Aboriginal Awareness Week

Aboriginal Awareness Week is a time for every Canadian to reflect on the central and vital contributions Aboriginal Peoples have made – and are making – to Canada.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation, and in that context, it is important to remind ourselves of the nation to nation relationship enshrined within that document.

The work of recapturing this original relationship, based on partnership, respect and cooperation for mutual benefit, is not only the responsibility of elected politicians, but of every Canadian from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

We must start with understanding the historical foundation of that relationship.

This was the central message of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission who said that, “Canadians have been denied a full and proper education as to the nature of Aboriginal societies, and the history of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples”.

To ensure a more prosperous common future, I encourage the government, Parliamentarians and all Canadians to foster and support greater understanding about the role Aboriginal Peoples have played in our shared history.

Deeply touched to honour the life of Elijah Harper

I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Elijah Harper. He was a truly inspiring leader & Parliamentarian dedicated to Aboriginal rights & reconciliation.

I was honoured to be one of the many mourners gathered at the Manitoba Legislature today to pay our respects to a truly inspiring Canadian.

His passing should remind all Canadians that his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord was based upon the failure to consult Aboriginal people. He was a patient teacher of the history, culture and rights of Aboriginal people to non-Aboriginal Canadians.

I have fond memories of our last conversation. He dropped into the Opposition Lobby at the end of November. It was the McGill Women in House job-shadowing day and I had had the honour of spending the day with the inspiring Métis-Cree activist Tanya Gill-Lalonde.

It was truly memorable to watch the instant & amazing mutual respect across the generations.

Elijah Harper’s legacy will continue to inspire us all to ‘Idle KNOW More’.

Elijah Harper

Waiting to pay tribute

Anita Neville, myself and Dr. Jon Gerrard at the Manitoba Legislature Monday

Elijah Harper, myself and Tanya Gill-Lalonde last November

Harper government withheld documents in indigenous human-rights case – Article from the Globe and Mail

Harper government withheld documents in indigenous human-rights case

Now, it is using its failure to hand over the files to try to get the proceedings put on hold.

GLORIA GALLOWAY – OTTAWA

The Harper government withheld tens of thousands of documents that it was obligated to disclose as part of a human-rights case in which it is accused of discriminating against indigenous children. Now, it is using its failure to hand over the files to try to get the proceedings put on hold.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2007 saying it is wrong for the federal government to pay 22 per cent less for child welfare on reserves than the provinces pay for non-aboriginal welfare services.

Despite many attempts by the government to have the case dismissed, the hearings before the tribunal finally began in February of this year.

But, next Tuesday, Justice Department lawyers will ask for an adjournment of many months while they gather more than 50,000 documents that were required to have already been handed over to the Caring Society’s lawyers under the human-rights commission rules.

Cindy Blackstock, the Caring Society’s executive director, said in a telephone interview this week that the government indicated months ago that it was in the final stages of disclosing all pertinent documents, including those relating to the “enhanced” funding formula it uses to determine how much money First Nations receive for child welfare.

As the hearings progressed, however, Ms. Blackstock grew suspicious. The government was cross-examining witnesses about the funding formula, she said, “and I just thought, ‘man, there’s got to be more on this thing.’ So I filed an Access to Information request.”

The response to that request arrived on April 9 in the form of 4,000 pages of documents, about a quarter of which had been redacted. “In there are evaluations and critical notes and acknowledgments by the government that the enhanced funding formula is indeed significantly flawed and inequitable in all of the regions they have implemented it in,” Ms. Blackstock.

The lawyer for the Caring Society asked the government why the documents had not been disclosed previously and Melissa Chan, a lawyer for the federal Justice Department, responded in a letter dated May 7 saying the government was just then in the process of handing them over. In addition, wrote Ms. Chan, “we have been advised that there are over 50,000 additional documents that have been identified as potentially relevant.”

Those will be turned over to the Caring Society and its lawyers between September and December of this year, she wrote – which is after the hearings in the human-rights case are scheduled to have ended.

The government informed the human rights tribunal this week that it will ask for the case to be adjourned so it can gather the documents.

The department of Aboriginal Affairs said in an e-mail that it has hired two research firms to assist in producing the relevant material. “Our request for an adjournment will help to ensure Canada has the necessary time to provide all documents in our possession that relate to the proceedings …”

But the Caring Society says this is just another delay tactic and it will try to block the request for adjournment. It will also try to get the government to disclose the material in a timely fashion.

Ms. Blackstock said it is fair that many of the Caring Society’s witnesses have already testified without being aware of the documents’ existence. “I was on the stand for five days,” she said. “I think I did a pretty good job. But, had I known these documents were available, it would have helped me with my testimony.”

Shawn Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has said there is not enough welfare money to pay for the services that would allow First Nations children to remain with their families when there are social problems. Data released recently from the 2011 National Household Survey suggested that nearly half of Canada’s 30,000 foster children aged 14 and under were aboriginal.

“The possibility that government intentionally withheld relevant documents from an ongoing Canadian Human Rights Commission hearing is a very disturbing, but not a surprising, development,” said Carolyn Bennett, the aboriginal affairs critic for the Liberals. “We’ve seen the Conservatives use this same tactic time and again as a way to shield themselves from politically damaging information.”

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