In communities across Canada, people are coming together in a wide range of activities intended to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens closer together.
It’s a welcome start, but it falls far short of meaningful “reconciliation” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
“Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country,” the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada declared in its 2015 report. It added: “We are not there yet.”
Indeed, we are not – even five years later.
There are Indigenous communities where unemployment hits 70%. Poverty is rampant. More than half the 633 First Nations in Canada don’t have clean and reliable water supplies. At least half of reserves have defective and crowded housing.
Social problems abound. Education and income levels are lower. Suicide rates are five to seven times higher for First Nations youth than for non-Indigenous youth.
Indigenous people make up some 20% of people in prison, although they make up only 5% of the Canadian population.
Life expectancy can be 10 to 15 years shorter. Infant mortality is higher.
As noted by Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada and its standard of living ranks sixth in the world according to the UN Human Development Index. But apply those index measurements to Canada’s Indigenous people and the rank drops to 63rd.
For me, reconciliation begins when we Indigenous people are able to stand on our own two feet financially, when our quality of life increases, when social and economic issues are addressed, and socio-economic gaps are closed. Then we can say we’re on our way.
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed many initiatives, but there are some encouraging signs of moves on economic reconciliation. Ken Coates, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, wrote in a paper in August: “Canada’s natural resource sector has emerged as one of the front lines of Indigenous reconciliation in Canada, providing the nation and Indigenous peoples with a new and evolving model of Indigenous-corporate engagement.”
Coates notes how court decisions began to shape a reality in which “major decisions about resource extraction and resource infrastructure, like pipelines, require Indigenous engagement, though not necessarily the communities’ formal approval.”
Coates is technically correct on the last point. But, certainly in B.C., you really can’t do your business on Indigenous land without consent from the affected First Nations.
That’s a long haul from the colonial era when resource companies simply invaded unceded Indigenous territory. They drilled, they built pipelines, mines and plants, dammed rivers, and carried on their business without affected First Nations having a say in any of it – and without compensation.
By now, however, First Nations have won more than 300 court decisions on land, title, rights, consultation and accommodation.
Many industries have learned how to “consult and accommodate” and how to build meaningful relationships with First Nations before trying to build projects. They can get to “Yes” if they take the time to do that and stick to it. And they can quickly get to “No” if they break promises or push disrespectful colonial values.
B.C., the Northwest Territories and the federal government plan to harmonize their laws and practices with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
We’re not yet sure what this harmonization will look like in practice. Will it, in the end, mean you must have a First Nation’s approval for a resource project in B.C.?
If so, this has been happening in some sectors for years. A prime example is LNG Canada and the associated Coastal GasLink pipeline. There are others in liquefied natural gas and the mining sector.
Impact benefit agreements with resource developers became a standard practice, giving affected First Nations some financial benefits. So did procurement agreements, in which Indigenous-owned companies provide goods and services.
Now, Indigenous entities are pursing true partnerships in enterprises and a real share in the decisions (and the profits). As Coates notes: “Indigenous communities are becoming increasingly willing to defend the industry and make large equity investments in oil and gas.”
TC Energy, for example, plans to sell a stake of as much as 75% in the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in B.C. And a group of First Nations is looking to buy in.
The most cited possibility is an Indigenous share in the publicly owned Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion.
While some First Nations loudly oppose the line, three western Canadian Indigenous groups have been eyeing a potential share: the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group, the Project Reconciliation group and the Alberta-based Iron Coalition. The first two say they’re interested in a least a majority share.
So we’re seeing some progress toward economic reconciliation – but we’re nowhere near there yet.
Governments need to help enable these opportunities for Indigenous people. They need to ensure a more modern approach to fiscal relations is developed and that capital is available for the broader opportunities.
And they need to build a policy framework that ensures Indigenous participation in the economy is more than an afterthought. •
Karen Ogen-Toews of the First Nations LNG Alliance is an elected councillor of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia, and a former elected chief of that Nation.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
