Stand with Wet'suwet' en -- Might Does Not Make Right

Canada Must Take Responsibility and Build a New Relationship with Indigenous Peoples

- Barbara Biley -

BC Legislature, February 25, 2020

It is the responsibility and duty of the federal government to provide the hereditary rights of Indigenous peoples with a guarantee. This means that what the Trudeau and other governments call Canadian rule of law cannot be the reference point to settle disputes between the Crown and the Indigenous nations. So long as this is the reference point, an end will not be put to colonial and racist practices.

The stubborn refusal of the Trudeau government and the government of British Columbia to break with the racist and colonial treatment of Indigenous people and nations is the immediate cause of the growing actions in support of the Wet'suwet'en people in British Columbia. Lip service to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and repetition of the "most important relationship" are exposed as just so many provocations. Instead of instilling hope, every statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers breeds contempt and resistance. And this is coupled with the continuing tragedy of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, the over-representation of Indigenous people in the prison system, the unacceptable living conditions on reserves and, particularly, the conditions that have caused an epidemic of youth self-harm and suicides.

Since early January, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have been asking for federal and provincial government leaders to meet with them on a nation-to-nation basis. Trudeau, until February 18, refused to acknowledge that the federal government, which he leads, had any responsibility to address the situation of the violation of rights on Wet'suwet'en territory. BC Premier John Horgan has also refused to meet with the Wet'suwet'en chiefs and has repeatedly stated that, regardless of what anyone says or thinks, the pipeline will be built, indicating that he too disrespects the chiefs and the responsibility of the government he leads to break with the old relations and establish new relations.

The demands of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs are straight-forward: the RCMP must withdraw from Wet'suwet'en territory, which means removing their mobile base and officers, who continue to harass and intimidate Wet'suwet'en and their supporters on the land, and that Coastal GasLink ceases activity on the land while discussions between the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and the federal and provincial governments take place. It is in support of these demands that the railway blockades in Ontario, Quebec and other places were set up, to express the solidarity across the country with the just demands of the Wet'suwet'en.

The government says it wants a peaceful resolution but keeps on criminalizing everyone, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who are taking action in support of the just and legal request of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs. Every attempt is made to insinuate that while Wet'suwet'en might have legitimate grievances, as Trudeau put it in his press conference on February 21, non-Indigenous people do not. In other words, the matter is not of a Constitution that requires renovating, and upholding Indigenous hereditary rights is of no concern to Canadians. It shows the backward outlook of those in power in Canada, which is made all the more anachronistic the more they declare that either the Indigenous and non-Indigenous submit to the law and order agenda or they will face the full force of the law.

The Ontario Provincial Police arrests of Tyendinaga Mohawk, and injunctions and threats against others across the country, show that the only "peaceful resolution" that the government wants is one in which Indigenous people agree to the violation of their rights. That is not peace and it will not pass! Might DOES NOT Make Right.

This article was published in

Volume 50 Number 6 - February 29, 2020

Article Link:
Stand with Wet'suwet' en -- Might Does Not Make Right: Canada Must Take Responsibility and Build a New Relationship with Indigenous Peoples - Barbara Biley

    

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