Bernard Valcourt the new Aboriginal Affairs Minister

Prime Minister Stephen Harper appoints the Honorable Bernard Valcourt as the new Minister of Aboriginal Affairs today.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan resigns his position Heritage Minister James Moore to be the Temporary Aboriginal Affairs Minister

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan resigns from his position in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet giving a prior conflict of interest as his reason.

In a statement posted on his official website, Minister John Duncan said he wrote a character reference on behalf of one of his constituents to the Canada Revenue Agency in June 11, 2011.  Citing this as inappropriate, due to his position in government.  Duncan tendered his resignation from cabinet on February 15, 2013.

His resignation comes after months of protests from Aboriginal groups across Canada. Challenges to Omnibus bills C-38 and C-45, Bill C-27 First Nations Financial Transparency Act and First Nations Education Reform are some of the issues his department faced in recent months.  He also initiated an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the inclusion of Metis and Non-status Indians as Indians under the Indian Act.

Heritage Minister James Moore was appointed as temporary Aboriginal Affairs Minister until P.M. Stephen Harper finds a permanent replacement.

Winnipeg Free Press explains Idle No More in an article by Mia Rabson

Here is a short explanation of Idle No More, the Treaties, the Indian Act and the current bills under contention as printed in the Winnipeg Free Press.

A guide to the Idle No More movement, treaties and legislation by Mia Rabson.

Society of Law Students Hosts Arthur Manuel and Harsha Walia at Access To Justice, Still? Conference.

“There has to be a re-carving of Indigenous Rights in Canada.” Arthur Manuel.

Arthur Manuel at SLSTRU Conference

“It's only through Idle No More, only through political action at the community level that you can get him to doggone move.” said Arthur Manuel, referring to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reluctance to meet with First Nations.  “It is only through political action only through on the ground creating economic uncertainty that you can really create that kind of change.  I am really inspired by idle no more.”

Arthur Manuel is a former Chief of the Neskonith Indian Band, Chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and a lead proponent of Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.  He and Harsha Walia a UBC Law graduate and activist sat on the closing panel of Thompson Rivers University's, Society of Law Students first conference on Friday February 8, 2013.  This final panel was attended by about 25 people. The two day event was held at the Brown House of Learning and explored different concepts of justice.

Manuel spoke about Indigenous economics.  How Federal and Provincial governments are developing the Nation’s resources without Indigenous involvement.  How organized First Nations groups which accept funding from the government have reached the extent of their usefulness.  That these organizations have become an Industry to manage Native poverty.  Only through grassroots and community political action can First Nations move forward.

Harsha Walia, SLSTRU Conference

Harsha Walia address the forum and talked about her experience in Downtown East Side of Vancouver and the issues of poverty, selective policing, criminalization of a community, criminalization of poverty, colonialism, aboriginal rights and how the legal system affects social activism.

"The law and justice are totally different," said Walia "there is a difference between what is legally right and what is morally right."

“There is an increasing reliance on criminalization as a tactic to deter activism.” said Walia. An example is Bill 78  passed by the Quebec government as an attempt to restrict student protests.  

(Quebec Bill 78 included these measures:

• rules against preventing students from entering an educational institution;[4]
• requirements for organizers of public demonstrations to give police advance notice;[5] and
• penalties for people who offer encouragement to protest.[6]

Judy Feng, Legal Perspectives on Bill 78 – Quebec’s“Emergency Law” to Quell Student Protests)

However, Quebec students ignored the provisions in Bill 78 and continued their protest in defiance of Bill 78. Students continued to march by the hundreds and thousands which made enforcement of the Quebec’s anti-protest law unenforceable. Leading to tuition hikes to be frozen and Bill 78 to be repealed in September, 2012 by Pauline Marois.

(Bill 78 was repealed by Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois on her 1st day in office.)

Governments and the courts have other methods of affecting social activism. Contempt of Court, Obstruction of Justice, Trespass, Libel, Defamation and Slap Suits are legal mechanisms in place that can affect activists. Surveillance and Infiltration are another set of court sanctioned means used to monitor First Nations and activist groups.

Walia was arrested pre-emptively, before the G20 because they thought she may pose a threat to the meeting but those charges were quickly dropped.  This is one example of the sweeping arrests made before the G20 and the increase surveillance that was authorized to quell protests of the summit.

Manuel offered encouragement to the youth in the final comments of the conference. The conference closed with a prayer from a local elder and a traditional song from Aboriginal students at TRU.

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Material of Interest:

The National Post ran a story Police violated civil rights, acted illegally, says scathing report on G20 Summit.  Where the Office of the Independent Police Review Director found that police violated the rights of approximately 1000 people during the G20 Summit.

Russell Diablo and Shiri Pasternak write about government monitoring of First Nations groups in the First Nations Strategic Bulletin a newsletter published by Russell Diablo.
“Russell Diabo (Kanienke’ha:ka) from Kahnawake is the Policy Advisor for the Algonquin Nation Secretariat & Wolf Lake First Nation, and is the Editor & Publisher at First Nations Strategic. Bulletin”Indigenous Waves.

Kamloops Global Day of Action

Idle No More and CommonCauses held an information session at the Smorgasbord Deli downtown Kamloops between 6 and 8 p.m. on the Jan 28's Global Day of Action.  

Idle No More declared solidarity with CommonCauses and other labour groups in a press release on 28 January, 2013.

Anita Strong - Common Causes
Michelle Good - Idle No More

The joint information session chaired by Anita Strong and Michelle Good was attended by approximately 50 people.  

This was the first event for Common Causes Kamloops, said organizer Anita Strong.  Common Causes is an umbrella group providing an united front for other social causes.

"We believe that coordinated action is needed to take a strong stand against this agenda that is changing society in critical areas such as the economy, the environment, labour rights, health care, food safety, education, social programs, culture, civil liberties, peace, and poverty."  
from CommonCauses.ca

Information Session at Smorgasbord Deli, Kamloops.

Michelle Good a local lawyer and organizer for Idle No More in Kamloops reviewed Idle No More's Official Manifesto that was released on 21 January, 2013.  

Idle No More's Manifesto covers four main points.

1. Treaties are made nation to nation between the Crown and First Nations and cannot be broken;

2. Resource extraction has made Canada one of the Wealthiest countries in the world at the expense of the environment;

3. The Federal government is passing laws which allow reserve lands to be sold for the purpose of resource extraction and that this infringes on First Nations Sovereignty; and

4. A stated belief in healthy communities.

Most of the information session was dedicated to dialogue and questions from people in attendance with Strong and Good.  

Issues discussed:

Bill C-45 and C-38 the Omnibus bills.  Concerns were raised about how the bills were not subjected to proper political debate before being passed into law.

The Mikisew Cree First Nations Legal Challenge against Bill C-45.

How mainstream media is presenting current issues and how people can get unfiltered news.

The role of social media in organizing events.  Social Media allows for greater communication but can leave older people out who are not computer savvy.

Future events:

1. A jointly held speakers series, proposed to start on 22nd March, 2013 at the same time as the UN's World Water Day.

2. Council of Canadians will be having a political forum at the Kamloops Farmers Market on the 27th April, 2013.

The information session was one of two events on 28 January.

A flash mob was held at the Interior Savings Centre during the Blazers Aboriginal Night at the same time drawing about 30 to 40 people according to Lenora Starr a local Idle No More organizer who attended the information session after the flash mob.