PM Trudeau's Nation to Nation Relationship Disappeared with

PM Trudeau's Nation to Nation Relationship Disappeared with

Postby Oscar » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:52 pm

PM Trudeau's Nation to Nation Relationship Disappeared with Empty Budget Promises

[ http://indigenousnationhood.blogspot.ca ... ation.html ]

March 22, 2016 by Pam Palmater

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won the hearts of many Canadians by finally getting rid of Stephen Harper and his decade of oppression, violation of civil rights and vilification of First Nations. Most breathed a sigh of relief on October 20th, 2015 when newly elected Trudeau talked about changing everything in Canada. He gave moving speeches about Canada’s shameful history with Indigenous peoples and committed to implementing all the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Trudeau promised to start this process by implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and respecting the right of First Nations to say no to development on their territories. Most significant were his promises to renew the nation to nation relationship between Canada and First Nations which would be guided by the spirit and intent of treaties and that respected constitutionally-protected Aboriginal and treaty rights, inherent rights and First Nation jurisdictions. Today’s budget saw these promises evaporate into thin air only to be replaced by an under-funded program and service agenda.

Today is a very difficult day for many Canadians. They are being asked to celebrate a budget which is being promoted as “historic” not just by Trudeau and the majority of journalists and commentators in main stream media, but even by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde. Canadians are faced with two major obstacles to understanding this budget: (1) trying to figure out which numbers are accurate and (2) assessing those numbers in their proper context. First, it’s important to note that Trudeau’s budget plays a shell game on the actual funding commitment during his 4 year (now 3.5 year) mandate. As we all know, monies promised for future mandates are not monies at all. This budget promised $8.4 billion to First Nations, but is in fact, less than $5.3 billion.

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Pam Palmater is a Toronto Lawyer/Professor
Oscar
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