Honouring Canada's modern treaties with First Nations in crisis without a clear national policy
Why won't Ottawa honour its First Nations treaties?
March 23, 2009
Canada's relationship with modern aboriginal treaty organizations is currently in crisis, and the Crown's ongoing failure to implement the promises of modern treaties is largely to blame. In 2003, in an attempt to address the crisis, aboriginal peoples from across Canada formed a coalition to press Canada to adopt a policy for implementing modern treaties. After much work and many failed attempts to engage government in a collaborative process, the Land Claims Agreements Coalition completed a Model Canadian Treaty Implementation Policy, which it released on March 3, 2009.
Since 1975, the federal Crown has entered into 21 modern treaties with aboriginal peoples across Canada. These agreements involve more than half of Canada's lands and resources and are constitutionally protected. Through modern treaties, First Nations, Inuit and the Crown agreed on title to lands and resources, and recognized a range of governance responsibilities. This provided certainty within these territories. While each modern treaty is different, all include promises of employment, education, cultural protection, training, socio-economic opportunities and much more.
Effectively implementing the opportunities in these agreements requires the Crown to work with the aboriginal signatories in a government-to-government relationship. Unfortunately, this has seldom happened, as the Crown has often refused to meet with the leaders of these aboriginal treaty organizations. Rather than fully implementing the spirit and intent of these agreements, the Crown has focused on the narrow, legal obligations.
Independent reviews on the implementation of modern treaties in Canada support the coalition's concerns. The Cree-Naskapi Commission stated in its 1995 Annual Report to the Parliament of Canada, that "a notion persists that governments make promises to induce natives to surrender their lands and other rights and then routinely break these promises ... Regrettably, the evidence supporting this notion is extensive." The auditor-general has identified a failure of the government to recognize the basic goals of three major land claims agreements. In 2006, an independent study of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement concluded there was much work to be done to achieve its objectives. A review of seven Yukon agreements found that certain federal practices and policies were impeding implementation.
In May, 2008, the Senate standing committee on aboriginal peoples reported that federal practices and policy relating to modern treaty implementation actually resulted in the diminishment of the benefits and rights promised to aboriginal peoples. The committee observed that "there are deep structural reasons for the [federal] government's failure to make measurable and meaningful progress on issues affecting aboriginal Canadians. We believe much of this failure rests with the institutional role and mandate of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada, a department which is steeped in a legacy of colonialism and paternalism."
With few exceptions, the broad promises of modern treaties remain unfulfilled, and relationships between the Crown and many aboriginal treaty organizations continue to deteriorate. Major implementation elements of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreements expired in 2003. Canada's refusal to act upon arbitration offers and conciliation recommendations resulted in the commencement of litigation against the federal government in 2006. Meanwhile, seven Yukon First Nations and the Nisga'a Nation are still waiting for negotiations to begin in respect to fiscal agreements that originally expired in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
In the coalition's view, a new national policy is urgently required to address the current crisis and ensure that all agencies of the Crown implement modern treaties fully, according to their letter, their spirit and intent and the fundamental objectives they embody. Coalition members hope that this policy will initiate a national discussion on ongoing federal-aboriginal relations in the modern treaty context. The future survival and well-being of our peoples -- and by extension the honour of the Crown and all Canadians --depends on it.
Nelson Leeson is president of Nisga'a Nation and coalition cochair. James Eetoolook is acting president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and acting coalition co-chair. This piece is written on behalf of the Land Claims Agreements Coalition. www.landclaimscoalition.ca