AUNDECK OMNI KANING鈥擣ederal Crown Indigenous Relations Minister, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, sat down with The Expositor this weekend following the recent signing of an apology for the Canadian government鈥檚 mishandling of First Nations鈥 funds in the 1800s and his individual meetings with five Island First Nations to discuss their particular issues.
鈥淩econciliation is an intergenerational effort, one that will require every government henceforth to embrace,鈥 said Minister Anandasangaree. 鈥淥ur obligations are to ensure that we reset and rebuild communities and nations and this relationship鈥攚e cannot afford to go back. Reconciliation is a one-way street. As a government, since 2015, we have been relentless in moving forward on reconciliation and we will continue to do so until every young person born today on a First Nations Reserve has the outcomes of every other young person that鈥檚 born in Canada.鈥
As to the funding that is accompanying the settlement, Minister Anandasangaree was adamant that the monies are anything but a government handout. 鈥淭hese are annuities that were supposed to be going to them that were actually taken in and repurposed for infrastructure that Canada should have paid for. So, it鈥檚 a reconciliation of that.鈥
鈥淚 think we had a really, really good engagement with the five communities鈥攆ive impacted communities,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here was some real recognition of the long road that it took for us to get here, an acknowledgment of all the people that have been involved in this including, Hardy Peltier, and his family was there as you鈥檙e aware. You know, every time we do something significant, there鈥檚 always one or two champions that have gone to the end of the Earth, trying to fight for them. Often, they are unsung heroes, they鈥檙e not people that you will see on billboards.
鈥淚 think there were a lot of good stories shared today, of people who had this journey,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he 1990s settlement with Ontario was brought up on a number of occasions by a number of people. But there鈥檚 a number of milestones that they have had including a resolution of the Robinson Huron settlement last year.鈥
鈥淭here are some incredible things that are happening in 91性息港 Island,鈥 he continued, 鈥渂ut there鈥檚 lots of challenges, challenges that frankly are faced by many nations across Canada, including the opioid crisis, issues around policing, issues ensuring that they have land returned to them. We had some private meetings where we talked about these issues.鈥
鈥淎s you know, there is an infrastructure gap that government since 2015 has been trying to bridge and that鈥檚 something that is moving in the right direction, but probably not at the speed communities want to happen,鈥 the minister continued.
The minister referenced specifically housing and schools. 鈥淲hile, you know, this is outside of our portfolio, it is still from a whole government approach.鈥 He said, 鈥淭hese are issues that we are continuing to address. So, we have $4 billion dollars set aside in 2023, which will be flowing through very soon on Indigenous housing, on urban rural and Northern housing. There鈥檚 an additional billion dollars towards infrastructure. That鈥檚 going to flow through very soon.鈥
鈥淚t was really good to have Mark (Serre, Liberal MP for Nickel Belt) with me here because Mark has decades of experience in Indigenous issues,鈥 said Minister Anandasangaree.
鈥淚 think we have to be very realistic here, right? The money that鈥檚 going are not handouts, they鈥檙e not going for nothing, they鈥檙e going because Canada has failed to live up to its obligations,鈥 noted Minister Anandasangaree. 鈥淚t鈥檚 legal obligations. Some of these settlements are driven by Court decisions that have clearly and consistently deem Canada to have failed in its fiduciary obligations. This is a result of those failures, as I commented today, the cost of not resolving these claims will continue to escalate. If we don鈥檛 have resolutions on a range of issues that are still outstanding, we will not be able to move ahead as a country. These are very important points, where we鈥檙e demonstrating our goodwill and Canada鈥檚 willingness to engage and move forward in a nation-to-nation relationship. We cannot mend these relationships without resolving some of these long outstanding issues which have had significant impact on people and communities.鈥
鈥淚 was in Saskatchewan and Alberta last week with $2.1 billion worth of agricultural benefit settlements,鈥 shared the minister. 鈥淚t again speaks to treaties signed with Treaty Number 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, wherein Canada promised to provide implements and the requisite equipment for First Nations people to do farming鈥攁nd we didn鈥檛 do that. The cost of that failure is what Canada is trying to catch up to today. And by no means does any of these settlements bring back what people lost, and I think we have to be very clear on that. We cannot compensate our way out of this. I mean, part of it is, the compensation is a recognition that, you know, in a monetary world we鈥檙e in today it鈥檚 a recognition of us trying to do right. But reconciliation efforts are in a respective manner by which we will engage and reset that relationship.鈥
