This item may be a bit controversial, but I don’t apologize
for writing it.
The protester’s sign seemed to say it all, “Shut Down
Canada”. The indigenous peoples and
their supporters have done a pretty good job of that already. Railways have stopped running, workers have
been laid off, and the specter of shortages of food, propane and other goods
looms large. The reason, as we all know
is to support a group of hereditary chiefs who are blocking an approved gas
pipeline in northern British Columbia.
The fact that the majority of the band members support the building of
the pipeline including all of the elected band council doesn’t seem to
matter to all of the protesters across the country. The fact that this band and almost all of the
other first nation bands along the length of the pipeline have signed
agreements that would provide work and money with the pipeline builder doesn’t
matter.
Under the Indian Act, each band must elect a band council
who are responsible for making decisions about the band, and who are supposed
to be the negotiators for any dealings with governments. Hereditary chiefs are figureheads who
represent the band traditions. But a lot
of the protesters have declared the elected chiefs illegitimate citing them as
being a colonial usurpation of band traditions.
The question therefore is, with two groups who say they
represent the band interests but are diametrically opposite in their views, who
is the government supposed to listen and talk to about this and other
situations? In fact, who are other indigenous
bands supposed to support? The answer
for both native bands and their non-native supporters seems to be the
hereditary chiefs. This has become as
close to anarchy as I ever want to see this country come.
Protesters like to call it a reconciliation issue. But I never heard the word capitulation by
the rest of Canada mentioned in the Reconciliation Report.
“If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then
mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one - if he had the
power - would be justified in silencing mankind.”
- John Stuart Mill
- John Stuart Mill
I think the above quote sums things up rather well. Yes, we must listen to others, indigenous
groups included. But both sides must try
to understand the differences that are keeping them apart. If these were all non-natives who were
staging these protests, you can bet that many would have been arrested and
charged with criminal offences which would be fully aired in courts.
Some of us question what the indigenous people really want. They talk of self-government but along what
lines? Is each band supposed to govern
itself, or is there to be a single indigenous government totally separate from the
Canadian Government? Do they want
unceded land given back to them? That would include most of the city of Ottawa
for one thing. On the other hand, that
might not be a bad thing. Maybe the
Algonquin tribe could sort out the ill-plagued light rail system.
This whole situation reminds me of 2006 and a small town called
Caledonia, Ontario situated a few kilometers from Hamilton where I grew
up. There the local Mohawk band occupied
a new subdivision in the town claiming it was disputed land, although no land
claim had ever been submitted for the area in question. Despite the protesters resorting to
blockades, intimidation and violence, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) did
virtually nothing. They did not remove
the barricades, they did not react to intimidation, even of their own officers,
nor did they stop violence and theft taking place right in front of them. Those very few protesters that were actually
charged and found guilty got time served sentences and $50 fines*. This is the
same OPP who is supposed to be doing something about the rail blockage near
Belleville, Ontario that has stopped all rail traffic in eastern Canada. I guess times haven’t changed.
*See
Christie Blatchford’s book “Helpless” for the details of this incident.
