Friday, June 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Indigenous peoples did nothing wrong to the government of Canada: Ken Coates in the Toronto Star

October 19, 2021
in Columns, Experts, In the Media, Indigenous Affairs Program, Issues, Ken Coates, Latest News, Library
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Then-AFN Chief Phil Fontaine responds to the official apology for more than a century of abuse and cultural loss involving residential schools. June 11, 2008. PMO photo by Jason Ransom

Reconciliation cannot be achieved by a naïve desire to put the past behind us. Rather, Canada must recognize how our colonial history hangs as an unjust millstone upon Indigenous societies, writes Ken Coates in the Toronto Star. 

By Ken Coates, October 19, 2021

Canadians still struggle with the realities facing Indigenous peoples. Some run out the old “they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps” idea, ignoring structural barriers imposed by generations of government paternalism and marginalization. Even the argument that residential schools were a “good thing” has only slowly receded.

Though some progress is being made, many still think of Canada’s obligations to Indigenous peoples as being the same as obligations to “poor” Canadians. This approach implies that reducing Indigenous poverty is the country’s sole obligation.

But First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples rightly see much broader issues at play, including their responsibility for traditional territories, existing and implied relationships with various governments, and their determination to sustain their languages and cultures. Indigenous peoples aspire to arrangements that, at a minimum, allow them to share in Canadian prosperity, have greater control over their traditional lands, the possibility of peaceful coexistence with others in Canada, and the prospect of sustaining their cultures.

At the root of Indigenous frustration, however, is a simple and incontrovertible fact: First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples did nothing wrong, aggressive, or antagonistic to the government or the people of Canada.

No act undertaken by Indigenous peoples made justifiable the mass death wrought upon their societies by the importation of European disease. Indigenous people did not create the European sense of cultural superiority or the racial hierarchies that condemned their societies. They did, however, feel the full weight of deeply entrenched racism.

They did not ask missionaries to systematically undermine their spirituality and values, did not anticipate that governments and churches would turn schools from places of learning into cultural weapons, and could not have known that civil servants would be agents of domination rather than honest brokers.

Indigenous peoples neither designed nor had any say over the implementation of the Indian Act, which stripped them of many rights and privileges. Indigenous peoples did not bar themselves from voting, remove Indian status from individuals who went to university or joined a profession, block the right to establish a business, or ask to have Indian Agents run community affairs.

Remember that the early post-contact history of Canada was marked by generations of economic collaboration in the fur trade and related sectors. By and large, First Nations, Metis and Inuit were not conquered but rather agreed to cooperate with newcomers, signing treaties that covered large parts of the country. However, though the spirit of cooperation guided Indigenous conduct, the same cannot be said of the Crown and its representatives.

Contemporary court challenges in Ontario stem from the failure of the government to adhere to treaties consistently. Until the Marshal fisheries decision in 1999, governments ignored peace and friendship treaties. The numbered treaties never did live up to the spirit and word of what the Government of Canada committed to on behalf of the Crown. For generations, Northern peoples lacked treaties, despite asking for them, and even still, Canada has failed to implement many treaties in full.

When Indigenous peoples confront the realities of the past and present, they must do so with a sense of incredulity. Buffeted, sidelined, dominated, controlled, marginalized, and oppressed, First Nations, Metis and Inuit are coping with the multi-generational impact of newcomer actions, policies, and laws.

Understanding the weight of this history should lead any honest observer to a simple conclusion: collectively, Indigenous peoples are not responsible for their current conditions. They did nothing wrong. If Indigenous peoples made an error, it was in trusting in the Honour of the Crown and believing that successive governments would respect the spirit and word of their agreements.

Moving forward in partnership with Indigenous peoples requires understanding the past and appreciating the origins of the contemporary challenges. First Nations, Metis and Inuit people lived with the consequences of centuries-worth of decisions over which they had no input or control. Only recently have they been drawn into something approaching partnership with the Government of Canada and the country at large.

Reconciliation cannot be achieved by a naive desire to put the past behind us. Rather, Canada must recognize how our colonial history hangs as an unjust millstone upon Indigenous societies. Indigenous peoples live with historical realities where they did nothing wrong. Clearly, it is time to set things right.

Ken Coates is a Munk Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Tags: indigenous affairsIndigenous issuesIndigenous PolicyKen Coates
Previous Post

Eyes on the prize: How Canada can and should double GDP by 2050

Next Post

Partnering with Indonesia a pivotal element of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: A Joint MLI-FPSA Publication

Related Posts

Ukraine must be victorious, for all of our sakes: Balkan Devlen for Inside Policy
Columns

Ukraine’s right to self-defence is self-evident: Chris Alexander in the Globe and Mail

June 2, 2023
Trudeau, Ford to blame for Stellantis shakedown: Aaron Wudrick in the National Post
Columns

Trudeau, Ford to blame for Stellantis shakedown: Aaron Wudrick in the National Post

June 2, 2023
Multimedia: G7 Hiroshima Summit & Beyond
Video

Multimedia: G7 Hiroshima Summit & Beyond

June 1, 2023
Next Post
Partnering with Indonesia a pivotal element of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: A Joint MLI-FPSA Publication

Partnering with Indonesia a pivotal element of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy: A Joint MLI-FPSA Publication

Newsletter Signup

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

Necessary

Advertising

Analytics

Other