May 1st Day of Action against Trudeau’s assimilation campaign – Idle No More

In 1969 Our Peoples Mobilized to Protect Our Generation’s Treaty & Inherent Rights

It is Now Our Generation’s Turn to Mobilize to Stop Canada’s Termination Plan!

Today a National Strategy Meeting was held in Edmonton, Alberta by concerned elders, leaders and peoples from Treaty and Inherent Rights & Title Based Original Nations.

Information was presented to the participants about the Trudeau government’s massive changes to federal policy, law and structure, which amount to a renewed Termination Plan. What we call White Paper 2.0. The meeting participants also discussed an action plan to stop the latest version of the federal government’s Plan to Terminate our Treaty and Inherent rights.

On May 1st there will be a Day of Action Against the White Paper 2.0.  See the FB Event Page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2051665521623629/

INM Campaign Poster

Poster art by Dakota Brandt

Question: What is the Danger to First Nations?

Answer: The federal approach is a new legislative & policy “Framework” to take advantage of our people’s poverty and financially force First Nations (Treaty & Non-Treaty) into signing new modern agreements ending our existing sovereignty, jurisdiction & original relationship with our lands, territories and resources as Indigenous Nations!

Since being elected in 2015, the Trudeau government has been implementing its national pan-Indigenous approach through various top-down, back-room processes using the three National Indigenous Organizations, including the Assembly of First Nations to “co-develop” changes to policy and law. The AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde has signed two agreements with the federal government: one on developing a new fiscal policy and one on shared priorities.

On May 1, 2, 2019, instead of holding an urgent Chiefs’ Assembly the AFN is holding an expensive policy forum with a stacked agenda to discuss four federal policies: 1) ‘Inherent Right’ Policy; Comprehensive Land Claims Policy; Specific Claims Policy and the Additions-To-Reserve Policy.  To bring attention to the threat these legislative and policy changes have on our future, people within the Indigenous Activist Networks have initiated a rally to be held in Edmonton, Alberta (old Indian Association of Alberta office).

Since February 2019, the federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Carolyn Bennett has been conducting a selective engagement process to replace the ‘Inherent Right’ and Comprehensive Land Claims Policies with a new “Rights-Based” Policy by June 2019. Minister Bennett has publicly said the federal government is working with their “partners” to replace these policies.

The federal “partners” are the 75 “Recognition & Self-Determination” tables set up by the Trudeau government in 2016 and the 50 groups at “Modern Treaty” & Self-Government Agreement tables.

To get support for their new policy changes, the federal government has announced it is forgiving/repaying $1.4 billion loans to those groups negotiating/settling under the comprehensive land claims policy.

CONCLUSION:

Based upon Canada’s “Summary of Current Approaches” document it seems the “rights-based” Policy contemplated for release June 2019, will be based on using the current “Modern Treaties”, “Self-Government Agreements” and First Nations specific legislation as precedents and templates for “rights-based” negotiations with those First Nations (Treaty & Non-Treaty) who have not entered into negotiations under Canada’s self-government/comprehensive claims policies or opted into First Nations specific legislation outside of the Indian Act, like the First Nations Land Management Act or the First Nations Financial Management Act.

For More Information on the new “rights based” policy to be introduced June 2019, please click here for the full briefing note.

For a downloadable poster about the campaign please click here.

For a fact sheet about the White Paper and Red Paper please click here.