Sunday, May 11, 2025
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
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • 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
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • 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
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

First Nations need economic empowerment, not even more bureaucratic babysitting: John Paul in the Chronicle Herald

May 14, 2018
in Latest News, Columns, Indigenous Affairs, In the Media
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A

Macdonald-Laurier InstituteCanada’s obligations to First Nations cannot be achieved by controlling them through annual budgetary allocations, writes John Paul. Create the preconditions for autonomy.

By John Paul, May 14, 2018

For generations, the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet in the Atlantic region have been among the most marginalized, ignored, and government-dominated Indigenous peoples in Canada.

After signing “peace and friendship” treaties with the British in the 18th century — the accords did not cover land and resources — they were displaced by incoming British settlers and experienced the occupation of the most economically valuable parts of their traditional territories. The British authorities paid little attention to their impoverishment and seemed to buy into the idea that the First Nations would, as victims of the inevitability of “progress,” disappear within a generation or two.

The Mi’kmaq and Maliseet did not disappear, although they suffered grievously from their economic displacement, government neglect of their interests and the pervasive racism of 19th and 20th century British North America and Canada.

The consequences are clearly evident: extreme poverty, physical isolation from the major population and economic centres, accelerated language and culture loss, and a growing government presence that smothered Mi’kmaq and Maliseet community control.

Conditions improved, marginally, through the 20th century, but Indigenous attempts to secure meaningful control over their lives, a proper treaty, and an appropriate place in the regional economy have proven to be elusive.

The country is currently struggling to find the proper path forward on Aboriginal policy. It is certainly an issue that has the attention of the prime minister and his cabinet, which includes three extremely capable and committed ministers — Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jane Philpott and Carolyn Bennett — with major responsibilities in the field. First Nations, including the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet, work within their communities and regional organizations to outline a preferred strategy, although they do so with limited planning capacity and uncertain resources for their governments. But everyone agrees that the path forward must break away from traditional approaches.

The country is currently struggling to find the proper path forward on Aboriginal policy.

Reduced to the basics, there are two fundamental options for the government and Canada and First Nations in Atlantic Canada.

The status quo approach focuses on expanded government intervention and enhanced funding. Proponents of this approach urge government, with most of its own civil servants pushing this line, to add new programs, improve funding, and focus on community-level supports in everything from child welfare and violence prevention to housing and cultural revitalization. This approach requires maintenance of a large federal bureaucracy and a great deal of negotiation between Ottawa and the First Nations. The only major problem with this approach is that it does not work particularly well.

The autonomy movement focuses on locally controlled business development that capitalizes on Aboriginal and treaty rights and converts court-provided guarantees of Indigenous authority into economic growth. In this formulation, it is business more than government and federal administration that truly supports Indigenous independence and cultural strength. This approach shifts power and responsibility from Ottawa to Indigenous communities and their governments. We have substantial evidence that this strategy is producing real and positive change.

The Mi’kmaq and Maliseet provide an excellent illustration of the value of the second approach. In Atlantic Canada, the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision on the Marshall case produced a major shift toward real change and growth of First Nations in the fishery. It reinstated a right that, by law, should always have been there. It reinserted the First Nations into a major economic sector from which they had been effectively barred. The decision ignited business growth and employment in regional First Nations communities, spreading quickly beyond the fishery. It has sparked the rapid spread of entrepreneurship and local opportunity.

Indigenous industry in the region is now a critical and growing part of the Atlantic economy, representing over $1.14 billion a year. Emboldened by the assurance of economic power and independence, the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet have been looking to expand business activity, assert control over education (a success story that most Canadians do not appreciate), and make improvements in collaborative Indigenous governance. Economic growth has allowed Indigenous people to own and control the solutions, which creates better lives and prosperity.

Indigenous industry in the region is now a critical and growing part of the Atlantic economy, representing over $1.14 billion a year.

The federal and provincial governments still have crucial and largely unfulfilled roles to play. Instead of trying to micromanage First Nations affairs through complex programs and ever-changing funding priorities, they should focus on meeting a simple challenge: providing the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet with basic services (health and education) and infrastructure that are comparable to regional and national norms. There is a great deal to be done here, and it is urgent work. Governments should focus on the basics — funding for locally controlled education and health, water, roads, Internet connectivity and the like.

Beyond that, governments should get out of the way. They should ensure that Indigenous peoples have the economic space that was stripped from them over 200 years ago and that was denied by two centuries of discrimination.

But as the Atlantic fishery has shown, the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet can and will capitalize on real opportunities. This has worked in other areas, too, like Indigenous control of casinos out west. And First Nations will use their money and authority as they see fit, to improve their communities, create jobs and build the kind of future that their people want and deserve.

The government of Canada’s obligations to First Nations cannot be achieved by babysitting First Nations or controlling them through annual budgetary allocations. Create the preconditions for autonomy. Conclude a fair and appropriate modern treaty. Ensure that the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet have economic space and opportunity. Improve services and infrastructure in First Nations communities. The shift toward autonomy will not be seamless, but it is much more promising than continued reliance of federal government dominance and dependency.

Ironically, then, the bravest, most effective thing that the activist Trudeau government can do, fighting its instincts and the preferences of the Ottawa civil service, is to trust First Nations and their governments and to count on Indigenous business development to build prosperity and real autonomy.

John Paul is executive director, Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat.

Tags: First NationsJohn Paul

Related Posts

The US should be worried about Canada’s foreign policy: Casey Babb in The Hill
United States

How Did Trump Impact the Canadian Election? Brian Lee Crowley on American Thought Leaders: Tonight at 9PM ET

May 10, 2025
Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices: Mia Hughes in the National Post
Gender Identity

Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices: Mia Hughes in the National Post

May 9, 2025
Growing success with post-secondary education in Indigenous communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North for Inside Policy Talks
Inside Policy

Growing success with post-secondary education in Indigenous communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North for Inside Policy Talks

May 9, 2025
Next Post

Unemployment numbers can be a misleading: Cross on CBC's On the Money

Newsletter Signup

  Thank you for Signing Up
  Please correct the marked field(s) below.
Email Address  *
1,true,6,Contact Email,2
First Name *
1,true,1,First Name,2
Last Name *
1,true,1,Last Name,2
*
*Required Fields

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

© 2023 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
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • 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
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

Lightbox image placeholder

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Share

Facebook ShareTwitter ShareLinkedin SharePinterest ShareEmail Share

TwitterTwitter
Hide Tweet (admin)

Add this ID to the plugin's Hide Specific Tweets setting: