'Idle No More'
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Jan 19, 2013
By Socialist Alternative (CWI in
Canada), reporters |
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First
Nations challenge Harper government’s resource exploitation
 The Idle No More movement of First Nations (Canada’s
indigenous people) is the biggest challenge to Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s
right-wing agenda since he won a majority government in May 2011. Idle No More
was started by four women in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in November 2012, with the
first National Day of Action on 10 December. Just over a month later, there have
been hundreds of rallies and demonstrations in every city and many smaller
communities across Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the U.S.
border to the North West Territories. The protests have also blocked border
crossings to the U.S. and railway lines for several hours, with warnings of more
to come. Because of the legal and strategic position of First Nations, although
they are only 3% of the population, they have the potential to seriously derail
Harper’s plans.
First Peoples and Canada
The relation between the settler governments of Canada and the First Peoples
(who were in what became Canada before the colonization by European rulers), has
always been difficult, if not harmful for the indigenous peoples. It has also
not always been easy for the settler capitalist government of Canada. After all,
the first two military actions of new Canadian government were in 1870 and 1885
against the Métis and First Nations on the prairies.
In many parts of Canada the First Nations signed agreements, or ‘treaties’,
with the government of Canada or the British Crown before confederation in 1867.
In these treaties the First Nations gave up most of their lands to the settlers
and lost many rights to follow migrating animals and to fish in their
traditional ways. In return the First Nations were granted some minor
concessions, such as entitlement to some financial benefits and, in some cases,
some off-reserve hunting and fishing rights. They retained a small portion of
their former lands, held in common ownership (called a reserve) and they had the
right to some decision-making on the reserve. This control was often undermined
and changed by the government and its representatives.
Although they lost most of their lands, unlike many oppressed and minority
groups around the world, the First Nations still had some land that was theirs,
albeit with limits on their control. This gives them a space to organize and a
base for their identity and defense. Control of territory is vital to a nation.
Also importantly the treaties recognized the First Nation as an entity to be
negotiated with by the Crown or government of Canada.
The Indian Act (first version passed in 1876) created the concept of ‘status
Indians’, the definition of which restricted the number of people of First
Nations descent that were entitled to some benefits in compensations for giving
up their lands. In addition, there are non-status Indians and Métis who,
although of aboriginal descent, have no rights under the Indian Act. Today there
are nearly 900,000 status Indians, over 400,000 Métis and at least 200,000
non-status Indians. There have been and continue to be struggles and court cases
about the definitions and rights of Métis and non-status Indians.
In recent years, there have been several new land agreements which, though
differing from earlier treaties, have settled a land claim with some land and
resources being granted to the control of Aboriginal people. These include the
James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, finalized in 1978, establishment of the
territory of Nunavut in the Arctic for Inuit people in 1999, and the Nisga’a
settlement of 2000 in British Colombia. There are also many outstanding,
unsettled land claims.
The British and then Canadian rulers have, in various ways over the years,
carried out systematic attempts to destroy First Nations as distinct peoples in
Canada, by destroying their means of living, murder, smallpox, missionaries,
residential schools, banning cultural events and undermining their languages.
The Indian Act and its amendments attacked the Aboriginal people’s languages and
banned their traditional cultural and religious activities. The Potlatch
ceremonies, common to many First Nations, were declared illegal. To undermine
any resistance, First Nations were barred from forming political organizations
and under these rules First Nation leaders were jailed for trying to organize.
Aboriginal children (both First Nations and Inuit) were required to attend
schools which were conducted in an alien culture. Many were removed from their
families and societies and forced to attend residential, boarding schools where
they were prohibited from speaking their native language, with severe punishment
if they were caught uttering a single word. The schools were mostly run by
religious organizations which imposed various forms of Christianity on the
children. Many children were mistreated, some were forced-sterilized, and
physical and sexual abuses were widespread. Children died in these schools; with
estimates ranging from a few thousand to 50,000 – but the number is unknown
because no one ever counted!
The aim of these policies was to ‘assimilate’ the First Nations, wiping them
out as a separate group in Canadian society. As late as 1969, the Canadian
government proposed to abolish the Indian Act and with it any unique status for
First Nations in Canadian society. However, the opposition to this proposal was
so great, it was never implemented.
In spite of all the attacks of the colonial governments, the First Nations
survived and in recent decades the First Nations have begun to reverse their
long decline. The potlatches were allowed after 1951; the residential schools
declined from the 1960s with the last one closing in 1996. First Nations have
worked to retain their surviving languages and revived and developed their
cultures to accommodate the changed world they live in. They have asserted their
rights to have a say over their lives and communities and to be part of shaping
Canadian policies. Their population has recovered from the decimation which
reduced their total population to less than 120,000 in 1921. Now they are the
fasting growing section of the population of Canadian residents, and half of all
First Nations are under the age of 25 years.
Conservatives’ agenda
In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper famously stated, “You won’t recognize
Canada when I’m through with it,” and he has been working to deliver that
promise since getting a majority in the House of Commons. He has weakened
environmental protections, forced workers in disputes back to work, cut taxes
for the corporations and much more.
The Conservatives here are abandoning manufacturing – Canada has lost over
500,000 manufacturing jobs in a decade. They are also undermining jobs in the
public services, the not-for-profit sector and retail. Former British Prime
Minister Thatcher dreamed of an economy based on the finance sector; Harper
dreams of an economy based on resource extraction and export. This is where they
see profits – especially if the workers are low paid, temporary foreign workers
without legal rights (as is proposed for a new coal mine in northern BC). Many
of the minerals, oil, coal and gas that companies want to exploit lie under (or
access to the resources passes through) land covered by treaties or land claims.
Central to expanding resource extraction is the gutting of environmental
regulations and overcoming the barriers of the First Nations’ treaty rights.
The Conservatives also would like to eventually see First Nations
assimilated, with no unique status in Canada, and reserve land privatized and
eventually broken up and sold off. Attacking the ownership and control of their
land is central to destroying the First Nations.
Harper’s strategy has been to continue the long-established divide-and-rule
between status and non-status, on-and off-reserve, First Nations and Métis, and
between the different nations. He has also worked to cut deals with the more
compliant leaders to open up their lands for resource extraction. Idle No More,
however, has thrown in a big wrench in Harper‘s agenda for dealing with First
Nations.
Attawapiskat and Chief Theresa Spence
Attawapiskat is a First Nation centered on a reserve in the far north of
Ontario with a population on the reserve of about 1,800 people, with nearly 90%
unemployment, which is only accessible by an ice road in winter and boat or
airplane in summer. The cost of freight means everything there is very
expensive. For example, it costs $250,000 to build a house. The Chief, Theresa
Spence, made national news when in November 2011 she declared a state of
emergency, as many houses lacked heating and families were sleeping in storage
sheds, shacks or run-down trailers, often with no running water, while the
temperature outside went as low as -40 Celsius.
Chief Spence demanded the federal government provide resources to deal with
the problems. The Conservative’s response was to criticize the Band council and
impose a third party manager, a private consultant, who was paid $1,300 per day
from the council’s funds, to take over running the community. Since then, the
federal government have sent in an auditor to inspect the council’s books to
further divert attention from their own failures.
Attawapiskat illustrates the contrast between the wealth of resources being
extracted and the poverty of many First Nations’ communities. Just 90 kilometers
from the community is the DeBeer’s Victor diamond mine, which produces 600,000
carats worth of diamonds per year.
On December 11, 2012, Chief Theresa Spence started a hunger strike, only
taking liquids, to demand that Stephen Harper and the Governor General, the
Queen’s representative in Canada (as many treaties were signed with the Crown
before the government of Canada was established) meet with First Nations’
leaders “because the treaty’s been violated [for] so many years and it’s time
for the Prime Minister to honor the treaties and respect our leaders.”
Idle No More
In less than two months, Idle No More has gone from a few people to a
movement that is rocking Canadian politics. This support has revealed the huge
anger in the First Nations communities.
The initial demands were around Bill C-45, the Conservatives’ Omnibus bill,
which they claim is about budget implementation which they pushed through
Parliament using their majority, without any real debate. However the Bill
amends over 60 laws and attacks many previous gains of the Canadian people, such
as on pensions. The Bill changes the Indian Act so it will be easier to lease
reserve land, even if most of the people on the reserve oppose it. The Bill also
further weakens environmental laws in Canada further undermining the
environmental assessment processes and removing 99% of all of Canada’s waterways
from protection from construction, such as a pipeline or power line. Before C-45
was passed, over 2 million lakes and over 8,500 rivers were protected, now only
97 lakes and 62 rivers are protected.
The movement also flows from a host of other long-simmering issues. Reserves
are some of the poorest places in Canada. Around 40% of reserves do not have
clean safe running water. There are many battles over resource development.
First Nations in BC are overwhelmingly opposed to the plans to build three
pipelines for oil, bitumen and natural gas across the province, which will bring
little or no economic benefits and the guarantee of environmental pollution.
While some communities have had some benefits from resource extraction, many
more are suffering, such as at Fort Chipewyan downstream of the Alberta Tar
Sands.
The Idle No More movement has grown, and its demands have become focused. A
key demand is that there are nation-to-nation relations between the First
Nations and the Canadian government – something the Conservatives will do
everything to resist as it challenges their entire agenda.
Initially, Harper totally ignored the Idle No More movement and Chief
Spence’s hunger strike, as he thought he had enough First Nations leaders that
he could cut deals with. He dismissed these movements from below, as many
capitalist leaders often do as they judge movements by their official leaders.
However as Idle No More grew in support across the country, this pushed many
chiefs to be more militant and demand change. The movement has opened up
disagreements within the First Nations over strategy, but overall it is pushing
more determined action. Under the growing pressure from Idle No More, Harper was
forced to agree to meet the First Nations chiefs. However, a substantial number
of chiefs refused to attend as they saw it as a talking shop; as the Manitoba
chiefs said, “Unfortunately, the prime minister has been very dictatorial and
unrelenting in his position to control and set the agenda for this meeting." So
far, they are right. Harper has not moved on anything; he has just offered more
talks.
Idle No More is a movement from the grassroots; it is not chiefs but ordinary
First Nations. With half of all First Nations under the age of 25, the movement
is youthful and energetic. It has also united status Indians across the country
with non-status and Métis.
There is a mood of anger and determination among First Nations. Grand Chief
Gordon Peters of Ontario said that aboriginal protesters will block major roads
and rail lines in Ontario, if their demands are not met. Derek Nepinak, Manitoba
Grand Chief, said Idle No More has enough people to "bring the Canadian economy
to its knees. It can stop Prime Minister Harper’s resource development plan and
his billion-dollar plan to develop resources in our ancestral territories. We
have the warriors that are standing up now that are willing to go that far. So
we’re not here to make requests. We’re here to demand attention and to demand an
end to 140 years of colonial rule.”
No doubt, the young people of Idle No More have taken inspiration from Occupy
and the Quebec students’ victory. They, in turn, are inspiring many other
Canadians to fight back against the Conservatives.
What socialists say
Idle No More has gained widespread support from non-Aboriginal Canadians, who
have been welcomed on the rallies, and on some demonstrations there have been
union banners. As well as non-Native Canadians attending the rallies, they
should encourage their organizations, especially unions and environmental
groups, to also support the movement. The solidarity of non-Aboriginals is
important to help the struggle and to show that many Canadians are opposed to
the mistreatment of First Nations. First Nations, union members,
environmentalists and others all have a common interest in defeating the Harper
government.
Idle No More demands fundamental changes in the relation between the Canadian
state and First Nations. However it is unlikely Harper and the Conservatives
will agree to such change. While pushing this government, a growing number of
Idle No More activists are realizing that Harper and his government have to go.
Socialist Alternative – Canada supports Idle No More. We recognize that a
long-term solution requires replacing the present colonial state that serves the
interest of capitalism. This state will always seek to exploit First Nations,
workers and the environment to generate profits for the minority. We want a
government that abides by and respects treaties and resource rights. We support
the right to self-determination and self-government for all Aboriginal peoples.
Canada should become a voluntary socialist association of the Canadas –
including First Nations, Inuit and Quebec, as well as the majority in English
speaking Canada.
Glossary
• Aboriginal: The descendants of the original inhabitants of North America.
The Canadian Constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people —
Indians, Métis and Inuit.
• Status Indian: A person who is registered as an Indian under the Indian
Act.
• Non-Status Indian: An Indian person who is not registered as an Indian
under the Indian Act.
• Inuit: Aboriginal people in Northern Canada, with a distinct culture and
technologies from other Aboriginals in Canada (formerly called ‘Eskimo’)
• Métis: People of mixed First Nation and European ancestry who identify
themselves as Métis,
• First Nation: Although First Nation has no legal definition, it is widely
used to replace the word "Indian", which is seen as derogatory and incorrect. It
is used to describe their community and their organization. "First Nations
peoples" refers to the both Status and
non-Status.
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