Leader-Post ePaper

Colonial culture continues to mire Indigenous Affairs

DOUG CUTHAND

In Canada we have a government with a dual personality. On one hand we have the politicians who show concern and vote for change, but they in return are subject to the vagaries of a civil service locked in the 19th century.

Recently the NDP received all-party support for a motion that the government drop its court battles related to the Indigenous child welfare system, end its litigation with survivors of the St. Anne's residential school, and speed up work on identifying and documenting unmarked graves at residential schools. It was a timely motion that hit on several major issues facing First Nations-government relations.

The motion, while not legally binding, sent a powerful message to government that its policy of reconciliation, at the same time it continues to appeal and stonewall justice for Indigenous children, is hypocritical and contradictory.

The vote was 271 to none, with all-party support, including some Liberal MPS. The prime minister and his senior cabinet members stayed away from the vote. This is not the first time that a motion affecting First Nations has received all-party support.

In 2007, a motion in support of Jordan's Principle received unanimous support in the House of Commons. Jordan's Principle called upon all governments to provide health care to Indigenous children and work out jurisdictional disputes later. It was a simple principle, but 14 years later the federal government is still in court fighting it.

So, what's going on? On one hand we have elected leaders who show concern and support motions that will bring change and improve conditions for our people, while the government continues to fight old battles against Indigenous children.

For Indigenous people, this dichotomy is nothing new. The government, no matter how well-intentioned, is held back with a Department of Indigenous Affairs that has a century-old colonial culture that still drives First Nations administration.

The Department of Justice, with Indigenous Affairs as its client, continues to fight to overturn decisions made by the courts, or, in the case of Jordan's Principle, against a decision made by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

But there are more than just simple legal battles going on. When Dr. Cindy Blackstock and the organization she works for challenged the federal government, she was spied on, told to leave meetings with government officials and even barred from entering the Indigenous Affairs offices in Gatineau, Quebec. The Human Rights Tribunal awarded Dr. Blackstock $10,000 for the ejection from the meeting and another $10,000 because the government's conduct was wilful and reckless.

You would think this was something that could only happen in the 1930s, but it was less than a decade ago.

The real power for First Nations remains with the civil service. The Department of Justice lawyers continue to appeal court decisions and kick the problem down the road.

A cynic might think that the politicians can afford to issue magnanimous declarations because they know the civil service will drag them to safety.

The process continues because it's built into the system. The federal fiscal year begins on April 1, and each year in the first week or two of March, officials from the Department of Indigenous Affairs meet with band councils and give the First Nations a take-it-or-leave-it option to sign funding agreements. These agreements contain onerous reporting conditions that are not found in other federal funding agreements. This fact was pointed out by the Auditor General of Canada, that financial reporting for First Nations was excessive and actually undermined First Nations accountability.

So now the Government of Canada is once more appealing the decision made by the Human Rights Tribunal in the case of Jordan's Principle. Over the 14 intervening years since the original decision, the government has lost every appeal it put forward in this case, and it will most likely lose this one, too.

Despite all the work done to advance self-government, placing our rights in the Canadian Constitution and the long string of successful court battles, this department acts as if it is a law unto itself and the politicians can't touch it.

It's time to get rid of this department and its colonial culture.

OPINION

en-ca

2021-06-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://leaderpost.pressreader.com/article/281685437802855

Postmedia