“The sad fact is that since non-Indigenous peoples arrived on Turtle Island, Indigenous peoples have been “economically inconvenienced.”
“Moreover, their lands have been desecrated – plants, animals and land no longer have sanctity, but rather they are treated as mere commodities to sell or to create the next job.
“Academics and philosophers concerned about the trajectory of contemporary society realize there needs to be a major shift in our thinking about development. Endless resource exploitation, economic growth and population expansion are unsustainable.
“Unfortunately, our current systems do not seem capable of planning for or dealing with such challenges. Our collective failure to deal with climate change is a prime example.”
~quoted from: The deeper reason behind Indigenous resistance to pipelines (posted below)
Wilson-Raybould blasts Trudeau
and offers four proposals
to help resolve the Wet’suwet’en
blockades crisis
MP Jody Wilson-Raybould appears at the House of Commons Justice Committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2019. Wilson-Raybould, now an independent MP, this week laid blame for the northern B.C. pipeline blockade, spin-off solidarity protests and the ensuing economic disruption not only at the feet of the federal Liberal government but also previous governments. – Sean Kilpatrick , THE CANADIAN PRESS
It was the last hour of an emergency debate on the Wet’suwet’en blockades crisis when Jody Wilson-Raybould blasted the Trudeau government for “punting” the hard work of resetting Indigenous relations, and laid out four proposals to ease tensions.
By Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star, February 19, 2020
OTTAWA—It was nearly midnight Tuesday in the last hour of an emergency debate on the Wet’suwet’en blockades crisis when Jody Wilson-Raybould stood in the Commons, blasted the Trudeau government for “punting” the hard work of resetting Indigenous relations, and laid out four proposals to ease tensions.
Wilson-Raybould, now an independent MP, called for Trudeau to fly to B.C. to get personally involved in meetings, a cooling-off period in B.C. during which construction would cease and the RCMP leave the area, and the immediate tabling of long-promised Indigenous land rights and self-governance legislation.
Wilson-Raybould also made a plea to the Wet’suwet’en to take responsibility for providing clarity to Canadians about who speaks for a community that Canadians and governments understand is divided.
Wilson-Raybould laid blame for the northern B.C. pipeline blockade, spinoff solidarity protests and the ensuing economic disruption not only at the feet of the federal Liberal government but also its predecessors.
All failed to do the basic work of resetting relations with Indigenous people despite all their fancy political talk, she said.
However Wilson-Raybould was especially critical of Justin Trudeau’s failed promises.
Canada has known for decades “what needs to be done,” said Wilson-Raybould. “But here we are, yet again, in a moment of crisis because the hard work was punted.”
She said the prime minister and his colleagues know this, “So please look in the mirror and ask yourself why?”
Wilson-Raybould delivered a withering critique of the historical actions of federal governments that divided up Indigenous peoples into smaller administrative groupings with systems of government imposed upon them through the Indian Act and its creation of the band council system.
She said despite Trudeau’s “lofty” reconciliation rhetoric and promises to offer a new legislative framework to support Indigenous communities to get out from under the Indian Act, the prime minister never truly supported their quest for self-determination beyond political language that became an excuse for delays and inaction.
Wilson-Raybould has a lot of “former” titles that give her credibility to speak on the current crisis.
Despite her infamous break with Trudeau last year over his attempts to meddle in a prosecution, she is his former federal justice minister and attorney-general who helped design Trudeau’s promised-but-never-delivered new Indigenous rights framework.
She is a former B.C. regional First Nations chief, former B.C. treaty commissioner, former Crown prosecutor, and lawyer and daughter of a hereditary chief in B.C.
She cited several reasons for what she called “perpetual inaction,” among them the historical denial of rights to self-government and denial of lands, along with “paternalism.”
The result, she said, is what is happening today in Wet’suwet’en territory.
Vaughn Palmer: The fine print of
moving forward on pipeline
flows with uncertainty
Hereditary Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale) hasn’t been thrilled with the province’s handling of the controversial Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory. DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
By Vaughn Palmer, The Vancouver Sun, February 21, 2020
OPINION: Premier Horgan stands accused of picking and choosing which clauses in the UN declaration to respect, though he insists his legislation was never intended to be applied to a project whose approval predates his time in office
VICTORIA — When Premier John Horgan appointed his cabinet in the summer of 2017, he gave each of the 22 ministers an unprecedented assignment in terms of their dealings with Indigenous people.
“As part of our commitment to true, lasting reconciliation with First Nations, our government will be fully adopting and implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),” the mandate letters from the premier read in part.
“As minister, you are responsible for moving forward on the calls to action and reviewing policies, programs and legislation to determine how to bring the principles of the declaration into action.”
So began the Horgan government’s controversial and risky venture into the uncharted territory of the UN declaration.
Controversial because Horgan endorsed the UN declaration when he was in Opposition, at a time when the B.C. Liberal government said the guarantee of “free, prior and informed consent,” meant a “de facto” veto for First Nations.
Risky because despite the NDP insistence that the move would mean greater “certainty” for land use and development, no one knew how the declaration would play out in practice and law, or with First Nations, the courts and the public.
Then last fall the Horgan government raised the stakes when it introduced the enabling legislation for the commitment to the UN declaration.
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was brief, committing the government to “take all measures necessary to ensure the laws of B.C. are consistent with the declaration.”
To get there, the government has to prepare and implement an action plan in consultation with First Nations and report back annually on progress made.
For all the earlier controversy over the UN declaration, the New Democrats achieved a remarkable degree of consensus when the legislation passed the house unanimously.
B.C. thus became the first jurisdiction in the country to formally enshrine the UN declaration in framework legislation, albeit with the proviso that much work remained to be done.
Among those praising the legislation was Na’Moks — who also goes by the name John Ridsdale — one of the hereditary leaders of the Wet’suwet’en people.
“This is a great step forward, the doors are open,” he said in a statement still posted on the B.C. government website. “Utilizing our traditional/hereditary government is the way to positively move forward together.”
His reference to “traditional/hereditary government” would assume greater significance as the year turned.
At the end of December, the B.C. Supreme Court issued an injunction that would put Na’Moks and Horgan on a collision course.
The deeper reason behind
Indigenous resistance to pipelines
Protesters from the Heiltsuk First Nation in Vancouver on March 26, 2012 during rally against the proposed Enbridge pipeline.
By John Lehmann, The Globe and Mail, February 22, 2020
Whenever major resource projects are proposed, Canada frequently encounters Indigenous resistance. In the case of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, their reason is preservation of their spiritual, cultural and social integrity on their own lands. These have enabled them to thrive successfully for millennia.
We are faced with a clash of two very different ideologies – one that places high priority over harmony with nature against one that believes that nature exists primarily to be exploited for financial gain. The roots of this ideological divide go well beyond European contact with North America. The rift actually occurs at the point of the rise of civilization, at which time humanity decided to dominate nature.
This was a major break from Indigenous ways and has led to misunderstandings between the two sides since. A real “meeting of minds” over such differences has never really occurred despite the relationships stemming from aboriginal and treaty agreements.
The sad fact is that since non-Indigenous peoples arrived on Turtle Island, Indigenous peoples have been “economically inconvenienced.” Moreover, their lands have been desecrated – plants, animals and land no longer have sanctity, but rather they are treated as mere commodities to sell or to create the next job.
Academics and philosophers concerned about the trajectory of contemporary society realize there needs to be a major shift in our thinking about development. Endless resource exploitation, economic growth and population expansion are unsustainable.
Unfortunately, our current systems do not seem capable of planning for or dealing with such challenges. Our collective failure to deal with climate change is a prime example.
The average mammalian species will survive for an average span of one million years. Modern humans have been around for 200,000 years. That leaves only another 800,000 years to go. As a species that considers itself so clever, one would think this should not be an issue.
If compared to the lifespan of a centenarian, we are like a know-it-all, self-centred 20-year-old who has decided to live recklessly and take everything now. We can well guess where that type of individual ends up. Today humanity lacks spiritual insight and maturity, which Indigenous peoples possessed and could keep them on track to survive a million years.
THE SCALES OF JUSTICE, OF WORTH AND OF THE UNIVERSE, IN BALANCE
I invoke Wakanataka, White Buffalo Calf Woman,
Chief Sitting Bull, Chief Cochise, Chief Red Cloud,
Chief White Cloud, Chief Joseph, Chief Geronimo,
Yeshua, the Magdalena, Sanat Kumara, St. Germaine,
the Halion Engineers, the Healers of Tralana, the Universal Laws,
the Divine Blessings, Virtues, Qualities,
the Dimensional Growth Patterns
for Peace, Love, Joy within/without,
the elimination of the judgement, bigotry, hatred,
limitation, control, the insidious ways not of love within/without.
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SENDING LOVE