Quebec’s indigenous leaders lament the fact that the priorities of their communities have been largely ignored during the election campaign.
Atikamekw Grand Chief Constant Awashish said he was not surprised that issues such as indigenous self-determination, land use, resource sharing or “nation to nation” partnerships were overlooked in the campaign.
The issues are not defended by political parties, he said, because party leaders do not need indigenous votes to be elected.
“Obviously I want things to change,” Awashish said. “I want to have a better future for my people, a better future for my children, and I believe that there is a moral responsibility within the parties.”
The Atikamekw community is calling for a series of measures, called the Joyce Principle, to be enshrined in Quebec law.
It is a list of recommendations to the governments of Quebec and Canada on how to combat systemic racism in the health and social services sector.
Joyce’s Principle is named after Joyce Echaquan, the 37-year-old Attikamek mother from Manawan who died at Joliette hospital in 2020. Before she died, she used her phone to film racial slurs from staff members.
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has refused to adopt the Joyce Principle because it addresses systemic racism in Quebec institutions, a phenomenon the CWC government says does not exist in Quebec. CAQ leader François Legault had to apologize to Joyce Echaquan’s widower after he said during the TVA leaders’ debate that the situation at Joliette hospital was “fixed.”
Chief Sipi Flamand of Manawan, an Atikamekw community some 200 km north of Joliette, is also not surprised by the absence of indigenous issues during the campaign.
“It is very important that the different parties work together to solve the problems raised by the indigenous communities,” said Flamand.
People take part in a march on National Truth and Reconciliation Day in Montreal, Friday, September 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
“WE FEEL IGNORED”
The Awashish chief would like Quebec’s political class to be more aware of indigenous issues and more understanding of the communities.
“I think that First Nations are more involved at all levels politically, but the sad thing is that (political leaders) only talk about our people when something bad happens, that is the image that society has, collectively,” he said. “We need more education, we need more awareness, for everyone, but mostly for non-Indigenous elected officials – they need to see us differently, they need to know us differently, so they can see us as the solution of the future. “
Legault was confronted live on Friday with the reality of indigenous people feeling rejected by their government, while speaking to survivors of the federal residential school on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
One residential school survivor, Johnny Wylde, told him “we feel ignored.”
Legault promised that if he is re-elected on Monday, he will spend more time with First Nations communities.
“The parties don’t talk about it enough. We are forgotten. We only talk about Quebecers,” Edouard Kistabish said after Friday’s ceremony. “It will take time before we trust. We have experienced too much rejection.”
Speaking to reporters later on Friday, Legault said his goal is to reach agreements with First Nations and Inuit on issues such as protected areas and economic development. He said the negotiations are taking a long time because each of the 11 nations in Quebec wants its own agreement. The Quebec government has signed five agreements so far.
Legault also said that protecting indigenous languages would be a priority in a future mandate and suggested that a CWC government would introduce a bill to pass something like Bill 96 to protect their languages.
HOLIDAYS OR NOT?
In Montreal, Liberal leader Dominique Anglade told reporters that, if elected, she would introduce the Joyce Principle in her first 100 days in office. She also promised that the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, on September 30, should be a legal holiday in Quebec, as it is at the federal level and in some provinces.
Legault refused a year ago to make September 30 a provincial holiday, citing a loss in productivity if Quebec added another holiday and arguing the move would be too costly.
Taiaiake Alfred, a Mohawk (Kanien’kehá:ka) writer and political strategist from Kahnawake, south of Montreal, said there simply aren’t many incentives for political parties to engage with First Nations and Inuit communities in provincial elections. .
“The relationship between colonial governments and First Nations should be on a different level,” he argued. “They are a nation, and we are a nation. We should engage with them on a collective level, instead of drawing them into our politics and getting involved in theirs.
“Whoever is elected politically, whether it is a nationalist, federalist or separatist government, is irrelevant to those who live in Kahnawake, he said. No matter how the identity of the Crown and of Quebec is manifested to us, it has never been a factor, so that Let’s not get involved.”
This Canadian Press report was first published in French on October 1, 2022.