Canada will implement UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Carolyn Bennett says

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says the new Liberal government will rebuild the relationship with First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples.

Thestar.com
Nov. 12, 2015
By Joanna Smith

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says the new Liberal government will rebuild the relationship with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples by including them in every decision that affects them and their land.

“That means starting out right, such that everything has been considered before a decision is taken so that you can find that win-win of ‘you can develop there but not there,’ ” Bennett said in an interview this week, when asked how the Liberals plan to make good on their promise to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave that sentiment a boost when he told his new cabinet ministers in their : “No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples.”

The Crown already has a constitutionally protected “duty to consult” with aboriginal peoples on issues that might affect their interests, but the UN declaration goes much further and calls on governments to obtain “free, prior and informed consent,” including when it comes to natural resources development.

The idea that this could turn into a veto was one of the concerns that Canada - under the previous government of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper - cited as a reason for its opposition to signing UNDRIP in 2007 and then its refusal to adopt an outcome document last year.

How does a federal government implement those principles without risking a loss of control over its agenda? Bennett said achieving mutually beneficial results begins by having a conversation, and having it right away.

“There are many ways of achieving mutual results, but it begins with the conversation and it isn’t writing legislation and then saying, ‘You love it, don’t you?’ We are committed to sitting down early, at the earliest possible moment, on every single thing that will affect indigenous people in Canada,” said Bennett, who believes it is “hugely important” all parliamentarians, government departments, provinces, territories, mayors and municipalities understand this too.

Bennett, who said she was advised by a First Nations friend to consider herself the “minister of reconciliation,” is aware she has set the bar high for herself, but she also has high expectations for her newly renamed department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

“I’m a bit of a hard marker when it comes to what a strategy that is going to do something looks like,” Bennett said.

In a speech to departmental staff Tuesday, according to a video provided to the Star communications staff upon request, Bennett did her best to rally bureaucrats onside by promising a different way of doing things.

“We want you to be empowered to bring forward good ideas, to understand the kinds of solutions that you know exist on the ground and that we can just harvest from the people who have been doing the thinking about these things for a very long time,” said Bennett, who also told them to correct her when she is wrong and that she would have “a no jerks policy” when it comes to hiring staff for her office.

Bennett told the Star the new government will “have to have some wins that will demonstrate reconciliation” in order to keep the goodwill flowing.

“There is a lot of understanding that some things are going to take more time than others, but the indicators of the good will and the steps in the right direction are going to be very important,” said Bennett.

One of those indicators will be the national inquiry into the more than 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

“We are saddened and shocked and think of those families, but I think we also know that Canadians want this to stop and we have to do everything in our power to understand what leads to this and be able to put in place the action to prevent these,” Bennett said.

Bennett expects to launch pre-inquiry consultations with families, civil society groups and other stakeholders within the next couple of weeks, with the goal of having “something substantial to announce” sometime before Dec. 6.

That is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women that marks the anniversary of the 1989 massacre at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal.

Bennett said she and her department will jointly lead the consultation process with Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Status of Women Minister Patricia Hajdu, with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale also playing an advisory role.

Bennett said she was pleased to see Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose lend her support to the inquiry, and noted that NDP MPs Niki Ashton and Romeo Saganash and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May have always been on board.

Bennett also stood by the Liberal commitment to remove the 2-per-cent cap on annual increases to federal transfers to First Nations communities, which has not kept pace with population growth and is cited as one of the sources the discrepancy in services - including education - for aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.

It was brought in former Liberal finance minister Paul Martin in 1996, but Bennett disputes that it was intended as an austerity measure.

“That was actually a 2-per-cent escalator and it was a 2-per-cent escalator at a time when all other (departments) were being cut and I had long chats with Paul Martin about it, but I think the Kelowna Accord was intended to lift that cap,” Bennett said.

The Liberal campaign platform also promised to negotiate a new fiscal relationship that would better provide for needs in First Nations communities, and Bennett said they envision emulating the process of the Kelowna Accord, negotiated by Martin as prime minister, to achieve it.

“It was a totally inclusive process that included First Nations, Metis and Inuit leadership together with the provinces and the territories. Everybody came together in order to identify the priorities,” Bennett said.

Timeline: UN Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Sept. 13, 2007: The UN General Assembly adopts the declaration but Canada, which had for many years been involved in drafting UNDRIP, joined the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in opposing it. One of the concerns was that “free, prior and informed consent” could be used as a veto.

Nov. 12, 2010: Canada endorses UNDRIP, but refers to it as “an aspirational document” and notes it is not legally binding: “We are now confident that Canada can interpret the principles expressed in the declaration in a manner that is consistent with our Constitution and legal framework.”

Sept. 22, 2014: Canada is the only UN member to refuse adopting the “outcome document” affirming commitment to UNDRIP, again citing concerns over “free, prior and informed consent”.