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Colonial Métis and Self Indigenization

(Artwork: "The Earth is My Governement" (2018) by Christi Belcourt)

Tawnshi kiya mataen,

Since the official acknowledgement of Métis as section 35 rights holder in the Constitution, there has been a rise in claims to Métis ancestry and nationhood.  People find Indigenous ancestry in their family tree and declare “aha! I am Métis!” Métis identity frequently gets treated as though it arises through European and Indigenous mixed ancestry, which has led to self identified Métis Nations across Canada making claim to Métis identity. However, as Adam Gaudry pointedly notes, race mixing in other forms has rarely led to the formation of a distinct culture.[1] Thus, it is not mere mixed ancestry that formed the Métis, but something more.

Métis Identity

The Métis identity is linked to a unique and collective origin story, it is premised on a shared set of laws and governance that stem from the geographical resource availability, and the languages and norms present in the place where Métis communities first became established.[2]   Gaudry points out that the development of the Métis as a distinct community, did not occur because of race mixing but rather was a choice made by historical Métis to build a community and develop laws and systems for that community.[3]  This development was inherently prairie centered, dependant on large herds of buffalo and regional proximity with Cree speakers. 

Of course, the Métis of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were painted by Canada as inferior, as traitors and extremist rebels.  During this time the Métis suffered the loss of many great leaders, and forced displacement through Scrip. This is where Métis identity can get tricky.

Disrupted Connections

As the Métis dispersed, new communities were established in other locations.  Other Métis became “hidden”, choosing to integrate into non-Métis communities or even deny their Métis identity.  There are many Métis today who have been raised in communities under these same legal orders, and who have never lost touch with the collective set of experiences that initially made the Métis into a distinct people.  But there are others who were lost.  Stripped of their history and identity by colonial assimilation forces, bullied into hiding, victims of stolen culture.  Where do the descendants of the assimilated fit in with Métis identity?

Contemporary Métis Nations are cognizant of the disruption in continuity of many Métis people and welcome reconnection of disconnected kin.  This reconnection is more than just uncovering a genealogical link, it is a return to the Métis community.  Identifying as Métis is reciprocal, and requires a person to be claimed by a community just as much as it requires a person to claim that they belong.  Métis identity cannot exist without Métis citizenship, without belonging to a community that claims you.

Métis Colonialism

Today, we see multiple organizations across Canada claiming status as Métis Nations, but relying on early mixed race marriages rather than the intentional development of a distinct people as the basis for this claim.  In particular, this has been a problem with “Eastern Métis” where Indigenous ancestry can certainly be found, but the distinctive legal orders and kinship structures are absent. 

Intermarriage between Indigenous and European people occurred anywhere that there were both Indigenous and European people.  The primary issue with “Eastern Métis” is that there is no evidence to support that these historical intermarriages led to those people self-identifying as a distinct culture.[4]  Moreso, the term “Métis” was externally applied to these people by Europeans to denote the mixed ancestry or “half-breed” status.  A more critical issue, is that “Eastern Métis” have made repeated attempts to claim rights under Section 35 of the Constitution to the detriment of the existing Indigenous Nations of those territories which, curiously, are the same communities these “Eastern Métis” claim to be a part of.[5] 

Most recently, the question of whether the Métis have rights west of the Rocky Mountains arose, when the Métis Nation of British Columbia (separate from the BC Métis Federation) made claim to land and hunting rights on the same lands as the Secwepemc traditional territory.  There is no dispute as to whether there are Métis people west of the Rocky Mountains, however, these Métis arrived in British Columbia as settlers, and have no claim to the territory there simply because they are an Indigenous people who live on that land.[6]

This type of infringement upon the rights of First Nations is inherently colonial in nature.  Métis identity and the prosperity of the Métis as an Indigenous people cannot, as Stephen Mussell succinctly stated, come at the expense of First Nations.[7]

Supplemental Reading

Colonial claims to identity are a very large topic, that this post simply cannot cover in one of the final posts of the year.  If you are interested in learning more about Métis origins and false claims to nationhood, we would encourage you to read Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity by Darryl Leroux

Stay tuned for our final substantive post tomorrow, before we each reflect on our year with ReconciliAction YEG

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] Adam Gaudry, “Métis Are a People, Not a Historical Process”, online: The Canadian Encyclopedia <http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/Métis-are-a-people-not-a-historical-process>.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Adam Gaudry & Darryl Leroux, “White Settler Revisionism and Making Métis Everywhere: The Evocation of Métissage in Quebec and Nova Scotia” (2017) 3:1 Critical Ethnic Studies 116, online: <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/jcritethnstud.3.1.0116>.

[5] Ibid.

[6] “Do Métis have Rights in British Columbia? Let our Métis People be heard in a Good Way”, (22 October 2020), online: Yellowhead Institute <https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2020/10/22/do-Métis-have-rights-in-british-columbia-let-our-Métis-people-be-heard-in-a-good-way/>.

[7] Ibid.

5 Years After TRC: Is Canada Making the Grade?

Tansi, 

December 2020 marked 5 years since the TRC final report was released with 94 Calls to Action for truth and reconciliation with Indigenous people.  To commemorate this juncture, Team ReconciliAction set out to evaluate progress on each of the Calls to Action in the 5 years since their release. 

It has been quite a year for our team.  In addition to our ongoing report card, we attended the Indigenous Bar Association annual conference, the ILSA speaker series, the Kawaskimhon Moot, the Barton trial, Indigenous language engagement sessions, various faculty talks, we won a Clawbie and we attended protests, marches and vigils.  And we shared all of it with you, our dear audience.  We appreciate all of the engagement we've had this year on the blog and on our social media accounts, and we want to thank everyone who joined the conversation on reconciliation this year.  

Today, we release our final report card, and the culmination of our work over the 2020/21 academic year.  To those who have followed the progress, you have probably figured out that the report card on 5 year progress is bleak.  The few bright spots in reconciliation progress have come at the organizational level, where institutions could quickly work to address the Calls specific to them.  There has been little to no progress on more systemic change that requires governmental action, and in many cases we have actually seen a backslide.  For example, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ceased making his emphatic statements that Canada's relationship with Indigenous people is the most important relationship, and here in Alberta we are looking into curriculum changes that exclude education on the legacy of residential schools.  

The takeaway from our report card is that Canada has much work to do, and likely needs to make significant increases to funding and efforts to correct some of these systemic issues in housing, healthcare, the justice system, child welfare and anti-racism.  So what comes next?  Will Canada stop fighting against Indigenous children?  Will Justice Minister David Lametti acknowledge the importance of Indigenous language speakers in this country and allow the bilingual requirement for the SCC to include languages other than colonial ones?  Will communities get clean drinking water?  Will provincial governments denounce racism in education and healthcare?  I mean, we hope so and each of us plans to continue the discussion beyond this blog.

We aren't saying goodbye yet, though.  Stay tuned next week as we get some final thoughts off our chest, and the week after for our individual reflections on the year.  

And now, for those of you who have not already scrolled ahead - The final grade:

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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Re: Call to Action #93 - Immigration and Citizenship

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

93. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the national Aboriginal organizations, to revise the information kit for newcomers to Canada and its citizenship test to reflect a more inclusive history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including information about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.^[1]

This Call to Action for the federal government calls for the inclusion of more information about Canada's treaties with indigenous peoples and the history of residential schools in the Canadian citizenship test to create an understanding of our history within new citizens and combat racism and discrimination.

Many immigrants are not aware or educated on the complex history of Indigenous People and the challenges they have faced (and still face) when first arriving in Canada. There is a lack of understanding of the years of colonization, policies, residential school system, systemic discrimination, and dispossession that has created devastating effects on Indigenous communities. As a result, many newcomers learn negative and damaging stereotypes about Aboriginal people.^[2]

On December 10, 2019, on International Human Rights Day, the Environics Institute for Survey Research and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation released the Race Relations in Canada 2019 Survey. This study confirms the reality of racism in Canada and found that immigrants quickly picked up such negative stereotypes after immigrating to Canada.^[3] 

So, what do new immigrants learn about First Nations, Metis and Inuit? Upon reviewing the “Study Guide – Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship”, we found the following. In the “Canada’s History” chapter, two small paragraphs show how woefully and sickeningly inadequate a history lesson on Aboriginal people in Canada is:

“The arrival of European traders, missionaries, soldiers and colonists changed the native way of life forever. Large numbers of Aboriginals died of European diseases to which they lacked immunity. However, Aboriginals and Europeans formed strong economic, religious and military bonds in the first 200 years of coexistence which laid the foundations of Canada.”^[4]

In the Chapter “Who we are”, there is a tiny mention of  treaties and one reference to Residential Schools that is almost casually mentioned: 

”Aboriginal and treaty rights are in the Canadian Constitution. Territorial rights were first guaranteed through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III and established the basis for negotiating treaties with the newcomers— treaties that were not always fully respected. From the 1800s until the 1980s, the federal government placed many Aboriginal children in residential schools to educate and assimilate them into mainstream Canadian culture. The schools were poorly funded and inflicted hardship on the students; some were physically abused. Aboriginal languages and cultural practices were mostly prohibited. In 2008, Ottawa formally apologized to the former students.”^[5]

It is hard to read such a gloss-over of the history and harms of the Residential School era that brought such suffering and intergenerational trauma to the original stewards of the land. Canada must do better in providing a deeper understanding to new immigrants if it truly wants to further reconciliation and help to fight negative stereotypes faced by Aboriginal people. Instead of simply indicating that treaties with Indigenous Canadians "were not always respected", let's talk about why these treaties were not respected and the issues created by not respecting them. That would be a step toward reconciliation and teaching new immigrants how they can be a part of the solution.

A promised overhaul of Canada's citizenship guide remained a work in progress back in May  2019. The government said it was revamping the 68-page Discover Canada document, last updated in 2012, to better reflect diversity and to include more "meaningful content" about the history and rights of Indigenous people and the residential school experience.^[6] But when is this finally going to be done? Almost 2 years have passed since this proposed “revamping”. This delay is unacceptable.

Canada gets an F on Call to Action #93. 

Until Next Time,

Team ReconciliAction

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[1] TRC Calls to Action

[2] The connection between immigrants and Aboriginal people in Canada's mosaic | Canadian Immigrant

[3] Project Details (environicsinstitute.org)

[4] Discover Canada - Canada’s History - Canada.ca

[5] Discover Canada - The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship - Study Guide,discover.pdf

[6] Revamped citizenship guide still a work in progress as election nears | CBC News 

Call to Action #92: Corporate Reconciliation

(The Memory (It Will Be OK Mom) by Jim Logan via Joshua Nichols, “The Limits of Meaningful Aboriginal and Treaty Rights”, (27 June 2019), online: Centre for International Governance Innovation <https://www.cigionline.org/articles/limits-meaningful-aboriginal-and-treaty-rights>.)

 

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Reconciliation is the responsibility of everyone who shares this land. While many of the TRC Calls to Action have focused on government action and funding, the corporate sector is responsible for a lot of land and resource development, employment and servicing in Canada. Indigenous people managed the land and resources for thousands of years through relationships of interdependence with the earth, animals and other people.  More than a century of colonial development has stripped Indigenous people of access to their traditional lands and most economic development has created further inequities to the detriment of Indigenous communities. Now, as we face a climate crisis in addition to a wealth favoring patriarchal model of capitalism, we have to wonder if the corporate sector can work with Indigenous people and communities to make decisions that improve the current situation and allow for sustainable economic growth as well as the possibility of a future for humankind.

Call to Action #92 calls upon the corporate sector to:

1. commit to meaningful consultation and seek the free and informed consent of Indigenous peoples prior to any economic development projects;
2. ensure equitable access to jobs, education and training and ensure that Indigenous communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects;
3. Educate management and staff on the legacy and history of Indigenous people, and on UNDRIP, treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, human rights and anti-racism. [1]

For part one of this call, the courts have already downloaded the procedural aspects of the duty to consult onto corporations, and has ensured that consultation involves meaningful two way communication and engagement.[2]  However, it has been made clear that consent is not included in the scope of the duty to consult.[3]  This means that economic development can proceed even when the affected Indigenous groups do not consent, for the benefit of the greater public (ie. Profit).   The exclusion of consent from the duty to consult removes incentive to build strong, meaningful and reciprocal relationships with the true caretakers of the land.   

To address parts two and three of this Call, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business has started a certification program for Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR).[4]  The level of certification is determined by a panel of Indigenous judges and is meant to signal to communities and vendors that a company is a good business partner, a great place to work, and is committed to prosperity in Indigenous communities. The program relies on independent 3^rd party evaluation of four key drivers.  Companies must demonstrate a clear and cascading commitment to Indigenous relations through their leadership actions, employment initiatives and recruiting activities, business development and relationship building with Indigenous businesses, and through their community engagement.[5]

Much like the growing demand on corporations to roll out green initiatives, there is growing demand for PAR certification as well.  These types of corporate social responsibility indicators are appealing to vendors and could influence better relationship building even in the absence of required consent.

(Photo by Michael Toledano via Amanda Follett Hosgood, “One Year after RCMP Raid, Tensions Rise as Wet’suwet’en Evict Pipeline Company”, (5 January 2020), online: The Tyee <https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/01/05/Year-After-RCMP-Raid-Wetsuweten-New-injunction/>)

There is still much work to do in getting corporations to participate in reconciliation and be actively anti-racist.  The PAR certification is a start, but the blockades and protests during the TransMountain and Coastal GasLink pipeline development in early 2020 are a clear indication of a missing element in corporate-Indigenous relations.  Companies should collaborate with community leaders on environmental preservation and sustainability, and should work to include Indigenous voices in executive level decision making.  The idea that destruction of vulnerable lands is in the greater public interest is short sighted and not only impacts Indigenous communities, but everyone alive today.  

For Call #92, we are assigning a grade of D.

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 306.

[2] Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73 [Haida]; Coldwater First Nation v Canada (Attorney General), 2020 FCA 34 [TransMountain].

[3] TransMountain, supra note 2; William v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2019 BCCA 74 [William].

[4] “Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR)”, online: Candian Council for Aboriginal Busines <https://www.ccab.com/programs/progressive-aboriginal-relations-par/>.

[5] Ibid.

Re: MMIWG2S Movement is taking back Canada

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

On March 13, 2021 people from across the country united in a nationwide“Take Back Canada”  rally to honour and commemorate the lives of those women who have been murdered or are missing. Families and friends of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Individuals  (MMIWG2S) and those wanting to bring awareness participated in various ways such as online forums, socially distanced marches and rallies, or from their homes by hanging a red dress from their windows or on their lawns in solidarity.

Photo Credit: Anita Cardinal-Stewart

The need to bring awareness for MMIWG and the “No More Stolen Sisters” campaign has gained momentum, especially in the last year with the noticeable increase in posts on social media circulating information about women going missing across the province. However, this increased awareness lacks media coverage or timely action from law enforcement in taking reports seriously or investigating those reports. 

Closer to home, the murder of Billy Johnson last December has brought friends, family and community together in the heartbreaking search mission for recovery of her body every weekend for the last month.^[1] Billy Johnson’s older sister Arianne Snakeskin said “we just want to bring her home and we want to bring awareness to the MMIW so that more families don't have to continue to go through this, it’s hard” in a Global News interview. In that same interview, she spoke about how the Edmonton Police Services’ (EPS) response was concerningly slow when her family reported Billy missing and for weeks would not release any information until the person responsible was charged. Further, when the family asked for help to search with a helicopter the EPS said it was too expensive.^[2]

If we want to improve the safety of indigenous women and girls, there must be a concentrated effort to address long-standing inequities on a systemic level in the institutions that hinder those women and their families from getting the kinds of supports they need.

Attendees and participants of the “Take Back Canada” rally call on the federal and provincial governments to take action on the 231 calls for justice made during the national MMIWG inquiry. Standing together in solidarity is a way to bring national attention to these calls for justice and these campaigns, even if it is hanging a red dress in your window or going to a rally, the cause needs all our support to do so.  

The pandemic creates additional challenges and increased situations of violence, which have had a profound effect on the health of women over this past year. It is estimated that one in five indigenous women reported being a victim of violence during the early pandemic months. According to a report ^[3] by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), Indigenous women are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence compared to non-Indigenous women. The NWAC Report also found an increase in the number of violent incidents, usually by an intimate partner, and that one in five women reported being a victim of physical or psychological violence during the first three months of the pandemic.^[4]

One of our ReconciliAction team members attended the rally in Edmonton this past weekend to stand as a witness and was very honoured to be apart of the emotional and impactful event. The words of the survivors and loved ones who held signs of those they are remembering must be witnessed, and we at ReconciliAction stand in solidarity with the MMIWG2S and No More Stolen Sisters Movements.

Thank you for reading. 

Until next time,

Team ReconciliAction

 

[1] https://globalnews.ca/news/7638333/edmonton-missing-woman-billie-johnson-search/amp/

[2] Ibid

[3] https://www.nwac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Fact_Sheet_Violence_Against_Aboriginal_Women.pdf

[4] Violence against Indigenous women up during early days of pandemic (aptnnews.ca)

Call to Action #86: Fake News & the Mainstream Media

 

(Illustration by Luke Swinson via Waubgeshig Rice, “Letter to a Young Indigenous Journalist | The Walrus”, (31 August 2020), online: The Walrus <https://thewalrus.ca/terra-cognita-letter-to-a-young-indigenous-journalist/>)

 

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Today we will discuss the history of media bias in reporting on Indigenous issues and events, and evaluate Call to Action #86, which states:

We call upon Canadian journalism programs and media schools to require education for all students on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations^[1]

In drafting this post, we had originally compiled some headlines to display the difference in media coverage on news involving Indigenous people and news involving non-Indigenous people.  Ultimately, we decided that this approach was harmful and painful, and would only contribute to the problem that Call #86 hopes to address.

A media spin to grab attention or redirect the focus of a story is a common tactic, from the most obvious clickbait to more subtle exploitive or erasive coverage.  Prior research has referred to this type of coverage as “shallows and rapids”.^[2]  ‘Shallows’ are when, under normal circumstances, the mainstream media essentially ignores any coverage of Indigenous issues.^[3]  ‘Rapids’ occur when the news hones in on either crisis or calamity, such as the classic portrayal of protesters as insurgents during land or rights disputes.^[4]

Dominant media discourse on Indigenous issues and events is wholly colonized and perpetuates harmful stereotypes.  A fabulous analysis of racism in Canadian media can be found in the book Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers by Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen L. Robertson, which chronicles Indigenous media coverage from the time of confederation up until 2009.  An updated version of this book is slated for release this year.^[5]

This harmful discourse has long been flagged as problematic and in addition to the TRC. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People and the Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls have also called for more balanced representation in media, and for decolonized coverage that avoids perpetuating stereotypes.^[6]

So, how have journalism schools responded?

In 2017, J-Source sent a survey to 21 journalism programs at 19 universities across Canada, and received responses from 17 schools.^[7]  What they discovered is that schools want to teach Indigenous topics in a meaningful way that teaches students to engage and report on these topics sensitively and with accuracy. The results of this desire however, are tempered by available financial and staffing resources.^[8]  The TRC does not specify the format of required education called for in Call #86, and interpretation of the Call has varied across institutions. While UBC has included mandatory courses in its program even prior to the release of the TRC's final report. Other programs have chosen to develop elective courses and make them broadly available as with Ryerson’s online course on reporting in Indigenous communities.^[9]

Additionally, Journalists for Human Rights developed the Indigenous Reporters Program in 2014.  This program creates pathways for Indigenous people to pursue careers in journalism, and engages and trains non-Indigenous journalists on best practices for reporting Indigenous stories and including Indigenous voices in general reporting.^[10]

Overall, it does appear that journalism programs across Canada have made at least some effort to incorporate Indigenous topics.  However, unless these courses are made mandatory and full length/full credit, there is a risk that they will a) not be taken as seriously as other required learning, and b) that people can simply elect not to engage with this learning. 

Team ReconciliAction recognizes the effort to respond to the bias in media at the educational level, however, elective courses will only engage those already interested in learning about Indigenous history and issues.  To achieve the highest grade, this learning should be mandatory for anyone pursuing a career in media.  As a result, we assign a grade of ‘B’ to Canadian journalism and media programs.

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 296.

[2] Augie Fleras, The Media Gaze: Representations of Diversities in Canada (University of British Columbia Press, 2012) at 61–62.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Mark Cronlund Anderson & Carmen L Robertson, Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (Univ. of Manitoba Press, 2011); Shelby Lisk, “Rewriting journalism: How Canadian media reinforces Indigenous stereotypes”, (3 September 2020), online: TVO.org <https://www.tvo.org/article/rewriting-journalism-how-canadian-media-reinforces-indigenous-stereotypes>.

[6] Canada, Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Report, 2:614; TRC, supra note 1 at 296; The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Quebec, 2019).

[7] Meagan Gillmore, “Long journey of reconciliation ahead at Canada’s journalism schools”, (20 April 2018), online: JSource <https://j-source.ca/article/long-journey-of-reconciliation/>.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] “Indigenous Reporters Program”, online: Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) <https://jhr.ca/our-work/canada-indigenous-reporters-program>.

ILSA Speaker Series 2021: Dr. Darcy Lindberg talks Water Law

(Artwork by Christi Belcourt)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Continuing our commentary on ILSA’s 2021 speaker series, today we will discuss the presentation by Dr. Darcy Lindberg on Alberta Coal Policy, Water, and Plains Cree Law.  This presentation explored some of the difficulty in aligning laws in a pluralist society.  Since 1976, Alberta coal policy provided protections for major watersheds that were well aligned with Indigenous water law.  However, this policy was recently rescinded to make way for new coal development.  So what happens when colonial water laws are in opposition to Indigenous legal obligations to water?

(Dr. Darcy Lindberg, photo courtesy of University of Alberta Directory)

This was a fascinating presentation that explored the sources of Indigenous water law as well as the differing perspectives of land management.  Dr. Lindberg shared a quote by Danika Littlechild which expressed concern that the abstract views of water in colonial law have “absolved the individual and the collective of our responsibilities to water.”  To give perspective to the weight of the responsibility to water, Dr. Lindberg drew on the Cree language as a source for water law.  In Cree, Nipiy means “water”.  Nipiy shares it’s key sounds with the phrase Niya Pimatisiwin, which means “I am life”.    

Dr. Lindberg’s presentation broke down technical and legal concepts to be accessible for an audience with varying levels of knowledge of Alberta coal policy and Indigenous environmental law. He detailed how various sources identify obligations to water, and discussed real-life examples of challenges in water protection including man-made Abraham Lake, the Smallboy Camp, and the legal personhood of the Magpie River. 

If you would like to watch the hour-long presentation (and we highly recommend that you do), it will be posted on the ILSA website along with the other Speaker Series presentations from this week.

Were you at yesterday's session with Dr. Lindberg?  Share your thoughts below!

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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Re: TRC Call to Action #84 – Indigenous Voices in Radio and Reconciliation

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Call to Action #84 calls on the government to increase and restore funding to the media to provide a voice for positive change through respectful and meaningful media coverage. Call to Action #84 states:

We call upon the federal government to restore and increase funding to the CBC/Radio-Canada, to enable Canada’s national public broadcaster to support reconciliation, and be properly reflective of the diverse cultures, languages, and perspectives of Aboriginal peoples, including, but not limited to:

    i. Increasing Aboriginal programming, including Aboriginal-language speakers.

  ii. Increasing equitable access for Aboriginal peoples to jobs, leadership positions, and professional development opportunities within the organization.

  iii. Continuing to provide dedicated news coverage and online public information resources on issues of concern to       Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians, including the history and legacy of residential schools and the reconciliation process. ^[1]

CBC/Radio -Canada is a national public broadcaster and one of Canada’s largest cultural institutions. It plays a vital role by providing access to programs and services across the country. CBC Radio purports to be a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivering a broad range of services that offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives. Considering CBC Radio’s considerable reach across the nation, it is no surprise that the  TRC felt it should be included in the Calls to Action.^[2]

In Budget 2016, the Government of Canada reinvested $675 million in CBC/Radio Canada over 5 years. This amount was supposed to include initiatives for Indigenous programming and services. To be clear, the amount was not exclusively for Indigenous programming, so the amount allocated for Indigenous media initiatives and services is discretionary. .^[3]

In its 2016-2017 Annual Report, CBCRadioCanada reported that the additional funding from Budget 2016 enabled key Indigenous initiatives such as creating additional Indigenous content (including  its digital portal Espaces autochtones), and hiring local Indigenous staff in Yellowknife for the digitization of decades of audio programming in 8 Indigenous languages: Dene Suline, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Chipewyan, North Slavey, South Slavey, Gwich'in and Eastern Cree.^[4]

To date, CBC is the only broadcaster to offer Indigenous language news and information services across TV, radio and digital platforms in Canada’s North in the 8 languages listed above, reaching over a hundred northern communities. 

CBC claims that its commitment is to reflect and represent Canada’s Indigenous communities and to create programming by and for Indigenous Peoples. CBC North broadcasts 211 hours per week with 125 of those hours on indigenous language and has made considerable efforts to digitized content in collaboration with Indigenous people to provide accessible archives.^[5] In addition, there are great programs such as “Unreserved”^[6] with Rosanna Deerchild which promotes discussion and conversation between Canada’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on Radio One, and Lisa Charleyboy’s New Fire^[7] podcast focused on stories of Indigenous youth on CBC Radio.

It is a pleasant change to see the money set out for CBC Radio programming being put to good use, even though the money was not specifically allocated for Indigenous programming.  We look forward to more initiatives that provide access to Indigenous voices on the radio and other associated media forums.

Closer to home, we have seen a new Indigenous radio station, The Raven CIWE 89.3 launched in Edmonton just this month and will join Edmonton-based CFWE FM and Calgary-based CJWE FM as part of the Windspeaker Radio group. There is no government funding for this station; they have basically started from scratch. But are excited to create spaces and utilize the incredible talent they have in their organization.^[8] It would be a stronger act of reconciliation if the government didn’t stop at CBC Radio with funding but also provided funding to Indigenous-based media groups that reflect a grassroots perspective that hit at the heart of Indigenous issues and stories, like The Raven. Yet with the slow pace of government progress on the Calls to Action, we will not hold our breath.

Until Next Time,

Team ReconciliAction YEG

 

[1] Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Honouring the Truth and Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Winnipeg: The Commission, 2015 [TRC Report].

[2] Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, “Federal budget 2016 and reinvestment in CBC/Radio-Canada” (Mar 16, 2016) online: NewsWire <https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/federal-budget-2016-and-reinvestment-in-cbcradio-canada-573134991.html>.

[3] Government of Canada, “Media and Reconciliation” (Sep 5, 2019) online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524505692599/1557513408573.>

[4] Ibid.

[5] CBC, “Indigenous Refection and Representation” (August 2018), online: <https://site-cbc.radio-canada.ca/documents/vision/strategy/submission/appendix-e-cbc-radio-canada-indigenous.pdf>.

[6] CBC, “Unreserved” online:< http://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved>. 

[7] CBC, “New Fire” online:<http://www.cbc.ca/radio/newfire>

[8] Emily Mertz, “New Indigenous radio station The Raven launches in Edmonton: ‘It was emotional” (1 Feb 2021) online:Globalnews.ca <https://globalnews.ca/news/7613364/indigenous-radio-station-the-raven/> . 

5 Years After TRC: The Gaps in Public Memory

(Image: Shutterstock)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Public memory is how we frame history and share knowledge of the past through generations. It is not merely history, because memories are subjective, personal and can take on or create meaning. History, though, is just factual and objective past events.   Public memory has been the subject of the Mandela effect, which is an interesting phenomena where the collective memory is not aligned with factual history.  Examples of this include public recollection of Nelson Mandela’s death in prison in the 1980s when he actually died in 2013; or remembering the children’s book series spelled as ‘Berenstein Bears’ instead of the correct Berenstain Bears.

Often, history is deliberately framed in a way that influences or selectively erases the public memory of that history.  For example, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech has been widely emphasized and recontextualized in a way that uncomplicates and de-radicalizes the complexity of the civil rights movement of the 60’s in the US.^[1]  Public memory leans on the non-violent protest methods advocated by MLK in a revisionist manner and regularly omits that non-violence did not mean inaction.^[2]  Rather, King advocated collective civil disobedience as a form of gaining the power needed to make real change.  Likewise, public memory remembers Rosa Parks as the unassuming woman who refused to sit where she was told, when Parks could more accurately be described as a strong and seasoned freedom fighter who devoted much of her life to civil rights activism.^[3]

“Public memory is important. It is especially important to recognize that the transmission of that collective memory from generation to generation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals, families, and communities was impaired by the actions of those who ran residential schools”^[4]

This type of revisionist rhetoric is prevalent where colonial patriotism is a dominant cultural perspective.  In Canada, generations of us were taught that Canada came into existence when European settlers migrated here and built undiscovered land into a nation.  Of course, the history of this land extends well beyond its colonization.  The original inhabitants of this land have a history dating back to time immemorial.  This history includes events and places of great importance.  It includes languages, ceremony, battle, treaties, famous people and famous places. This history also extends into the post-colonial era, including the birth and rise of the Metis/Michif people as a distinct nation, and the resulting moves by the colonial government to extinguish and disenfranchise the Metis. It includes First Nations and Inuit as targets for annihilation by colonizers who viewed themselves as superior. First through the deliberate segregation and starvation of Indigenous people, then through the abduction of Indigenous children placed in residential schools and who were lucky to survive at all, let alone with intact public memory of time immemorial.

Public memory is preserved through oral and archival history, public speeches, monuments, museums, and commemorative events.  Until recently, public memory has been viciously skewed to the colonial perspective of history.  Call to Action #79 aims to remedy this skewed public memory, by including other perspectives on the history of this land to develop a more fulsome and true to history version of the collective memory going forward.

Call #79 demands collaboration with Indigenous voices to develop a framework for heritage and commemoration which includes at minimum:

• Amending the Historic Sites and Monuments Act to include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis representation on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and its Secretariat.
• Revising the policies, criteria, and practices of the National Program of Historical Commemoration to integrate Indigenous history, heritage values, and memory practices into Canada’s national heritage and history.
• Developing and implementing a national heritage plan and strategy for commemorating residential school sites, the history and legacy of residential schools, and the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada’s history.^[5]

To date, the first leg of this call has been proposed via Bill 374, An Act to Amend the Historic Sites and Monuments Act (Composition of the board). While this amendment has never come into force, the spirit of it was noted with the appointment of a First Nations, Inuk, and Metis member in July of 2018.  The last activity on this bill was in 2018, and it appears to have died after that.  Legislation guaranteeing this board composition is critical to ensuring the long term impact and inclusion of Indigenous voices.^[6]  The third leg has been delegated to Parks Canada, which did develop a framework for a national heritage plan that was backed by federal funding in 2019.^[7] 

The second leg is not yet completed.  While the importance of commemoration and heritage recognition that integrates Indigenous values has been acknowledged, this has not been codified.  Part of reconciliation may involve acceptance that commemoration activity may not align with the colonial heritage perspectives that focus on preservation.  For example, while several former residential schools have been reclaimed as heritage sites, the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School was demolished in 2016 as part of a commemoration ceremony.^[8]

In the end, Canada has not yet done enough to ensure the development of a more honest public memory, and we must assign a grade of ‘C-‘ on Call to Action #79.

 

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] Matthew Houdek & Kendall R Phillips, “Public Memory” (2017) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, online: <https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-181>.

[2] April Reign, “For Martin Luther King Jr., Nonviolent Protest Never Meant ‘Wait and See’”, (12 January 2018), online: History Reads <https://www.history.com/news/for-martin-luther-king-jr-nonviolent-protest-never-meant-wait-and-see>.

[3] Jeanne Theoharis, “How history got the Rosa Parks story wrong”, Washington Post (1 December 2015), online: <https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/12/01/how-history-got-the-rosa-parks-story-wrong/>.

[4] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 268.

[5] Ibid at 291.

[6] Historic Sites and Monuments Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/H-4/Full Text.html,

[7] Government of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, “Commemoration”, (23 April 2018), online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524505403680/1557513866487>.

[8] CBC News, “The state of Canada’s former residential school buildings”, (26 September 2017), online: CBC News <https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/multimedia/the-state-of-canada-s-former-residential-school-buildings-1.4307508>.

Justice for Colten: Advocacy Against Systemic Racism in Canada's Legal System

(Artwork by Grace Berrios, Colton Boushie Quote Card for Rise Up Media) 

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

February 9 was the anniversary of Gerald Stanley’s acquittal.  For those who aren’t aware, Gerald Stanley was accused of killing Colten Boushie after Colten and some friends drove onto his rural Saskatchewan property.  Gerald Stanley was not convicted of this killing, despite the fact that Colten was killed by a close range gunshot in front of his friends and the son of Gerald Stanley.  Colten’s friends said they drove onto the property for help with a flat tire, and Gerald Stanley claimed that he approached the vehicle with his gun when he suspected the group of trying to steal an ATV, and the gun ‘hang fired’ into the back of Colten’s head.[1]

When reflecting on the news and social media reports of Colten’s death in 2016, it is striking to recall the vitriol of people who justified shooting and killing trespassers and who leaned on racism to support that justification.  Comments like “the only mistake was leaving 3 witnesses” (made by a SK municipal councillor) were pervasive, and people seemed quick to point fingers at the four friends while supporting the actions of Gerald Stanley.[2]  The RCMP and trial followed this pattern.  The investigation focused heavily on the 4 young occupants of the vehicle, and Colten’s friends were even arrested along with Gerald Stanley.[3]  Colten’s family members have stated that throughout the proceedings, it often felt like Colten was on trial and that Gerald Stanley was being treated as the victim.[4]  In fact, media publications would refer to the trial as the “Colten Boushie trial”, when it was Gerald Stanley who was on trial.  

There were other issues with the investigation and trial process.  The investigator in such a major incident was an inexperienced junior officer.[5]  The crime scene was left uncovered in the rain for two days and was not attended by any forensic expert.[6]  Colten’s mother was informed of his death by the RCMP as they searched her home, weapons drawn.  She was told to “get it together” and asked if she was drunk.[7]  During jury selection peremptory challenges excluded any juror who appeared Indigenous, and the selected jurors were not asked about possible racial bias or pre-trial public influence impacting their ability to remain objective.[8]  During the trial, the prior criminal records of the witnesses were discussed to discredit the victim and his friends.[9]  The trial judge did not inform the jury about the requirements of self defence or defence of property, which Gerald Stanley was not formally pleading but was clearly relying on.[10]

In the end, Gerald Stanley was acquitted, and Colten’s loved ones are left seeking justice.  The Saskatchewan crown prosecutors declined to appeal the acquittal stating there was no error in law, ending the proceedings that might have brought closure to Colten’s loved ones.

The verdict was controversially denounced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then Justice Minister Jody-Wilson Raybould and sparked an omnibus bill that abolished peremptory challenges.[11]  This legacy is just one of the many Colten has inspired.  Colten’s family used their grief to fuel incredible advocacy for the way Indigenous people are treated by the legal system.  This advocacy has taken them all the way to the United Nations to seek justice for Colten.[12]  Team ReconciliAction encourages our readers who have not yet seen the award-winning film nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up by Tasha Hubbard to watch this powerful telling of Colten’s story and the advocacy and work his family has done.[13]  

(Image: Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up (2019).)

In the meantime, we ask our readers to consider the first time they heard about Colten and recall the context in which the story was presented.  Was there any bias?  Do you think the story might have been told differently if the farmer was Indigenous and the car full of youth were white? Do you think bias seeps into our legal system in a way that makes it a system of justice for only some of the people who come into contact with it?  We talk a lot about the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the legal system, and the lack of representation in the legal profession, but what happens when an Indigenous person is the victim of a crime? How is our system set up to properly care for victims and their families?

For today, we will leave you with those questions to ponder.

#JusticeForColten

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] David Giles & Nathaniel Dove, “Calls grow for public inquiry into death of Colten Boushie, acquittal of Gerald Stanley”, (19 February 2020), online: Global News <https://globalnews.ca/news/6566640/public-inquiry-colten-boushie-gerald-stanley/>.

[2] Ian Austen, “A Murder Trial Stirs Emotions About Canada’s Relations With Indigenous Population”, The New York Times (9 February 2018), online: <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/world/canada/canada-saskatchewan-murder-indigenous.html>.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Rachel Giese, “Why Has Colten Boushie’s Mother Had To Work So Hard Just To Prove Her Son’s Humanity?”, (20 February 2018), online: Chatelaine <https://www.chatelaine.com/opinion/colten-boushie-mother/>.

[5] Jason Warick, “The long list of problems Colten Boushie’s family says marred the case”, (13 February 2018), online: CBC News <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/colten-boushie-family-list-problems-gerald-stanley-case-1.4532214>.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Rachel Giese, supra note 4.

[8] Jason Warick, supra note 5.

[9] Ian Austen, supra note 2.

[10] David Giles & Nathaniel Dove, supra note 1.

[11] Kent Roach, “Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case”, (10 February 2020), online: The Canadian Encyclopedia <https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/gerald-stanley-and-colten-boushie-case>.

[12] Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up (2019).

[13] Ibid.

5 Years After TRC: Redress from the Archives

(Image Credit: “Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives”, (28 November 2018), online: Library and Archives Canada <https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/initiatives/Pages/default.aspx>.)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Today we will evaluate TRC Call to Action #70, which (spoiler!) we are happy to report has made significant progress.  Call to Action # 70 states:

We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Association of Archivists to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of archival policies and best practices to:

1. Determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.
2. Produce a report with recommendations for full implementation of these international mechanisms as a reconciliation framework for Canadian archives.[1]

In 2016, the newly formed Standing Committee on Canada’s Archives established the Truth and Reconciliation Task Force (TRC-TF) to undertake the response to Call to Action #70.   The federal government provided funding support for this task force in 2018 through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant. [2]

The TRC-TF released its report “A Reconciliation Framework for Canadian Archives” in summer 2020, after four years of conducting a review of archival policies and best practices in collaboration with Indigenous communities, heritage professionals and organizations across Canada.[3]  This new framework is meant to be a collaborative living document, and includes principles and objectives, as well as strategies to work toward those objectives. 

The release of this report and the ongoing nature of the task force charged with putting the strategies into practice make the response to this call one of the most thorough we have seen to date.  This task force included Indigenous voices and views in the final report and clearly engaged in a very collaborative consultation process.  The end result is a positive step toward facing the colonial legacy of Canada’s historical archives.  You can read the full report here.

We are assigning a grade of ‘A’ for Call to Action #70.  However, as much as we hate to temper a positive moment, it feels prudent to note that this call was not completed by Canada, but rather through the efforts of the TRC-TF (and specifically the grant writers behind the flow of funds, because we all know how laborious grant writing is!).  Because of this, we thought the report card should clarify who gets this grade. 

Stay tuned tomorrow as we dig into specific archival records pertaining to missing children and burials. 

Until Next Time,

ReconciliAction YEG

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[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).

[2] Government of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, “Museums and archives”, (23 April 2018), online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504831027/1557513782811>.

[3] “A Reconciliation Framework for Canadian Archives”, (3 August 2020), online: Librarianship.ca <https://librarianship.ca/news/reconciliation-framework-archives/>.

5 Years After TRC: Expanding Religious Education

(Image: iStock)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Let us start today with a story. (Point first writing to be continued in another blog post…)

Once upon a time, during the colonization of what we now call Canada, nearly all settler schools were taught with a religious element.  These schools were usually Protestant, and the Catholic immigrants as a minority lobbied for the right to receive a Catholic education out of concern that their religion would suffer if not protected.  In 1867, this right was enshrined in the British North America Act, which would become Canada’s constitution.[1]  As time went on, schools became increasingly non-secular and multi-cultural, but this enshrined right to Catholic education remained. 

The intersect between law and dominant societal norms is an interesting place to navigate and requires a lens that is not tinted in the same shade of norm as a dominant society.  Roman Catholicism now makes up the largest portion of religious people in Canada at nearly 40% of the population.[2]  The next largest group is non-religious people who make up nearly 25% of Canada’s population.[3]  The remaining population in Canada practice among other forms of Christianity, Islamic, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism or other types of religion.[4]

But wait….

*record scratch**freeze frame*

(blogs not having sound effects is probably how TikTok happened)

This is from the 2011 census, which as we have discussed on this blog several times, did not include Indigenous data.  We know that around 60% of Canada is not Catholic, and we know that Catholic education was enshrined in the Canadian constitution to protect Catholicism as a minority religion.  This enshrined right appears to have been effective since Catholics are now the largest denominational group in Canada. A lot has happened since 1867 though, for instance, we have started to legally recognize women, Indigenous people, disabled, LGBTQ2S+ people as actual people with human rights equivalent to the typical Protestant white male from 1867 for whom the constitution was intended.  Those pesky societal norms are still catching up to these changes, but perhaps we can look to Catholicism as the success story of what can happen when minority rights are protected?

Let us now arrive at the point.  TRC Call to Action #64 calls on all levels of government that provide public funds to denominational schools to require such schools to provide an education on comparative religious studies, and specifically content covering Indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices developed in collaboration with Elders.[5]

Today, nine provinces have maintained an education model that continues to fund Catholic education separately from non-denominational education.  Newfoundland and Labrador switched entirely to non-denominational public schooling after a 1997 referendum on the matter, and Quebec halted funding to denominational schools that same year.[6]  The matter of using public funding for religious and private schools has been hotly debated for many years, but have any provinces required the religious schools they fund to teach comparative religion courses that include Indigenous teachings?

Not really.

Canada, the source of the originating enshrinement guaranteeing religious education, says they are not the lead on this Call to Action.[7]  BC has stated that religious schools are required to follow the BC curriculum, but has not mandated a specific Indigenous comparative religion course.[8]  In Ontario, where the funding of only Catholic education resulted in a lawsuit and condemnation by the United Nations, not much has been said about addressing comparative religious study.[9]  Alberta, home of ReconciliAction YEG, recently leaked some embarrassing panel recommendations as discussed in yesterday’s blog post, that would effectively remove any education about residential schools and Indigenous learning from the Alberta curriculum for certain grades. This would suggest that Alberta is not concerned about responding to Call #64.  We will spare you a list of every province, and provide our assessment – we assign the provinces and Canada a grade of F. 

Let us know what you think about public funding for denominational schools, and whether they should be required to teach comparative religious studies. 

Until Next Time,

Team ReconciliAction

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[1] British North America Act, 1867, Department of Justice Government of Canada, 3 November 1999, 30-31 Vict, c 3 (UK) [British North America Act, 1867,], s 93.

[2] Statistics Canada, Immigration and ethnocultural diversity in Canada: National Household Survey, 2011, by Tina Choui, Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011001 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2013) at 21.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 331.

[6] Michael Coren, “Why Are We Still Paying for Catholic Schools?”, (6 January 2020), online: The Walrus <https://thewalrus.ca/why-are-we-still-paying-for-catholic-schools/>.

[7] Government of Canada, “Education for reconciliation”, (23 April 2018), online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504501233/1557513602139>.

[8] British Columbia Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education Report on Actions Taken To Support Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.

[9] CBC Radio, “It’s time to end public funding of Catholic schools”, (16 June 2017), online: CBC Radio <https://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/stop-funding-catholic-schools-restore-trust-in-the-neb-and-let-me-change-my-name-1.4162978/it-s-time-to-end-public-funding-of-catholic-schools-1.4163049>.

Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian K-12 Classrooms - How we doing Canada?

RE: Commitments to Maintain Education on Cultural Awareness and Issues Affecting Indigenous Peoples

63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including:
64. Developing and implementing Kindergarten to Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history, and the history and legacy of residential schools.
65. Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history.

iii. Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.

1. Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.

The Government of Canada is not the lead on this Call to Action, so it has been left up to the Council of Ministers of Education, Canadian Association of School Boards and the Provinces to make progress and create initiatives that will move this Call to Action forward.

In Alberta, and under the current UCP government, there has been a shameful regression in progress with Call to Action #63, particularly with the leak in late 2020 of proposed curriculum documents for Alberta students.  Among other shocking setbacks, these documents showed removal of all references to residential schools and “equity”, deeming that stories surrounding residential schools would be too sad for younger students. This proposed change is contradictory when you realize these same children who would be learning about the enslavement of women and the assassination of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome, but not residential schools. 

An online petition has been started, which argues that the proposed curriculum changes will undo the previous government’s attempts to further reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and Canada through inclusion in the curriculum. You can find the petition here: Petition · Prevent Alberta from eliminating residential school education from their K-4 curriculum · Change.org

Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange later stated that these changes were simply recommendations and that residential schools will continue to be taught in schools starting at a later grade.^[1] This change would be a  huge mistake because it would hinder the truth from being told, a truth that will allow younger generations to learn from the past. 

News of the new curriculum received swift backlash on social media and the broader Indigenous community across the province and the rest of Canada condemning these changes.  (You can read more of the draft curriculum here:New LearnAlberta)

 The good news is that the proposed curriculum change is just a recommendation.  LaGrange also has stated that working groups of subject-area experts including teachers will review the curriculum, with the elementary school curriculum being released to the public early this year. Our entire province is watching this development closely and many are prepared to fight the UCP moving forward with such backward policies. 

Team ReconciliAction YEG will provide an update as soon as one is available. Learning about residential schools and developing cultural awareness of the true history of Canada is non-negotiable and is essential in combating the systemic racism and discrimination that is so prevalent in Canadian society. If reconciliation is the goal, education on the true history of Canada is a major component in achieving that goal.

The rest of the Canadian provinces are a work in progress. Each province has been asked to maintain a commitment to developing K-12 curriculum education opportunities for all students to further an understanding of Aboriginal peoples' Canadian history and identify appropriate teacher-training needs to address these issues.^[2]

Since the release of the TRC 94 Calls to Action, the CMEC (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada) has increased its commitment to Indigenous awareness with its three-year strategic Education Plan (2019-2022). This plan focuses on four priority areas designed to provide a more coordinated, strategic approach for provincial and territorial ministers responsible for education to work together to improve Indigenous education outcomes for all learners.^[3] The plan is available here. CMEC has also made strides in furthering its commitment by hosting various summits and symposiums since 2009 aimed at providing a forum for Indigenous educators and gathering non-Indigenous educators and researchers from across the country to improve indigenous education outcomes for all learners. This progress is very encouraging, but as seen in Alberta, there is a very long way to go. The pressure on the provinces cannot be let up for one moment, considering how easy it is to take significant steps backwards. Moving forward in Truth and Reconciliation must remain our focus as a nation.

Until Next Time

Team ReconciliAction YEG

[1] Allison Bench, “UCP under fire for K-4 curriculum plans that suggest leaving out residential schools” Global News (October 21, 2020) online: <https://globalnews.ca/news/7410812/alberta-curriculum-education-residential-schools/>.

[2] Acadian University, “Call to Action #63” online: <http://courseware.acadiau.ca/trctalk/call-to-action-63/>.

[3] CMEC, “Programs and Initiatives: Indigenous Education” online: <https://www.cmec.ca/53/Programs-and-Initiatives/Aboriginal-Education/Overview/index.html>.

5 Years After TRC: The back-burnered National Council for Reconciliation

(Image credit: ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS in Maan Alhmidi, “Reconciliation delayed and anti-Indigenous racism rising: TRC commissioners | The Star”, The Toronto Star (15 December 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/politics/2020/12/15/reconciliation-delayed-and-anti-indigenous-racism-rising-trc-commissioners.html>.)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Today our post is closely related to last Friday's post about National Council for Reconciliation Reporting.  We will be discussing Calls to Action #53 and #54, which call for legislation that establishes the National Council in the first place, as well as a commitment to multi-year funding to adequately resource this Council to carry out its work.[1]

Call #53 additionally sets out several requisite responsibilities that would form the mandate of the committee. These include monitoring and reporting on reconciliation progress between Indigenous people and the crown, and progress across all levels and sectors in Canadian society.[2]  This committee would also establish a multi-year action plan for reconciliation that would include policy development, education and resources, and promoting public discussion and initiatives related to reconciliation. [3]

Our readers may or may not be shocked to discover that this Council remains unestablished 5 years after these calls at this stage in our evaluations.  A reading of Calls #53 through #56 shows that the intent was for this Council to be formed very quickly and begin an ongoing exchange of data and information with the government and the public.[4]  As we noted last week, an Interim Board was formed to determine and propose the National Council's scope and funding needs.  This committee produced its report in 2017 and concluded that data and adequate funding must exist for this Council to carry out any reporting function.[5] We will pause here to take in your absolute astonishment (Hey Alexa: Is there a font to show sarcasm?)

Of course, a lack of data has become a common theme in this year's evaluation of the TRC Calls to Action.  Some data specific to Indigenous issues and reconciliation was collected in the 2016 census, particularly concerning incarceration and child welfare statistics.[6]  However, limiting the data collection to census years will severely limit the progress that can come from evaluating and reporting on that data, which is why annual data is requested in Call to Action #55.  As we enter a new census year, we should not be surprised if we learn that the issues in child welfare; the justice system; language and culture; and health that continue to plague Indigenous people have not improved.  We should not be surprised if we perhaps learn that conditions have worsened in the five years since the TRC released its final report. The TRC Commissioners recently re-convened for the first time since the release of the final report. One of the specific grievances noted by Senator Murray Sinclair was the failure to even establish the National Council.[7]

(Metaphorical image of Call to Action #53 & 54: Adobe Stock Photos)

As far as a commitment to funding the National Council that has yet to be established, we are happy to say that funding was promised for the 2020-21 fiscal year to establish the National Council.[8]  Unfortunately, we are forced to temper that happy news with the note that this funding was a one-time allocation and was nearly $900M less than what was recommended by the Interim Board.[9]  Beyond this one time funding, no further funding has been allocated, and the government has deleted the statement from their official website promising a "commitment to acting quickly to implement the recommendations, including funding and resource commitments."[10] The Council that could be a driving force in propelling reconciliation work forward has formed a skin and is crusting over on one of the government backburners. It is a far cry from resembling the original recipe submitted by the TRC.  For that reason, we have assigned a grade of F for Call to Action #53, and a grade of D- for Call to Action #54.

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we will further discuss church apologies and reconciliation.

Until next time, 

Team ReconciliAction

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[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 328.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Government of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, “National Council for Reconciliation”, (23 April 2018), online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524503926054/1557514163015>.

[6] Statistics Canada, Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018, by Jamil Malakieh, Catalogue no. 85-002-X (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2019); Statistics Canada, The housing conditions of Aboriginal people in Canada: census of population, 2016., Census in Brief (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2017); Government of Canada; Indigenous Services Canada, “Reducing the number of Indigenous children in care”, (2 November 2018), online: <https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1541187352297/1541187392851>.

[7] Maan Alhmidi, “Reconciliation delayed and anti-Indigenous racism rising: TRC commissioners | The Star”, The Toronto Star (15 December 2020), online: <https://www.thestar.com/politics/2020/12/15/reconciliation-delayed-and-anti-indigenous-racism-rising-trc-commissioners.html>.

[8] Canada, supra note 5.

[9] “Call to Action # 54”, (9 February 2020), online: Indigenous Watchdog <https://indigenouswatchdog.org/call-to-action-54/>.

[10] Ibid.

TRC Call to Action #60: Aboriginal Beliefs and Spirituality and the Whiteman’s Gospel

We call upon leaders of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the history and legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence.

In plain simple terms Call to Action #60 is a call to train individuals in religious cultural safety, so that people of different faiths may understand each other better.^[1] This Call to Action aims to ensure churches and those Christian groups that were involved in the residential school system make a conscious and organized effort to educate their organizations on the harms of what those schools did and take an active role in respecting Aboriginal communities and their members' individual rights to practice spirituality according to the teachings of their ancestors.

Canada is a religiously pluralistic country because of its diverse population. This requires Canadians to act with tolerance and respect, including learning about each other’s faiths and beliefs, and accepting that differences can coexist. These actions can minimize or eliminate the divisiveness, hostility and prejudice seen throughout Canadian history towards Indigenous beliefs and practices associated with their spirituality.^[2]

There is a great responsibility of the church parties to mitigate the harms they caused to Indigenous peoples, and addressing these harms requires more than apologies. Our December 2, 2020 post on the Calls to Action #48 and 49 outlining the church parties apologies can be found here: https://ualbertalaw.typepad.com/faculty/2020/12/re-trc-call-to-action-48-49-settlement-agreement-parties-and-undrip.html

It is worth noting that although Pope Benedict expressed his sorrow for those who suffered at the Residential Schools, the Catholic Church has yet to issue a formal apology. This is shameful when considering that the Catholic Church ran 70% of the forced Indian Residential Schooling in Canada.^[3]   

Acknowledgements and apologies are an important first step, yet without action, they are empty words and empty promises of reconciliation. The spiritual harm and abuse that First Nations, Metis, and Inuit experienced during the era of colonial expansion require extensive education to understand the spiritual relationship with the Creator and with the Land that Indigenous peoples have. This education should include actively unlearning harmful views that place Indigenous ceremonies and practices as sinful in the eyes of God as referred to in the Anglican Church’s “Apology for Spiritual Harm”.  This apology was an excellent example of a church taking ownership.^[4] 

The arrogance of many churches resulted in grievous harm and the great loss of ceremonies and spiritual teachings that have sustained the First Peoples for generations upon generations. The intergenerational spiritual trauma created by the arrogance of many churches may begin to heal by furthering cultural education to church clergy, members, and leaders that identifies the importance of Aboriginal practices and ceremony.

Call to Action #60 is a very difficult recommendation to universally implement in Canada. It took Canada’s Supreme Court until 2017 with the Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia ^[5] case to issue a ruling on Indigenous religious freedom which in the end only ended up showing that the Supreme Court is unable to recognize its own colonial and culturally located position under the Charter.^[6]

There is no clear way to make it mandatory for a church organization to develop a curriculum of cultural education that would not violate their s. 2(a) Charter rights. This provision of the Charter works against Aboriginal Peoples in two ways, as previously mentioned and because protection under it requires claimants “to frame their religion in terms that are recognizable to the legal culture of Canada without reference to the colonial foundations of that very legal system or the broader colonial context of Canada”.^[7] Essentially indicating that Indigenous religious freedom, under s. 2(a), is currently an impossibility and poses a significant barrier.  

From a policy perspective, this is a very difficult recommendation for the government to implement that would be effective, it would need to work with Indigenous communities and organizations cohesively to do so and make significant changes in government policy. Moving forward, it remains up to each religious group to play its own part in working towards reconciliation through cultural education and it will be interesting to see who takes this seriously. ^[8]

Until Next Time,

Team ReconcilAction YEG

[1] Acadia University, “TRCtalk” online: <http://courseware.acadiau.ca/trctalk/category/calls/>. 

[2] Benna Crawford, “The Advantages of Religious Diversity” (29 Sept 2017), online: Classroom <classroom.synonym.com/the-advantages-of-religious-diversity-12087077.html>.

[3] CAID.ca, “Church Apologies for Indian Residential Schools”, online: <caid.ca/Dchurch_apology.html>. 

[4] Archbishop Fred Hiltz, “An Apology for Spiritual Harm” (July 12, 2019) online: <anglican.ca/news/an-apology-for-spiritual-harm/30024511/>.

[5] https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/16816/index.do 

[6] Nicolas Shrubsole, Policy Options, “The Impossibility of Religious Freedom”, 2017 online: The impossibility of Indigenous religious freedom (irpp.org) 

[7] Ibid

[8] TRCtalk, supra note 1, Call to Action #60. 

\

Feature on Action & Justice Everyday: The Individual duty of Reconciliation

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Yes, we've said our goodbyes for the year and wrapped things up for the term.  As it turns out, it is hard to stay away when there is so much happening every day and we have been given this opportunity to use our voice.  

Today we want to highlight another blog that we feel brings an important personal context to the social and legal issues faced by Indigenous people in Canada. 

On his blog, Action & Justice Everyday, Community Organizer & Public Speaker, Michael Redhead Champagne recently asked the following question: Which Calls to Action/Calls for Justice do you work on every day?

Most of the focus on the ReconciliAction YEG blog has been geared toward the systems where the injustices against Indigenous people originated and continue to be perpetuated.  Reconciliation, to our team, is the duty that these systems have to right these historic wrongs and take active steps that will improve nation-to-nation relations and eliminate the ongoing systemic discrimination.  Champagne's post brings attention to the fact that reconciliation isn't just about systemic level oppression and action, but about efforts made at the individual level as well.  

The post first draws attention to the TRC Calls to Action released 5 years ago, the Report of the Inquiry on MMIWG Calls to Justice released in 2018, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people, before highlighting just a small sampling of recent events that illustrate how much work is still to be done. 

Champagne encourages non-Indigenous Canadians who want to further reconciliation to take some of the duty of reconciliation upon themselves.  He provides the following simple framework to do this: 

1. Read the MMIWG and TRC reports.

   • Bonus if you include additional reports like UNDRIP, or regional documents too

2. Select at least one Call to Action (TRC) and one Call for Justice (MMIWG)

3. Write them down and put them somewhere that you will see them everyday

   • we have to face this every day, join us in our pain so we can celebrate our victories and our healing together

4. Take action at every available opportunity yourself

5. Encourage your family, friends, co-workers, workplaces and communities to do the same

Team ReconciliAction couldn't agree more that these reports (even just the summaries) are so important for Canadians to read. Plus, with 94 Calls to Action and 231 Calls for Justice, there is surely a Call that can speak to everyone on an individual level. 

You can read the full Action & Justice Everyday post here: 

https://www.michaelredheadchampagne.com/blog/action-justice-everyday

The MMIWG Report and Calls for Justice can be found here: 

https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

The TRC Summary and Calls to Action can be found here:

http://nctr.ca/reports.php

Let us know which Call to Action or Call for Justice you plan to work on every day in the comments below!

Until next time, 

Team ReconciliAction

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5 Years After TRC: Midpoint Recap

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

As Team ReconciliAction gets ready to sign off for the semester, we wanted to take today to provide a report card for the TRC Calls to Action we have covered so far this year.  Check back tomorrow for our reflections on this term.  

So how is Canada doing on Calls to Action numbers 1 through 49?  Check out our infographic below, and let us know if you agree with our evaluation so far of Canada's response to the TRC to far. 

 

That's it for substantive material for this semester. We hope you've enjoyed reading, and be sure to check back tomorrow so we can say goodbye until 2021!

Until next time, 

Team ReconciliAction YEG

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Is it Reconciliation? New funding announced for Indigenous child welfare

(Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Indigenous child welfare has been a recurring topic on this blog as one of the areas of colonial law that most negatively impacts Indigenous people. For those of you reading for the first time, or just wishing to do a deep dive, links to our previous posts on Indigenous child welfare have been included at the end of today’s post.   

To quickly recap, the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families ( the “Act”) came into force this year.  You may have heard the Act referred to as Bill C-92 as it was known prior to its enactment. With more Indigenous children in care now than at the height of residential schools, this law was a groundbreaking step forward.^[1] It finally acknowledges the right of Indigenous groups to exercise jurisdiction over child welfare laws and operations.

A big criticism of this Act is the glaring omission of any funding provision to support the development of Indigenous-run child welfare systems.  This is a surprising omission given the TRC’s call for adequate and sustainable funding, as well as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s repeated finding of systemic discrimination against Indigenous children through inequitable funding as compared to all other children in Canada.

New funding announced

On November 27^th, Prime Minister Trudeau announced $542 million in new funding for Indigenous child welfare.^[2]  This funding is intended to propel the co-implementation of the Act with Indigenous governing bodies, and assist in building capacity to establish Indigenous-run child welfare systems.^[3]  The news release indicates that this funding is in addition to $3 billion already invested in funding support since 2019, however we have not found any publicly announced funding totalling $3 billion.^[4] The proposals related to Indigenous child welfare in the 2019 budget included:

•       $1.2 billion over three years, beginning in 2019–20 to provide access to services for First Nation children.
•       $220 million over five years, beginning in 2019–20, to provide services to Inuit children as work continues with Inuit and other government partners to improve local capacity to deliver services.^[5]

Obviously this $542 million is welcome news, especially since it appears to be new funding (as opposed to re-allocated funding).  However, as with all funding, ascertaining the benefits conferred requires understanding who and what is eligible, and how to access that money. 

Breakdown of the new funding

The federal government’s commitment will provide $542 million in funding over five years, broken down as follows:

• $425 million over five years for capacity-building funding for Indigenous jurisdictions.
• Nearly $73 million over five years for coordination agreement discussions.
• Over $35 million for internal services.
• Nearly $10 million over two years for governance engagement mechanisms.^[6]

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has projected a funding requirement of $3.5 billion over 5 years in order for First Nations to effectively assume jurisdiction and operations of child welfare services.^[7] This funding estimate does not take into account the funding requirements of Inuit and Métis communities. Existing funding to Indigenous governing bodies, as we have repeatedly highlighted on this blog, is chronically deficient and could not support the transition.

What do we think?

Our first concern with funding for improved Indigenous delivered services, is that an organization must first be provincially delegated in order to receive funding.^[8]  The concept of self governing bodies being required to seek permission from the colonial government is odd, but nevertheless common in funding models.

Our second concern is the funding amount.  If Prime Minister Trudeau’s representation of an existing $3 billion in funding is correct, then this new funding adds enough to meet the AFN projected funding requirement, though again, this does not factor in funding needs of Inuit and Métis governing bodies. The actual funding amount allocated is difficult to ascertain as Canada has not released an official budget in the past two years, so we are forced to accept these announcements at face value for now.

The third concern Team ReconciliAction has with this funding announcement, is that there is no mechanism for distribution of the funds.  The AFN entered into a protocol agreement earlier this year that included bi-lateral meetings and a joint finance table. However Inuit and Métis governing bodies have not yet made any such agreement.^[9]  There are also many First Nations that are not represented by AFN, who would require funding for the implementation of the Act.  This highlights an ongoing problem with the way that Canada provides pan-Indigenous funding. Canada ignores the known fact that these are distinct nations with distinct laws and distinct needs, and uses distribution models that create conflict between Indigenous groups who are then forced to fight for the funds they require.

Overall, it is a positive that there is funding for the implementation of this Act, though it remains disappointing that it was omitted from the legislation.  Indigenous people are tired of being told to wait for things that Canada stripped away over 150 years ago, but the roll-out of this funding is just another “wait-and-see” at this time.

Links to previous posts on Indigenous Child Welfare

Part I: Sixties Scoop

Intergenerational Injustice & Indigenous Child Welfare

Ohpikihawasowin (the raising of children)

Moving Forward and Looking Back: Indigenous Children

In the Media: Spirit Bear Teddy Bear Tea Party & Book Launch

ILSA Speaker Series: Panel Discussion and the Aboriginal Justice Award

Systemic Barriers and Indigenous Children: Bill C-92

Systemic Barriers and Indigenous Children: Bill 22

Influential Indigenous Women: Dr. Cindy Blackstock

In the Media: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Orders Compensation for First Nations Children

The Role of the Indigenous Community in Child Development

Indigenous Mothering and the Impacts of the Child Welfare System

Misconceptions of 'Bad Parenting' and the Impacts on Child Apprehension

In the Media: Dr. Cindy Blackstock & Dr. Hadley Friedland on Bill C-92

"Decolonization" and Why it Matters in the Context of Child Welfare

De-colonizing Racine v Woods

An Overview of Bill C-92

An Overview of Bill 22

5 Years After TRC: Reducing Children in Care

5 Years After TRC: Reducing Children in Care Part 2

5 Years After TRC: A National Standard

5 Years after TRC: A National Standard (Part 2)

 

Maarsii to everyone who participated in our polls on social media telling us to write this post, stay tuned tomorrow for more TRC response evaluations!

Until Next Time, 

Team ReconciliAction

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¹ Olivia Stefanovich & John Paul Tasker, “Ottawa, AFN pen agreement to map out funding for First Nations child welfare overhaul”, (7 July 2020), online: CBC News <https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-child-welfare-c92-funding-1.5639885>.

² “More support to advance reform of services for Indigenous children and families”, (27 November 2020), online: Prime Minister of Canada <https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/11/27/more-support-advance-reform-services-indigenous-children-and-families>.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Department of Finance Government of Canada, “Budget 2019: Chapter 3”, (19 March 2019), online: <https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan/chap-03-en.html#Chapter-3---Advancing-Reconciliation>.

⁶ supra note 2.

⁷ Jorge Barrera & 2019, “First Nations need billions in funding to take over child welfare services, says AFN regional chief”, (3 December 2019), online: CBC News <https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/afn-special-chiefs-assembly-1.5381566>.

⁸ Government of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada; Communications Branch, “First Nations Child and Family Services”, (3 November 2008), online: <https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1100100035204/1533307858805>.

⁹ Indigenous Services Canada, “The Assembly Of First Nations and Canada Sign a Historic Protocol Agreement to Advance the Transfer Of Child And Family Services To First Nations”, (7 July 2020), online: gcnws <https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-services-canada/news/2020/07/the-assembly-of-first-nations-and-canada-sign-a-historic-protocol-agreement-to-advance-the-transfer-of-child-and-family-services-to-first-nations.html>.

5 Years After TRC: Youth Injustice

(Christie Belcourt, The Crow Taught Her. She Listened. via “Feature artist for April 2020: Christi Belcourt”, (19 April 2020), online: Alberta Native News <https://www.albertanativenews.com/feature-artist-for-april-2020-christi-belcourt/>.)

 

Tansi Nîtôtemtik,

Last week we discussed Canada’s response to TRC Call to Action #30, which addresses the over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada. Today we will evaluate Call to Action #38, which calls upon the “federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in custody over the next decade.”^[2]

 

Since the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) came into force in 2003, overall youth incarceration has been significantly reduced.^[3]  However, the population of incarcerated Indigenous youth has not been decreasing at the same rate, and the proportion of the incarcerated youth population that is Indigenous has been steadily increasing.^[4]  

 

As of 2018, the proportion of incarcerated Indigenous youth had risen to 43%, up from 26% in 2008.^[5] Both of these numbers are disgraceful given that Indigenous youth account for about 8% of the Canadian youth population.^[6]  But what else do these numbers tell us?

 

1. If the overall incarcerated youth population is decreasing, it's because fewer non-Indigenous youth are being imprisoned.  
2. Indigenous youth offenders are still consistently incarcerated for unlawful conduct.
3. Indigenous youth offenders are far more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous youth offenders.

 

This over-incarceration of Indigenous youth has been linked to the similar overrepresentation in the child welfare system, and those affected have been dubbed “Crossover Kids”. A report analyzing this link was released this past April by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP).^[7]  In Manitoba, around 25% of children identify as Indigenous, yet Indigenous children and youth make up an unconscionable 90% of children in care and  80% of corrections admissions.^[8]  The report found a very high likelihood of overlap for Indigenous youth who were 24 times more likely to have experienced both systems, than non-Indigenous youth in the province.^[9]  In determining the reasons for this overlap, the report was careful to note that Indigeneity is NOT an indicator for criminality, but instead placed the blame squarely on Canada, citing: 

 

• Colonial assimilation policies and practices, such as residential schools and the Sixties Scoop; 
• Systemic racism in both Child and Family Services and the youth criminal justice system,  and 
• Structural violence and "chronic underfunding" of services to Indigenous communities which amount to a denial of basic human rights, or necessary resources.^[10]

 

So what is Canada doing to reduce incarceration of Indigenous youth since the TRC report called them to action in 2015?

 

An amendment to the YCJA came into force in December of 2019, which will work to reduce youth over-incarceration by: 

• encouraging the use of extrajudicial measures and judicial reviews as alternatives to laying charges for administration of justice offences; 
• limit the use of custodial sentences for administration of justice offences;
• require that circumstances of Indigenous accused and of accused from vulnerable populations are considered at bail, and
• ensure that the conditions imposed on youth at the bail stage or at sentencing are only those necessary to address the offending behaviour.^[11] 

 

On November 18th, the Government of Canada announced $5 million in funding that will be spread across eight organizations who do preventative and restorative justice work with Indigenous youth.^[12]

 

Whether these initiatives will have any impact on over-incarceration of Indigenous youth remains to be seen. Unfortunately, they do not address the systemic racism, systemic violence, over-representation in child welfare, and the chronic underfunding of Indigenous communities that are known factors in Indigenous youth offending. These new measures are the equivalent of putting a bandaid onto a severed artery. Without a sweeping reform in Canada’s approach to reconciliation, we are not likely to produce improved outcomes for Indigenous youth. Team ReconciliAction assigns Canada a Grade of ‘F’ on the response to Call to Action #38.   

Did we miss anything Canada is doing to fix the over-incarceration of Indigenous youth? Tell us in the comments!

 

Until Next Time, 

Team ReconciliAction

 

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¹  Patricia Monture-Angus, Thunder in my soul: a Mohawk woman speaks (Halifax, N.S: Fernwood Pub, 1995) at 59.

² Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 178.

³ Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c 1 [YCJA]; Nicholas Bala, Peter J Carrington & Julian V Roberts, “Evaluating the Youth Criminal Justice Act after Five Years: A Qualified Success” (2009) 51:2 Can J Criminol & Crim Justice 131 at 139.

⁴ Nate Jackson, “Aboriginal Youth Overrepresentation in Canadian Correctional Services: Judicial and Non-Judicial Actors and Influence” (2015) Alta L Rev 927 at 928, 935.

⁵ Statistics Canada, Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018, by Jamil Malakieh, Catalogue no. 85-002-X (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2019) at 7.

⁶ Ibid. 

⁷ Marni Brownell et al, The Overlap Between the Child Welfare and Youth Criminal Justice Systems: Documenting “Cross-Over Kids” in Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2020).

⁸ Nicholas Frew, “Overlap between involvement in CFS care, Manitoba youth justice system ‘hard to deny’: co-author of new study”, (3 June 2020), online: CBC News <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/study-children-youth-cfs-youth-criminal-justice-manitoba-1.5596165>.

⁹ Brownell et al, supra note 7 at 76.

¹⁰ Ibid at xviii.

¹¹ Canada, Department of Justice, Legislative background: an Act to Amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and Other Acts and to Make Consequential Amendments to Other Acts (Bill C-75). (Ottawa: DOJ, 2018).

¹² Department of Justice Canada, “Government of Canada supports restorative justice initiatives across the country, including those supporting Indigenous communities and youth”, (18 November 2020), online: gcnws <https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2020/11/government-of-canada-supports-restorative-justice-initiatives-across-the-country-including-those-supporting-indigenous-communities-and-youth.html>.

5 Years After TRC: Funding Reasonable Alternatives to Incarceration

(Image: Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System”, online: Wilfrid Laurier University <https://www.wlu.ca/professional-development/centre-for-public-safety-and-well-being/gladue-principles/index.html>)

 

Tansi Nîtôtemtik

 

Punitive sanctions for crime, in particular incarceration, actually increase the likelihood of recidivism over community-based restorative pathways.^[1] The Criminal Code of Canada requires courts to consider the restorative justice concepts of reparation and rehabilitation in sentencing.^[2] Moreover, the Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed that reconciliation efforts with Indigenous offenders necessitates a need for restorative justice in sentencing.^[3] 

 

Sentencing factors for Indigenous offenders

R v. Gladue was a pivotal decision for Indigenous people.^[4]  In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada responded to the Criminal Code reforms to sentencing enacted in 1996, and to the findings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People with respect to the over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada.^[5]  This decision introduced what was intended to become a new set of normative legal practices, commonly referred to as Gladue factors.  The Gladue factors are meant to address the disproportionate likelihood of incarceration for Indigenous offenders, and require contextual assessment of the ways that Indigenous identity and collective and individual experiences may have contributed to a given offence.^[6]  Gladue clarified the statutory obligation imposed by section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, which requires courts to consider the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders,  and set out the following factors for courts to consider when sentencing an Indigenous offender: 

1. The systemic and background factors of the offender that may have had a role in bringing the offender before the courts, and
2. Sentencing procedures or other sanctions that may be appropriate for the offender based on the offenders’ heritage or cultural connection.^[7]

More than a decade after Gladue, the Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed and clarified these factors in  R v. Ipeelee.^[8]  The Court in Ipeelee analyzed sentencing of Indigenous offenders post-Gladue, and found several errors in the application of the law.^[9]  These errors included; the need for an offender to establish a causal link between background factors and the commission of the offence, and the failure to apply Gladue factors to sentencing for serious offences.^[10]

 

The obligation to seek alternatives to incarceration

Since Ipeelee, there is still evidence that the courts have difficulty applying Gladue factors,^[11] and the proportional incarceration rate of Indigenous people has continued to rise despite a decline in custodial sentences overall.^[12]  It is apparent from cases such as R v. Sangris, R v. C(R) and R v. Paul, where Gladue factors were “considered” but ultimately dismissed despite circumstances involving residential school and intergenerational trauma, that our current system is perpetuating harm against Indigenous people.^[13]  The Supreme Court of Canada’s outright rejection of judicial attempts to minimize the principles set forth in Gladue and statutorily by s.718.2(e), has reinforced that the responsibility of addressing over-representation is an obligation to be borne by all actors in the Canadian justice system.^[14]  The justice system requires the support of government in order to comply with this statutory obligation. 

 

Evaluation of Call to Action #31

Call to Action #31 calls for sufficient and stable funding to implement and evaluate community sanctions that will provide realistic alternatives to imprisonment for Indigenous offenders and respond to the underlying causes of unlawful conduct.^[15]  Alberta allocated $700,000 in funding in 2019, to be distributed as grants for community justice initiatives.^[16] These funds were awarded to 14 organizations within the province, three of which are located near Indigenous communities.^[17]  In 2017, Canada allocated $10 million in funding over five years to an Indigenous Community Corrections Initiative through which 16 projects across Canada were awarded funds.^[18] This is a starting point, however the initiative awarded funds to only 16 out of 126 applicants. 

The combined provincial and federal cost to operate correctional facilities year after year is $5 Billion.^[19]  Considering that Indigenous people make up 33% of the prison population nationally and 45% percent of the prison population in Alberta, $10.7 Million in funding for community justice initiatives hardly seems sufficient.^[20] It is especially disheartening that at least 110 projects were denied funding when the provincial and federal governments allocate 500 times more money to prisons and jails.  

 

If funding continues to be allocated to prisons and jails rather than community based programming, the efficacy of these programs cannot be properly evaluated. These programs require additional resources to be a reasonable alternative to incarceration and to accommodate 30-45% of people eligible for an incarceral sentence. The judicial body may have a statutory obligation to consider alternatives to imprisonment, but the legislators who created that statutory obligation are not providing the necessary support to ensure that realistic options are available. 

 

Team ReconciliAction assigns a grade of ‘C’ for the response to Call to Action #31.  The funding allocated is neither stable nor sufficient to provide realistic alternatives and respond to underlying causes of unlawful conduct. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for our look at mandatory minimum sentencing. 

 

Until Next Time, 

Team ReconciliAction

 

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Several of the concepts discussed in today’s post were borrowed from the prosecution policy proposal prepared and submitted by Sarah Kriekle and Kristen Hamilton for the 2019 Kawashimon Negotiation Moot. This research is shared here with permission and great thanks to Sarah & Kristen.

¹ William Bales and Alex Piquero, “Assessing the Impact of Imprisonment on Recidivism.” (2012) 8:1 Journal of Experimental Criminology at 86.

² Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 718 [Criminal Code]

³ R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688, 1999 CanLII 679 (SCC) [Gladue]; R v Ipeelee, 2012 SCC 13 [Ipeelee]; see also R. v. Proulx, 2000 SCC 5 at 22 [Proulx].

⁴ Gladue, ibid.

⁵ Criminal Code, supra note 2 at s 718.2(e) [Criminal Code]; Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Bridging the Cultural Divide: A Report on Aboriginal People and Criminal Justice in Canada, (Ottawa: Canada Communication Group, 1996) [RCAP].

⁶ Paula Maurutto and Kelly Hannah-Moffat, “Aboriginal Knowledges in Specialized Courts: Emerging Practices in Gladue Courts” (2016) 31:3 Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 451-471.

⁷ Gladue, supra note 3 at 66, 93.

⁸ Ipeelee, supra note 3.

⁹ ibid at 80.

¹⁰ ibid at 81, 84.

¹¹ See R v Sangris, 2014 NWTSC 23 (accused had been to residential school yet the judge found no link between systemic factors and the particular crime committed) [Sangris]; R v C(R), 2013 ONCJ 736 (judge concluded offender had a normal childhood despite being sexually abused by male cousins for two years) [C(R)]; R v Paul, 2014 BCCA 81 (accused had not experienced a difficult past - but his dad was a drug dealer and was murdered)[Paul].

¹² Office of the Correctional Investigator, Press Release “Indigenous People in Federal Custody Surpasses 30%” 21 Jan 2020 online:<https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/comm/press/press20200121-eng.aspx>.

¹³ C(R) supra note 11; Paul, supra note 11; Marie-Eve Sylvestre and Marie-Andrée Denis-Boileau, “Ipeelee and the Duty to Resist” (2018) 51:2 UBC Law Review at 569-570.

¹⁴ Jonathan Rudin, "Looking Backward, Looking Forward: The Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in R. v. Ipeelee." (2012) 57:17 The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference at 381.

¹⁵ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 173.

¹⁶ Jonny Wakefield, “Restorative justice in Alberta ‘far tougher than spending time in jail’”, Edmonton Journal (7 January 2019), online: <https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/restorative-justice-in-alberta-far-tougher-than-spending-time-in-jail>.

¹⁷ “Alberta Community Restorative Justice (ARCJ) grant table”, online: Alberta Government <https://open.alberta.ca/publications/alberta-community-restorative-justice-arcj-grant-table>.

¹⁸ “Indigenous Community Corrections Initiative - Projects funded since 2017”, (24 February 2020), online: Public Safety Canada <https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crrctns/cmmnt-ccrctns-nttv-prjcts-en.aspx>.

¹⁹ “Financial facts on Canadian prisons”, (23 August 2018), online: The John Howard Society of Canada <https://jhscan.wpengine.com/blog/financial-facts-canadian-prisons/>.

²⁰ Office of the Correctional Investigator, supra note 12; Dylan Short, “Indigenous inmates make up 45 per cent of all people in Alberta’s federal prisons”, Edmonton Journal (22 January 2020), online: <https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/indigenous-inmates-make-up-45-per-cent-of-all-people-in-albertas-federal-prisons>.