notice when you have a minority parliament you have the most amount of success for Indigenous peoples. Notice when the Liberals were a majority, almost nothing got done for Indigenous peoples. That just tells you how a minority parliament is the best situation for Indigenous peoples,” said Sinclair.
Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com
AMC continues fight to reclaim Children's Special Allowance funds
Wed., September 8, 2021
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has taken another step in their legal challenge of a provincial bill they say denies First Nations people who have been involved with the Child and Family Services (CFS) system the right to sue the government for money that AMC believes has been taken by the province illegitimately.
AMC, an organization that represents 62 First Nations in Manitoba, announced on Wednesday they have filed their written submissions in their challenge of the provincial Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. (BITSA)
The province passed the omnibus bill in November of 2020, and AMC has previously claimed the government used “sneaky and immoral” tactics to get BITSA through the legislature, and “strategically hid” Section 231 of the bill.
AMC claims that Section 231 of BITSA will not allow for legal action to take place, and give no opportunity for the possibility that the provincial government could be forced to hand over hundreds of millions in federal money from the Children’s Special Allowance (CSA) to First Nations people who have been involved in the CFS system.
The CSA is a federal allowance of approximately $530 per month, per child given to agencies that care for First Nations children in care, and is meant to be used for education, training, and recreational activities.
But between 2005 and 2019 the Manitoba government forced agencies to remit the money to the province, as they argued they had been paying for the care of the children and therefore were entitled to CSA money.
A previously-filed Class Action Lawsuit against the Manitoba government could have potentially provided compensation for children who didn’t benefit from the CSA, but with Bill 34 passing last fall the province was granted immunity from its actions and from the lawsuit that could have seen them forced to hand over $338 million.
In a statement released on Wednesday AMC Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said that through BITSA the province “legitimized the capturing of Children’s Special Allowance.”
“First Nations children are disproportionately separated from their families, culture and Nations,” Dumas said. “The quality of care provided under the CFS system, and the lack of supports for life skills after leaving the system, leads many former First Nations youth to the justice system, becoming homeless, and/or becoming vulnerable to being missing or murdered.
“Instead of taking the CSA from First Nations children, the funding could have been used to ensure better outcomes for First Nations children leaving care.”
AMC said that in their written submissions they will argue the bill absolves the province from any liability for receiving CSA money, and in doing so “denies First Nations children equality and equal benefit of the law on the grounds of age, race, aboriginality-residence, and family status.”
Hearings for AMC’S legal challenge to the bill are scheduled to begin on October 25.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Dave Baxter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun
AMC has previously claimed the government used “sneaky and immoral” tactics to get the omnibus bill through the legislature, and “strategically hid” Section 231 of the bill.
Wed., September 8, 2021
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has taken another step in their legal challenge of a provincial bill they say denies First Nations people who have been involved with the Child and Family Services (CFS) system the right to sue the government for money that AMC believes has been taken by the province illegitimately.
AMC, an organization that represents 62 First Nations in Manitoba, announced on Wednesday they have filed their written submissions in their challenge of the provincial Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. (BITSA)
The province passed the omnibus bill in November of 2020, and AMC has previously claimed the government used “sneaky and immoral” tactics to get BITSA through the legislature, and “strategically hid” Section 231 of the bill.
AMC claims that Section 231 of BITSA will not allow for legal action to take place, and give no opportunity for the possibility that the provincial government could be forced to hand over hundreds of millions in federal money from the Children’s Special Allowance (CSA) to First Nations people who have been involved in the CFS system.
The CSA is a federal allowance of approximately $530 per month, per child given to agencies that care for First Nations children in care, and is meant to be used for education, training, and recreational activities.
But between 2005 and 2019 the Manitoba government forced agencies to remit the money to the province, as they argued they had been paying for the care of the children and therefore were entitled to CSA money.
A previously-filed Class Action Lawsuit against the Manitoba government could have potentially provided compensation for children who didn’t benefit from the CSA, but with Bill 34 passing last fall the province was granted immunity from its actions and from the lawsuit that could have seen them forced to hand over $338 million.
In a statement released on Wednesday AMC Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said that through BITSA the province “legitimized the capturing of Children’s Special Allowance.”
“First Nations children are disproportionately separated from their families, culture and Nations,” Dumas said. “The quality of care provided under the CFS system, and the lack of supports for life skills after leaving the system, leads many former First Nations youth to the justice system, becoming homeless, and/or becoming vulnerable to being missing or murdered.
“Instead of taking the CSA from First Nations children, the funding could have been used to ensure better outcomes for First Nations children leaving care.”
AMC said that in their written submissions they will argue the bill absolves the province from any liability for receiving CSA money, and in doing so “denies First Nations children equality and equal benefit of the law on the grounds of age, race, aboriginality-residence, and family status.”
Hearings for AMC’S legal challenge to the bill are scheduled to begin on October 25.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Dave Baxter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun
Thu., September 9, 2021
OTTAWA — The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is filing a legal complaint against the Canadian government with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, alleging discrimination against off-reserve and non-status Indigenous People.
The complaint says Justin Trudeau's Liberal government has adopted a "distinctions-based approach" to developing Indigenous policy.
As part of that approach, the complaint says the government has chosen to engage with only three recognized groups: the Assembly of First Nations, the Metis National Council and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, none of which represents off-reserve or non-status Indigenous People.
More than 70 per cent of Canada's Indigenous People live off-reserve but the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), which touts itself as their national voice, says it has not been involved adequately, if at all, in consultations or negotiations on self-government, land claims, health care, education or natural resources.
CAP's complaint is being submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Complaints under the covenant are adjudicated by the UN Human Rights Committee, and since Canada is a signatory to the covenant, CAP argues it will be bound by the committee's ruling on the matter.
The organization says it has chosen this approach because taking the federal government to court in Canada is "extremely expensive, takes many years to resolve and is unlikely to result in an effective remedy."
"The legal filing clearly makes the case that the Canadian government's discrimination is based on the inaccurate and stereotypical assumption that Canada's off-reserve Indigenous People are less Indigenous than their reserve-based counterparts and that federal government programs and policy fail to meet their needs," CAP says in a news release.
"Indigenous People in Canada still face widespread discrimination and racism in justice and health care," Kim Beaudin, national vice-chief of CAP, says in the release.
"Prime Minister Trudeau has allowed a discriminatory approach to off-reserve Indigenous Peoples that is wrong and is badly hurting grassroots Indigenous Peoples."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2021.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story. It corrects the spelling of CAP national vice-chief Kim Beaudin's name.
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