Canada’s First Nations Ratchet Up Pressure on Harper

Ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadian native leaders warned the government Thursday it’s time to fundamentally change the relationship between Ottawa and the country’s aboriginals.

It’s the latest salvo amid one of Canada’s most contentious, nation-wide aboriginal protests in years. At a press conference a day before native leaders are set to meet Mr. Harper, Shawn Atleo, head of the Assembly of First Nations, a national umbrella of native groups, and other leaders said failure to make progress at the meeting could spark more aboriginal-led protests across the country.

“We are at a moment unlike any other in the history of our peoples,” said Mr. Atleo. “This is the fork in the road that we have said is coming.”

Native leaders told reporters in Ottawa they are looking for a new fiscal relationship with the federal government, which they said needs to include a share of the royalty revenue generated by resource development.

Canada’s native communities are upset, Mr. Atleo said, over Conservative budget legislation that he and others claim puts the environment at risk, and doubly so because policymakers failed to consult with aboriginal leaders as these new policies could affect their territory. The failure to consult was a violation of aboriginal treaty rights, Mr. Atleo alleged.

The furor over the budget bills has helped inspire a string of native protests across the country, some of which blocked passenger-rail trains for hours. One native chief’s 31-day hunger strike has drawn widespread attention.

Chief Theresa Spence — who is consuming water, tea and fish broth — had demanded a meeting between the prime minister and aboriginal leaders as a condition for ending her hunger strike, in an effort to address a number of concerns among natives.

This week, Mr. Harper said he acknowledged there were “great challenges” in certain aboriginal communities, and his government would identify ways to work with native leaders beyond Friday’s meeting.

“We expect the government to have more meetings over the coming year with a variety of aboriginal groups to discuss ways we can make progress on important issues,” said Julie Vaux, a spokeswoman for the prime minister.

Original Article
Source: blogs.wsj.com
Author: Paul Vieira