The University of Ottawa RISE Centre organized an afternoon of sharing and community building in recognition and celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day.
Two days after Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day, the University of Ottawa’s Racialized and Indigenous Students Experience Center (RISE), organized a morning of cultural workshops, guest speakers, performances and a community lunch in celebration and solidarity of Indigenous culture on campus.
Speakers included Dara Wawati-Chabot, a social advocate and political science student at the U of O who believes that “relationships are at the core of all types of social justice work.”
Wawati-Chabot continued, “is not just a holiday, it’s also a day of education,” calling for June 21, “to be taken seriously, as [we] all have to participate in the Truth and Reconciliation Process.”
Opening remarks for the event included acknowledging the presence of a Wampum Belt. The cultural piece, “equivalent to legislation, ” as described by another presenter, Nani Rose, was used by many at the event to describe the history of Indigenous Peoples treatment by the Canadian government, and their personal expectations of the relationship today.
“Our histories were erased, our languages scrubbed out. Anything that remains today, we owe great love, gratitude, and respect to our ancestors,” said Rose in her opening remarks.
Rose was one of nine speakers who spoke to the U of O community on Canada’s assimilation of Indigenous Peoples, highlighting her story and perspective on current-day events – such as the recent passing of Bill C-5 and its implications between Indigenous and Canadian government relations.
Commonly known as the One Canadian Economy Act, Bill C-5, which received royal assent on June 26, gives Ottawa the ability to fast-track bills that are deemed to be “national interest”; exempting them from legal requirements, and overall speeding up their approval.
Introduced to parliament on June 6, the One Canadian Economy Act, is promoted by Prime Minister Mark Carney as a boost to free trade and labour mobility through the removal of federal barriers which slow interprovincial trade.
Even if the bill does not dictate what will be prioritized as national interest, the CBC has reported its possible investment in the energy sector; “including possible pipelines and electricity grids, new and expanded port facilities, mines and other resource-related initiatives.”
Following an emergency meeting, the Chiefs of Ontario released a statement “strongly opposing both the contents of the bill and the undemocratic process being used to rush it through parliament without meaningful consultation or study.”
The Chiefs of Ontario’s concerns highlighted the concentration of power it would give to individual federal ministers to “override regulatory protections, and bypass environmental and social safeguards, all without returning to Parliament for further approval.”
In another response to Bill C-5, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), held a virtual forum analyzing the political and legal implications of the legislation. The AFN highlighted its concerns in the power of the bill, including the ability to “override existing laws, including the Indian act and key environmental legislation … [and it’s] conflict with the legal standard of free, prior, and informed consent” in regards to Indigenous communities.
Rose herself made reference to the previously established Royal Proclamation of 1763, assuring that any territory wished to be settled by British inhabitants must be ceded from their original Indigenous ownership through negotiations, partnerships and treaty.
Quoting traditional song lyrics “as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the river’s flow,” Rose’s speech described the validity of the original agreements between the government and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
“We didn’t realize that the people on the other side of the agreement, [the Canadian government,] did not understand that full concept of time and their existence here in these lands and territories today,” continued Rose.
Following rallies on parliament hill and calls to action, Carney has acknowledged the lack of communication to Indigenous groups during the drafting of the bill. Furthermore, he has committed to holding engagement sessions over the summer with various Indigenous leaders to address the concerns of the possible violation of their rights, as reported by the Globe and Mail.
