Why does reconciliation suck for Indigenous people?

Why does reconciliation suck for Indigenous people?

HAMILTON, ONTARIO – How seriously are governments committed to reconciliation when the majority of jurisdictions are still fighting Indigenous rights in Child Welfare, Education, Language, Health, Justice, UNDRIP, Treaties and Land Claims and the Environment?

Consider the following:

• Federal, provincial and territory governments in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut are fighting Indigenous rights in the courts
• Exclusion of Indigenous leaders from Federal, Provincial and Territory Healthcare talks despite commitments by all levels of government to “engage” Indigenous leaders after the three National Dialogue meetings in 2021 and 2022 held after the death of Joyce Echaquan
• Systemic racism incidents have been reported federally and in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon
• Child and Youth Advocates in Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador have raised red flags on the lack of progress in implementing recommendations from previous Child and Youth Advocate reports

Indigenous Watchdog scans multiple sources every day to aggregate content on 30 Indigenous themes – including 22 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. That content creates tangible, concrete evidence of where reconciliation is having problems and what those problems are.

In the first two months of 2023, Indigenous Watchdog has documented 141 “Current Problems” in multiple jurisdictions across 15 different themes of which the top five are the same top five highlighted by Indigenous Watchdog in “Where are the successes and Failures in Reconciliation: Indigenous Watchdog 2022 Year-in Review“.

What that content reveals is that almost 8 years after the TRC released their Summary Report in June 2015, reconciliation is struggling. 86% of the “Current Problems” documented in top seven themes took place from Ontario to BC – including the Federal government.

What does that say?

The provinces with the largest Indigenous populations are recording the greatest number of problems across the widest range of issues with BC leading the way (18 issues) followed by Manitoba (16 issues), Alberta (12 issues) and Saskatchewan and Ontario with 8 each.

If reconciliation is really working, why are there are there so many problems? The dominant thread is the profound lack of political will to tackle the hard issues, especially federal, provincial and territory power and jurisdiction and their refusal to cede ground – literally and figuratively – to those most impacted: First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

For complete details, click on the following link:

https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/2023/03/20/why-does-indigenous-reconciliation-suck/

If the above represents how federal, provincial and territory governments really feel about reconciliation, the road ahead will not be easy. Fighting against the combined weight of all levels of government will take the combined efforts and will of all Indigenous communities – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – working together to fight back.