Daniel Wilson's blog

The reassembly of First Nations

Daniel Wilson — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 16:07:50 +0000

With the choice of a new National Chief this week, the Assembly of First Nations may appear to take a step toward rebuilding itself, but any success it has will collide with other forces of realignment in which the Supreme Court of Canada is playing a pivotal role.

First Nations education: No legislation, no money and no plan

Daniel Wilson — Thu, 29 May 2014 11:44:35 +0000

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Both First Nations education and the Assembly of First Nations face uncertain futures after an extraordinary Chiefs' meeting and the predictable Conservative government reaction that followed.

Gathered in Ottawa on Tuesday for a special assembly, Chiefs and their proxies rejected the Conservatives' Bill C-33 but called for the government to start flowing the $1.9 billion in new education funding the Prime Minister had promised.

Harper wins, First Nations lose

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 02 May 2014 21:14:18 +0000

Give the win to Stephen Harper, with an assist to some of those who claim most loudly to oppose him.

The Prime Minister is well known for being unsatisfied with merely besting opponents, seeking rather to break them. He has done so again and may well be on his way to larger goals.

Aided and abetted by many of those who swear their opposition to the Conservative government's unhidden agenda against First Nations rights and interests, the National Chief is gone and the Assembly of First Nations may be mortally wounded as an institution.

First Nations education bill fails the test

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:20:15 +0000

Politics is a messy business, so it is helpful to have clarity now and then.

Certainly, partisan posturing often can muddy the issues and impede progress. On First Nations issues, entrenched positions and a high volume of uninformed rhetoric from both sides doesn’t help either. As a result, before the bill had been tabled many blindly rejected the new education legislation, while others absurdly insisted it should be adopted.

Those early positions were both unfair, but this much is now perfectly clear: unless it is amended before passing, the Bill the government tabled in parliament yesterday is a failure.

Truth, reconciliation and respecting all our relations

Daniel Wilson — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:40:38 +0000

In the words of Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), "Reconciliation is about forging and maintaining respectful relationships."

But Canada has shown little respect for the Indigenous peoples of this land.

Admitting mistakes, Stephen Harper style

Daniel Wilson — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:05:52 +0000

I’ll admit it. I was wrong. I thought the Conservative government would never make a real investment in First Nations education.

That is how to admit a mistake. Like an apology, it must be clear and unequivocal.

My mistake was in believing anything Stephen Harper said about First Nations. I should have known better.

He reversed himself in 2010 on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. His “no” vote at the UN in 2007 isolated Canada with three other countries against the rest of the world, but the PMO and its typists at all of Canada’s major newspapers insisted it was a principled stand, saving Canada from the evils of recognizing Indigenous rights.

Lingering questions: Progress on Indigenous rights in 2013

Daniel Wilson — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 15:42:40 +0000

Last New Year’s eve, rabble published an op-ed I wrote about a relatively new phenomenon called Idle No More. While hopeful about the attention being garnered by the rise in activism, I cautioned that whether “INM leads to increased awareness, a change in policy, or a change in government is an open question.”

A year later, that question can be answered only in part.

No doubt awareness of Indigenous issues has grown. That is an accomplishment in which all those who have participated, through INM or otherwise, can take pride.

Canada at a crossroads: Indigenous rights to resources

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 13:29:41 +0000

It may turn out that 2013 is the year Canada started taking Indigenous resource rights seriously.

Five centuries ago, when Europeans began trading with the Indigenous nations here for resources, the relationship rewarded Indigenous abilities to extract those resources and recognized Indigenous rights over them.

But that didn’t last long.

Lost opportunities: Misunderstanding First Nations and resource development

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 13:07:55 +0000

According to the Fraser Institute, it is only First Nations’ stubborn insistence on non-existent rights and blindness to inevitable benefit that prevents them from being a willing partner to resource development.

Released yesterday, the report, Opportunities for First Nation prosperity through oil and gas development, successfully repeats some well-known facts:

- First Nations are the youngest and fastest growing demographic in Canada;

- The unemployment rate on reserve is 3 times the national average;

Out of order: Indigenous protest and the rule of law

Daniel Wilson — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 20:22:29 +0000

Sometimes it helps to put things in order, in precedence and priority, in order to see them clearly. This is one of those times.

With today’s lifting of the injunction preventing anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick, the first question that comes to mind is why the RCMP felt it necessary to provoke the conflict that occurred last Thursday.

Having waited two weeks, they could have waited another five days to see what the law would rule on the issue, but instead showed up at a previously peaceful protest with hundreds of officers, snipers, dogs, riot gear and tear gas.

Canada's stubborn ignorance: Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues

Daniel Wilson — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 14:45:34 +0000

Getting the same advice over and over again and ignoring it is the definition of stubborn ignorance. It is, nonetheless, an apt summary of Canada's approach to Indigenous rights.

Everyone knows there are problems.

The statistics on Indigenous poverty, income inequality, violence victimization, incarceration, addiction and suicide are all too familiar.

There is the lost opportunity, for Canada and Indigenous people alike, brought on by failing to educate, train and employ the youngest and fastest growing segment of the population.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763: A heritage moment

Daniel Wilson — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 19:24:22 +0000

People everywhere honour what has been inherited from the past.

In Canada, there is a heritage museum of some sort in most cities and small towns across this country. We celebrate everything from maple syrup and bighorn sheep to pioneers and voyageurs.

The federal government hosts War of 1812 re-enactments, elaborate Dominion day celebrations, and tells us that January 11th is an “important day” to honour Sir John A. MacDonald.

Some people keep tradition alive all year long, whether through planting heirloom seeds or weaving with looms.

Maintaining ignorance: The political economy of Ontario's media

Daniel Wilson — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:32:04 +0000

A former colleague once said to me, "the problem with our stories is they take too long to tell."

We were struggling to get media coverage for the outcomes of the 18-month process that led to the creation of the Kelowna Accord. Largely as a result of the media ignoring that story, Conservative politicians were able to claim that the accord had been written on the back of a napkin. Once elected, the Harper government proceeded to kill the agreement.

As a new report makes clear, the length of our stories wasn't the issue -- it was the Indigenous subject matter and the fact that it was a positive story.

Redskins and white people: Racism and miscommunication

Daniel Wilson — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 20:28:20 +0000

It would seem that some people are profoundly confused when it comes to racism, the meaning of words and how communication occurs.

On the one hand, some people decry what they call political correctness, employing a twisted defence of intent whereby those subjected to their abusive language cannot complain unless, in his or her heart of hearts, the speaker meant to do harm.

On the other hand is a doctrine that racism can only flow in one direction.

Both views are wrong and both do harm in their own unique ways.

Recently, examples of each have been in the news.

Musician Ian Campeau filed a human rights complaint this week against a Nepean football club’s name, a name also used by a professional team in Washington.

Honour the apology: Don't get fooled again

Daniel Wilson — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:38:21 +0000

The old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," would apply except that it's been dozens of instances now and, by itself, shame isn’t enough. Perhaps The Who's "Won't get fooled again" would be better.

Yesterday, many of the people in my community of friends, colleagues and allies were excited by some news. On the first day of the Council of the Federation meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Premiers formally supported calls on the federal government to launch an inquiry into the more than 600 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

Today, the federal government rejected calls for an inquiry. Again.

The four directions of Indigenous activism

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 18:32:20 +0000

For much of the 1990s, my job was to listen to people explain how they became refugees. This usually took place in camps bordering war zones, sometimes in the middle of war zones. Despite being almost relentlessly depressing, it was also enlightening.

I learned three essential lessons.

Though a trite observation, the range of human experiences, emotions and capacities was reinforced every day. The people I saw weren’t all victims; some in fact were perpetrators of heinous crimes. Some crumbled, some overcame in amazing ways, and most muddled through as best they could. One surprise was that people still found a way to laugh, even during genocide. But everyone had experienced a breaking point.

National Aboriginal Day: Long, hot summer ahead?

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 06:38:48 +0000

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Between June 21 and July 1 -- National Aboriginal Day to Canada Day -- we'll be featuring a series of articles examining and critiquing the uses of Canadian identity, the resurgence of Indigenous movements for justice, and the ways in which activists and thinkers across these lands are addressing these fundamental questions.

First Nations don't count in Harper's Canada

Daniel Wilson — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:36:41 +0000

One way to make a problem go away -- at least temporarily -- is to ignore it. It's also the way to make problems grow over time.

For most governments, ignoring problems away isn't easy. It requires a thick skin in the face of criticism, a disengaged electorate, a compliant media, and a lack of immediate consequences. Sadly, those four conditions exist in Canada.

In Stephen Harper's Canada, the art of wilful ignorance has reached new heights, muzzling independent voices where they can, while attacking those who dare challenge the PMO’s control. But to dumb down the dialogue and maintain policy based solely on populist ideology, you have to go after the information sources.

Making Canada work for all

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:45:08 +0000

Warnings have come from business and Indigenous leaders, from ordinary citizens and official institutions, from across the country and the political spectrum. Canada is at a turning point in its relationship with Indigenous peoples.

While the Harper government remains stubbornly in denial of Indigenous rights, committed to provoking confrontation and unable or unwilling to change, industry is becoming increasingly nervous about the threat that situation presents to natural resource development in Canada.

Retiring the policy

Daniel Wilson — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:09:21 +0000

Despite its flaws, Robin Sears' recent article in Policy magazine, "The AFN and the PM: Retiring the Missionaries," provides keen insight into several aspects of the relationship between the Harper government, the federal bureaucracy, and the Assembly of First Nations.

As fascinating for what it gets wrong as what it gets right, those interested in Indigenous policy benefit from Mr. Sears' astute observations on several points, but are misled by the unstated and mistaken assumption underlying his argument.

At the outset, he rightly notes that the ongoing failure of Canada’s Indigenous policy is the result of the continuing pursuit of a doomed approach.

An insincere apology

Daniel Wilson — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:29:07 +0000

It hurts people to think so -- and I truly regret if it hurts anyone for me to say so here -- but the Prime Minister’s apology for residential schools was, at best, insincere. That is the kindest word I can find.

More likely he was lying. Or, he didn’t understand the words he wrote. Or, worse yet, he meant them in a very specific way. But certainly, he was insincere.

For all our relations: Solidarity toward social justice

Daniel Wilson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:44:14 +0000

Following is the text of a speech I delivered to Carleton University's Institute of Political Economy on April 11, 2013.

My sincere thanks to Elder Skanks for his wise words of welcome.

Thank you to Teresa Healy and the Institute of Political Economy for the invitation to be here, and to all of you for coming.

And my thanks to the Algonquin people for allowing us to meet here on their unceded territory.

I was asked if I could speak about solidarity between labour and Indigenous peoples.

Some of you may find this a more political and less academic speech than you are normally accustomed to hearing at a university, but solidarity is fundamentally a political act.

Is Stephen Harper trying to provoke a confrontation with First Nations?

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:12:49 +0000

You have to wonder if Stephen Harper isn’t actively trying to provoke serious conflict with First Nations.

There has been over 4 months of ongoing protest, hunger strikes, long distance marches by Indigenous youth, heated negotiations with First Nation leadership, vociferous opposition party criticism in Parliament, and widespread calls for action from non-Indigenous people across Canada.

During that time, his personally chosen First Nation representative in the Senate was suspended from his position and charged with a criminal offence, his Minister for Aboriginal Affairs had to resign in disgrace, the replacement Minister has stumbled out of the blocks, and there has been no progress on any of the issues behind it all.

Adding insult to injury: The budget and Indigenous relations

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:54:12 +0000

The Government of Canada is trumpeting $626 million in new investment for Indigenous peoples in yesterday's budget. Let's just say that's a slight exaggeration.

Here's a closer look at the four "investment" areas.

“Supporting First Nations fishing enterprises”

Surprisingly, the largest single-year investment in the 2013 budget for a program aimed at Indigenous people at $33 million. Like much of what was “announced” yesterday however, it is an extension of an existing program, not new investment.

Peoples and their people: Examining collective and individual rights

Daniel Wilson — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:43:01 +0000

Question: "What do you know about First Nations?"

Answer: "I'm married to one."

Much to my chagrin and amusement, this was part of a real conversation today.

I'm guessing the woman who answered the question isn't really married to an entire First Nation. She likely meant that she is married to a person of First Nation identity or ancestry, or even a citizen of a First Nation.

People aren't always as careful with language as they should be.

Working in defence of Indigenous rights, I have heard the rebuttal far too often that Indigenous people "fail to take personal responsibility" for their circumstances.

Is the incompetence that of the appointees or the Prime Minister?

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:23:07 +0000

I might have let this slide, preferring not to kick a person when they’re down, but calls for sympathy for John Duncan beg retort.

It strains credibility that Duncan resigned as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development because he wrote an inappropriate letter to a judge. Several Conservative Ministers have been caught inappropriately using their Cabinet title in correspondence to officials, were even found to have broken rules by the Ethics Commissioner, but none have had to resign.

Whither INM, once again

Daniel Wilson — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:14:42 +0000

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There is a rather odd struggle going on around the future of the Idle No More (INM). It is mostly about who gets to define the movement.

The usual suspects in certain national media, the twitterverse and blogosphere have been saying since early December that INM will go away. They were unable to ignore it for about six weeks, so they attacked it. But now, we are to be assured once again of its imminent demise.

On Sovereignty

Daniel Wilson — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:45:41 +0000

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Let's begin with a little Latin. Terra nullius means land belonging to no one. That's what the Europeans claimed the Americas were back when they "discovered" them.

A papal bull (really) invented something called the "Doctrine of Discovery" to validate the European claim over terra nullius. It said pagan souls don't count as human; therefore their lands are uninhabited and can be discovered and claimed by Europeans.

Neat, huh?

Canada exposed: The legacy of a hunger strike

Daniel Wilson — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:45:03 +0000

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Chief Theresa Spence and Elder Raymond Robinson are going to eat solid food and return to their respective homes. That is a good thing from nearly everyone’s point of view, even if people have different reasons for believing so.

Myself, I simply didn’t want to see anyone die that way.

Even in the short term, we can note some accomplishments, mostly attributable to what the hunger strikes exposed.

The questionable virtue of patience

Daniel Wilson — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:38:04 +0000

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Is patience still a virtue if, while waiting for justice, you die?

It is a question posed most poignantly by hunger strikers on Victoria Island and articulated in the frustration of Indigenous people across the country who see drastically shortened life expectancy, dramatically higher rates of terminal illnesses, and the federal government’s efforts at extinguishment take their toll every day.

It is a question to pose to the Harper government, its hired guns at the ironically named Department of Justice, and those who scream for the rule of law to be applied in only one direction.