The Reconciliation Industry: dreamy pronouncements vs a painful reality
RCMP officers leap over blockade set up by pipeline protesters. (Unist'ot'en Camp/Google Images)
Written by: Samreen Maqsood
As Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government enters its second term, the narrative of Canada progressing towards positive relations with Indigenous nations is prominent in Canadian media.
Reconciliation has been a controversial word throughout most of Canada’s history and has served as the buzzword for the colonial PR machine for decades.
The Jody-Wilson Raybould Saga
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to appoint Jody Wilson-Raybould to be the first Indigenous justice minister and attorney general in 2017 emboldened the already potent machine and its leaders.
However from September 2018 onwards, Wilson-Raybould refused to allow SNC Lavalin to avoid prosecution, despite intense pressure from prime minister’s office staff. This would’ve required her to direct federal prosecutors to grant the company a deffered prosecution agreement.
The controversy came to life in January 2019, with Wilson-Raybould resigning from cabinet and testifying to the Canadian parliament multiple times. Two months later, she was kicked out of the Liberal caucus by Prime Minister Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau’s pipeline extravaganza, and the Indigenous nations that stand in his way
The term revolves around consent, especially in the context of the Trans Mountain & Coastal GasLink oil pipeline projects.
A United Nations (UN) committee in Canada, which is working to end racism, has called for the suspension of the project. They made this demand on the grounds that the pipeline project started without the approval of the Indigenous nations who lived there.
Their right to ‘free, prior and informed consent’ about certain projects is part of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
However, Canada has yet to follow through with it.
Six First Nations are bringing the project to court as they wait for a ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal on whether they were consulted by the Canadian government for the project.
While some argue that the pipeline is an act of reconciliation, Chief Lee Spahan of the Coldwater First Nation, said otherwise.
More than 113 Indigenous nations lack access to safe drinking water and the Coldwater First Nations is one of the few that has escaped this nightmare scenario.
"It's scary. It's a huge pipe right beside our water — right on top of our water," said Spahan to CBC News.
The RCMP’s campaign of aggression against the Wet’suwet’en First Nation
Despite B.C.’s NDP government recently passing UNDRIP into law, they are supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Premier Horgan has refused to meet with protesters during his tour of northern BC.
In response to Horgan’s actions, protesters recently occupied the Ministry of Energy overnight in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people.
The Coastal GasLink pipeline passes through unceded Wet’suwet’en land, and the Unist'ot'en camp. A Guardian report recently revealed that the RCMP are ready to shoot Indigenous protesters who protest against the pipeline.
The Trudeau government has failed to reprimand them, and continues to work against the Wet’suwet’en peoples’ wishes.
An uncertain future
With Indigenous politicians being viewed as disposable by the Liberal government, and both the Canadian and BC governments supporting a pipeline through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, it’s clear that reconciliation is only being pursued by one group, Indigenous nations in Canada.
“The only way a true “nation-to-nation” relationship will develop in the next 150 years will be through recognizing such Indigenous legal traditions throughout Canada,” said Sarah Morales, an Indigenous scholar.
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