Land and water: Is there anything more important to us as First Nations peoples? Perhaps not. Throughout First Nations communities in the twenty-first century there is much discussion of the importance of and the opportunities through the use of land and water. How we deal with lands and the waters that run through them is as important as what we do with these vast resources. With regard to reserve lands, there are certain schools of thought these days making a compelling case for the relationship between property rights and access to prosperity for Canada’s First Nations.
This debate is an important one, with ramifications that reach far outside the domain of Aboriginal affairs. It’s of critical importance to First Nations peoples. It’s of equal consequence to Canada – and it’s about time that such a debate got underway. The vastness of Canada’s land, its wealth in natural resources and the fabric of the Indian Act reserve system are fundamentally interwoven in a manner that precious few Canadians comprehend – except perhaps for those who work in Aboriginal law and have a created a cottage industry around navigation outside the Indian Act.
The notion of rights around property in respect of the Indian Act is by no means new. It’s a fact long obscured by the sands of time that in 1873, then Minister of Interior, David Laird, admonished that “the great aim of the Government should be to give each Indian his individual property as soon as possible.”
While it cannot be forgotten that the aim of the Indian Act was based in the notion of assimilation, there was school of thought that the extension of property rights would help safeguard the interests of Aboriginal peoples into Canadian society.
Nearly one-hundred and thirty years later, the litany of failures around so many aspects of the Indian Act should compel us to actively consider matters around First Nations property rights.
Former Chief of the Kamloops Indian Band and current Chief of the First Nations Tax Commission, Manny Jules, echoes the same thinking as cited in “Beyond The Indian Act: Restoring The Indian Act. “ Chief Jules believes that the extension of property rights combined with permanent First Nations jurisdiction – including the granting of taxation powers — are essential to First Nations home ownership, wealth building and economic development. The flipside to this is simple; without property rights the status quo succeeds – and that works in no one`s favour. The progressive minds in Canada`s Aboriginal affairs need to embrace this thinking and work to create a groundswell that will lead to the development of legislation to enable First Nations private property rights.
The resistance to changing the Indian Act might be expected from some leaders intensely reluctant to pursue more accountable, transparent and economically sustainable governance.
What has begun to occur though is the notion of incremental, progressive change coming from within First Nations leadership. Names like Manny Jules, Chief Clarence Louie and activist Calvin Helin are becoming known as representative of the future of First Nations and Aboriginal affairs in Canada. Their views are raising eyebrows, provoking debate and pulling thought around Aboriginal public policy kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century – and not a moment too soon.
Restoring property rights to First Nations is the right thing to do for both moral and economic reasons. It`s an effective means to ending a system of dependency on government that has served no one. With regard to rights, there is also a fermenting point of view that chooses to link the rights entitlement agenda with efforts to take action to help ensure First Nations have safe, clean drinking water.
The importance of protecting Aboriginal and Treaty rights under Section 35 of the Constitution is of great significance. But so is making sure that one of the most basic necessities of life – the availability of clean and safe drinking water — is provided for. Balancing rights against the health and wellbeing of people is often a difficult process. But not in this instance. The need for clean and safe drinking water must trump any political effort that seeks to gain leverage for the larger debate around rights for resources.
This is a moral issue and one that deals with the most fundamental services any government delivers to its citizens: providing clean and safe drinking water for on-reserve First Nations people. Prime Minister Harper’s government is moving forward with legislation to deal with ensuring the safety of drinking water, the effective treatment of wastewater and the protection of sources of drinking water. There has been productive and open dialogue with First Nations in addressing these fundamental water issues. This dialogue and collective progress in respect of it will continue.
The goal in this endeavour is to work with First Nations to develop and implement regulatory standards, to build capacity within the communities so that they can meet the water health and safety needs so necessary to ensure healthy communities.
If there is anything remotely related in this matter to rights and entitlements it would be this: nearly all other Canadian communities are protected by water quality regulations.
This proposed legislative endeavour seeks to fill the regulatory gap that has left onreserve communities without protective measures for water quality – something to which First Nations citizens living in reserve communities are certainly entitled. An old proverb teaches “filthy water cannot be washed” and so we seek together to develop ways, means and processes through which the waters of First Nations might be “as right as rain.”
Lands and resources they contain are part of the fabric that has woven First Nations communities for centuries. They are both a part of our tradition and a key to our future. We are both connected to them and our prosperity remains linked to the sustainable application of them as levers to a better way of life. We’re a part of nature and not set apart from it. As Canada and First Nations continue the dialogue and debate around new, innovative means around land and natural resources, we must work to continually recognize our shared role as custodians and stewards of the gifts we have been left to attend to.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 11:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.