Latest news with #B.C.FirstNationsJusticeCouncil
CBC
24-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Why 3 First Nations leaders say talk about Canadian sovereignty should include Indigenous perspectives
Mark Carney visited Nunavut on Tuesday on his first official trip as prime minister. While there, Carney said, "Canada is strong when we recognize Indigenous Peoples as the original stewards of this land, who remind us of the deep roots from which we grow and underscore the values to which we aspire." During the same visit, he announced military investments to strengthen Canada's presence and sovereignty in the Arctic. Talk about Canadian sovereignty — in the context of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump — and questions about what this means for Indigenous sovereignty and reconciliation are what brought together a Thursday morning panel discussion with Indigenous leaders Kory Wilson, Melanie Mark and Val Napoleon on CBC's The Early Edition. Recognizing Indigenous legal orders "Indigenous sovereignty is the original sovereignty," said Wilson, the chair of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council. "Sovereignty isn't about ownership and about sole determination. It's about working together, living together and allowing people to be self-determining … pursuing their own interests and working together to keep this country stronger and not the 51st state of the United States." WATCH | Carney talks about strengthening Arctic security: Carney announces Arctic security plans in Nunavut 6 days ago Duration 2:03 While she says she appreciates the prime minister's comments, Wilson says she still thinks there are lessons to be learned about Indigenous ways of governance, culture, community and nationhood. Napoleon, the founding director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit at the University of Victoria, prefers the term "restoring Indigenous legal order" to "sovereignty." She says Indigenous legal order is foundational to civility and democracy and wonders what Canada would look like if Indigenous laws and institutions were rebuilt and operational in communities. Christina Gray, a Ts'msyen and Dene lawyer at JFK Law in Victoria — who had her master's studies supervised by Napoleon — told CBC News that she thinks of Indigenous legal orders as another type of law, like Canadian law or international law. "Under Canadian law, there's the civil code and common law, but there's also Indigenous law as well," she said. Like Canadian law, Indigenous law is also a set of rules, customary practices and traditions, but Gray says that it's also a deliberative system. "Indigenous laws don't necessarily have written legislation in the same way," she said. "We have to think about it in terms of written articulations of law, which exist, but also oral articulations of law, and the reasoning that goes behind [them]." In B.C., Indigenous law has been used in shared decision-making between Indigenous nations and the provincial government, including land codes, self-governance agreements and restorative justice initiatives. Working toward a more inclusive future Former NDP MLA and CEO of Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak Consulting, Melanie Mark, says she believes in a collaborative approach. "I'm a proud Canadian. I love hearing 'elbows up' and that we've got a Team Canada approach, but we can't keep benching First Nations people in this conversation," she told the panel. "We need to be working with Indigenous leaders." Having been the first First Nations woman to ever serve in cabinet, she says that governments have gotten it wrong by not properly consulting with Indigenous people. "There's a cost to not consulting with Indigenous leaders. There's a cost to not working collaboratively," said Mark. She believes it needs to be deeper than "drive-by" consultations. "And I think if we take a more collaborative approach, we're going to have a win-win for all Canadians — whether that's resource development, job creation, the list goes on, but we have to be working together, and time is of the essence." An opportunity to change, together Napoleon says the recent conversations about Canadian sovereignty have created an opportunity for additional conversations. "We need to re-imagine Canada," she said. "The opportunity we have is to see what kind of country we could have if it was understood that everyone is important — and the foundation of this country has to include Indigenous peoples." Wilson says it's a learning opportunity. "Sometimes people think, well, if we include Indigenous people, then I'm not going to have this, or we're going to lose X, Y, and Z. There's no pie," said Wilson. "If we don't do it together, it's not going to work … Let us put our people to work and help and support and move this country forward."
CBC
22-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
New Indigenous Justice Strategy aims to address overincarceration of Indigenous people
Indigenous justice experts are welcoming Canada's new Indigenous Justice Strategy, but some are disappointed at its lack of concrete next steps. The strategy was released on March 10 and lays out 26 priority actions aimed at addressing systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system. It was created with the input of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis community members, organizations and provincial and territorial governments. "I think any strategy that advances and provides access for Indigenous people and is aimed and targeted at removing overrepresentation or reversing the overrepresentation is extremely important," said Kory Wilson, chair of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council. The B.C. First Nations Justice Council was created in 2015 to work on transforming the justice system to be more equitable for Indigenous people in the province. It is working to implement the B.C. First Nations Justice Strategy that was created in 2020. Wilson said the B.C. strategy has had a lot of success for Indigenous people in the province and hopes the national strategy would do the same. "The reality is the justice system as exists in Canada needs to be more accessible and more aware of the challenges facing Indigenous people so there needs to be an overhaul of the entire system," said Wilson. The incarceration rate of Indigenous persons in provincial custody was about nine times higher than for non-Indigenous persons in 2020/2021, according to Statistics Canada. On an average day in 2020/2021 there were 42.6 Indigenous people in provincial custody per 10,000 population, compared to four non-Indigenous people. The strategy contains specific chapters on priorities for First Nations, Métis and Inuit. The First Nations chapter focuses on reforming the justice system to better include First Nations laws and traditions to deal with the overrepresentation and discrimination First Nations people currently face. "The revitalization of Indigenous laws and Indigenous ways of knowing and how we've worked in the past has to start to be recognized," said Wilson. The Inuit chapter of the strategy talks about the need for increased infrastructure like housing, shelters, and transitional housing to help reduce interactions with the justice system, prevent crimes and support rehabilitation, as well as ensuring there are services, policing, and materials available in Inuktut. Implementation a concern Christina Cook, a lawyer in B.C. and a member of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba, said she is cautiously optimistic about the Indigenous Justice Strategy but that "It's also a bit disappointing that the report doesn't contain a lot of concrete next steps. There's a lot of aspirational language contained therein." Cook said she is happy to see the government take steps to address systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system, but hope the implementation leads to real change. "It's a lot of recycling of previous reports and recommendations, which is frustrating, but it could be transformative and positive, could it actually result in concrete changes," said Cook. Justice Canada said in a statement that the strategy will guide continued collaboration with Indigenous people and governments as regional implementation plans are developed over the next two years. Cook said her concern about implementation comes from the lack of action on previous government reports like Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry or the national inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. "It's easy to diagnose the problem, but it's hard to actually fix it," said Cook.
