Posts By: Rick Littlechild

It has been a long time coming but Métis people and Non-Status Indians now have full status thanks to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in mid-April. Prime Minister Trudeau called the decision a landmark ruling. “We, of course, respect the Supreme Court decision, and we’ll be engaging—not just on our own but with Indigenous leadership—to figure out what the path is forward.”

Governments have never agreed on whose responsibility Métis and non-status Indians were, and the new ruling places the responsibility with the federal government, which means both will now have access to post-secondary education funding and health benefits, along with organizational funding. BC Aboriginal Relations Minister John Rustad was happy with the decision since the BC government had signed an accord with the Métis in 2006. “We now have an opportunity to continue to build and strengthen our relationship with the Métis, and hopefully there will be an opportunity for the federal government to play a more prominent role.”

The late Métis leader Harry Daniels, who began the case for non-status Indians in 1999.

The ruling states: “There is no consensus on who is considered Métis or a non-status Indian, nor need there be. Cultural and ethnic labels do not lend themselves to neat boundaries.” There are 451,795 Métis in Canada with 46,325 in Winnipeg alone, which has the largest Indigenous population of any city in Canada. Proud leader Louis Riel, architect of western Canada, is an important historical figure, not only to the Métis people but to all Canadians. Non status indians were historically removed from any resources that came with a settlement. “When the treaties are made, they (federal negotiators) are pretty clear to dial in the no-status members, but then they don’t fully resource them in the treaty package to take account of these numbers. So I think this is a clear signal this has to stop,” University of Ottawa law professor Joseph Magnet told the Ottawa Citizen. “I’m very happy that we were successful in removing a blockage. The court recognized that this blockage has caused significant disadvantage, discrimination, and resulted in denial of programs and services that all governments recognized were necessary.”

Dwight Dorey, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples described it best: “This is a great day for over 600,000 Métis and non-status Indians. Now hopefully we will not have to wait any longer to sit at the table.”

The case that was started in 1999 by the late Métis leader Harry Daniels along with Leah Gardner and Terry Joudrey has finally delivered the result they had anticipated for all those years. “I’m overwhelmed and ecstatic, and I wish my father were here to see this,” Gabriel Daniels told the media. “He’d probably do a jig right now.”

The election of 2015 will be remembered for the large number of Aboriginal voters who turned up at the polls and for the record number of Aboriginal candidates elected across Canada. In total, 54 candidates ran and ten candidates were elected.

The Liberal Party had eight Indigenous candidates elected: Jody Wilson-Raybould, Michael McLeod, Vance Badawey, Robert Falcon Ouelette, Don Rusnak, Hunter Tootoo, Dan Vandal, and Yvonee Jones. The NDP had 22 candidates Indigenous candidates in 2015, but only Georgina Jolibois and Romeo Saganash were successful. The Conservative Party had only two candidates; both were defeated. The the Green Party had 10 Indigenous candidates, but no winners.

The Red Wave or the Liberal landslide saw a record number of Aboriginal candidates elected. The new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has selected a new cabinet that includes three newly elected Aboriginal MP’s.

Victorious! Historical 2015 Victory for Ten Indigenous MPs

Jody Wilson-Raybould is Justice Minister. She is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation. Jody’s father Bill Wilson is a lawyer and political activist and was the second First Nations lawyer to graduate from UBC. Alfred Scow, Bill’s cousin was the first lawyer to graduate and was also the first Native judge to be appointed in BC. Jody’s mother Sandra is a teacher. “Dad encouraged us to be critical thinkers and to look at the world from all different perspectives. Law school seemed like the most appropriate pace to be,” Jody told the CBC.

In 2000, Jody became crown prosecutor in Vancouver. “As a former prosecutor at the criminal court in Vancouver at Main Street, I witnessed a disproportionate number of Indigenous people in the justice system.” In 200, she started working for the BC Treaty commission and eventually became commissioner. She was elected as regional Chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013.

As Justice Minister, Jody’s first project will be implementing an inquiry on missing Aboriginal women, and she will also have to deal with the Liberal promise of legalizing marijuana. However, her main reason for entering politics was to implement the suggestions from the Truth and Reconciliation report. “Our highest courts have told us that we must do this, must reconcile through processes developed between the Crown and Aboriginal peoples. To paraphrase the late Nelson Mandela, beyond the important and the necessary work of truth telling and of healing, reconciliation actually requires laws to change and policies to be rewritten, where the legitimate political institutions of Aboriginal peoples are recognized and empowered and the laws they make enforceable.”

Hunter Tootoo the Nunavut MP was appointed minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. Tootoo defeated Leona Aglukkaq to become the second Inuk ever to be named cabinet minister. Tootoo worked within the Nunavut legislative assembly from 1999 to 2013, but he realizes Ottawa will be a big adjustment for him. “Being an MP is a big learning curve,” Tootoo told the media. “Being a minister is almost a colossal learning curve. Suddenly you’re in charge of usually a large government department; you’re schedule is immediately overtaken; a huge number of people want your time and attention, so it’s really a double learning curve for rookie MPs.”

Liberal Robert-Falcon Ouelette, winner in Winnipeg Centre told the CBC, “The goal of this campaign was never, never just to win. The goal of this campaign was to see your values reflected in Ottawa, to see your values reflected in our Parliament.”

This sentiment was shared by all Indigenous candidates, including Don Rusnak who defeated John Rafferty in Thunder Bay. “We canvassed the First Nations here in the riding, and we were hearing a different story, that much like all the people in the riding, they saw Justin Trudeau and the plan as a positive plan for change.”

Yvonne Jones was re-elected in Labrador. “I’m very excited. I’m so proud of the people of Labrador,” Jones told the media. ” They want to see hope; they want people working hard; they want people who are honest, have great integrity, and they saw that in our campaign, and they certainly saw that in our leader, and they came out in spades to vote for us.”

In 2012, Chief Shane Gottfriedson of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and Chief Glenn Feschuk of the shíshálh Nation launched the Day Scholars Class Action lawsuit. Day scholars were the students who attended residential schools but went home every night. These students never received any compensation for the pain they endured while attending residential school.

The case wanted compensation for the day scholars and declarations regarding Canada’s role in the failure to protect Aboriginal language and culture. The lawsuit also sought compensation for the children of the survivors and the band to which survivors belong. Three years later, on June 3, 2015, one day after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Report, the federal court in Vancouver certified the class action lawsuit.

In 2012, Chief Shane Gottfriedson (pictured here) of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and Chief Garry Feschuk (next photo) of the shíshálh Nation launched the Day Scholars Class Action lawsuit.

“I am very thankful for the bravery and hard work of those band members who put themselves forward to act as representatives in this law suit,” Chief Shane Gottfriedson said, “While the decision today is just one step towards finally receiving justice, it is a very important one. We have much more work to do in the future, but for today we can reflect that the journey towards reconciliation has taken on more significant step.”

Jo-Anne Gottfriedson did a research project to see how many members were affected by the day scholars being left out and investigated impacts within the community. She was at the Federal court on June 3 when the decision was announced. “When we phoned home and told them the news, I mean our plaintiffs were crying.”

In 2008, the Prime Minister apologized to the residential school survivors who lived in the schools and put together a $4 billion dollar compensation package. The day scholars received neither an apology nor a penny in compensation. They had suffered the same sadistic discipline, the spankings, public humiliation, beatings, physical and sexual abuse, and the constant reminder that speaking their own language was a punishable offence. Yet they were left out.

“The day scholars were overlooked during the Residential School negotiations,” Jo-Ann Gottfriedson said. “At first everyone was included at the beginning table. Then both the AFN and Canada agreed to drop and leave the day scholars because we did not ‘live’ at the residences, even though we still endured the same abuses.” Peter Grant, the attorney for the plaintiffs has said that “culture was eradicated in the same way for day scholars as those who lived in school. The harm goes deeper than abuse. As Prime Minister Harper said in the apology, the legacy of the residential schools is one of the loss of entire cultures. Language is no longer spoken; people are broken and unable to celebrate their heritage. These deeper harms affect all Aboriginal children, not just those who were in residence, all of those who were in the schools.”

The Tk’emlup te Secwepemc have 115 day scholars still living. There were 147 Residential schools with students from 200 First Nation Bands across Canada. Without doing a census it is hard to accurately determine the total number of day scholars still living, but an informed guess would be in the thousands. If the trial leads to a settlement, it would benefit all day scholar survivors across Canada.

Chief Garry Feschuk holds the Statement of Claim filed on August 15, 2012.

One can be optimistic about the outcome of the trial, because justice is long overdue and there is national support for the day scholars. “We have received great political support from Native leaders across the country,” Gary Feschuk said, “as well as the National and Regional Chiefs and many of the First Nation political organizations.”

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Report, knowledge about the dark side of residential schools has been made public. “Cultural Genocide” was the term in the report used to describe the damage done by the schools, and non-Native people who weren’t aware of what happened are now seeing the big picture. The judge who certified the lawsuit suggested a mediated settlement. “We will try a court-ordered mediated settlement,” Gary Feschuk said, “and if it doesn’t work, we’ll go to trial. We have anticipated that if this goes to trial, it will take up to 4 years.”

Loretta Saunders was murdered February 2014. Her body was found near Salisbury, New Brunswick. The motive was unclear at the time, but within a month, Blake Leggette and Victoria Henneberry were arrested and charged with the crime.

Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, arrive at Halifax provincial court. Photo courtesy of CBC.ca.

Loretta Saunders had been leasing an apartment to Leggette and his girlfriend. Saunders went to pick up the rent cheque and was strangled by Leggette, who also stole her car and credit cards. Leggette did not have the rent money and had planned the murder with Victoria Henneberry.

The police had enough proof to send both Leggette and Henneberry to jail for life. The confession was not a surprise; it came as a result of handwritten description of the murder found in Leggette’s jail cell. Leggette stated it was for his lawyer, but Darcy Kory, who was sharing the same cell with Leggette, testified that Leggette’s notes were meant for a book he was writing. There is also mention in the manuscript of a book deal for Leggette, who had intended to place most of the blame on his girlfriend.

The accused will be sentenced on April 28th. It is doubtful the confession will change the sentence—premeditated murder is a life sentence. The question that begs to be asked is why murder someone over rent money? Did the fact that Loretta was Native enter the equation or were Leggette and his girlfriend mentally challenged? Murdering your landlord as a solution seems more than extreme.

During the trial, Loretta Saunders’ uncle tried to attack the defendants but was restrained by police. Loretta’s mother Miriam remained stoic, even though a year passed since her daughter’s body was found. She told CBC, “They don’t know what I’m like every morning and every night. When they took my daughter, they took a big piece of my heart.”

February 14th is Saint Valentine’s day, a celebration of love between couples of the bond that keeps them together. It is ironic that it is the same day women across Canada stage public marches to remind everyone of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women. In Vancouver, the 25th Downtown Eastside Memorial March attracted more than 5000 protesters. Some of the women held signs with messages inscribed “You Are Not Forgotten” or “Am I Next.” Relatives of the victims held the pictures of their lost daughters, cousins, sisters. They filled the streets on Hastings and Main all united in one sentiment: stop the violence against Aboriginal women.

Betsy Buyers has been attending the march for a decade, and she is skeptical about what has really been accomplished by all the marches. “It just doesn’t stop, and it looks like it’s getting worse, ” She told CTV News. “The situation, the crisis, the invisible war against indigenous women.”

More than 5000 protestors filled the downtown Eastside streets of Vancouver on Saturday, February 14th, united in one sentiment: stop the violence against Aboriginal women.

When Willie Pickton was sent to jail in 2007, at that time 500 women were reported missing and many were presumed dead. In a 2012 RCMP report, the figure had more than doubled: 1211 Aboriginal women are now missing in Canada and most of them are cold cases that police have closed. Pickton was proof that Aboriginal women are targeted by psychopaths, but little was ever done by government or police after his trial to make sure such crimes would never be repeated. There have been exceptions. Saskatoon and Vancouver police have taken the problem more seriously than most police departments. Yet there is still no emergence on a national scale to end the violence against indigenous women. “I’d like people to educate themselves, especially men, and I’d like women to find their power, their voice,” Betsy Buyers said. “Let’s all work together and put an end to this.”

Marches were also held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Montreal, Ottawa, and in Toronto marchers stood before the police headquarters, all echoing the demand for an inquiry which has been dismissed by Stephen Harper. “I’m not going to comment on the police investigation,” Harper told the CBC. “But as the RCMP has said in it’s own study, the vast majority of these cases are addressed and are solved through police investigations, and we’ll leave it in their hands.” Unfortunately this statement is a little short on credibility. There have been few cases solved. The Highway of Tears has had an RCMP task force investigating for years, and they have not solved one case. Harper’s lack of empathy seems to reflect a basic ignorance of the issue.

Hundreds more gather at the University of Winnipeg adding to the momentum that swept across Canada on St. Valentine’s Day 2015.

Claudette Dumont-Smith executive director of Native Women Association of Canada questioned Harper’s rejection of an inquiry. “Why are there so many Aboriginal women that are murdered compared to other women? Doesn’t he think that racism and sexism and colonialism play a part in all that?”

What is the true importance of an inquiry, and would it provide a solution? I don’t think so; there is no one solution to the problem. Beyond elevating awareness of the problem, an inquiry could consolidate police forces in implementing changes on a national level. Budgets are being cut all the time, but if the federal government made stopping violence against Native women a priority, it would offer at least a possibility of a solution. Harper is not going to change his mind unless violence against Native women becomes an issue in an election year. In the meantime, the pressure on government must not come only from women’s organizations but from everyone who can let Stephen Harper know that if his government can afford to send soldiers to Afghanistan and drop bombs on Syria, surely protecting the lives of Aboriginal women in Canada deserves equal attention.