Canada Archives » Native Voice One

Manitoba Elections – A barometer

September 9, 2019 By Bob Petersen

Manitoba voters will decide this week on a new government — and a Native leader is running for the top post.

This is Trahant Reports.

Wab Kinew, Anishinaabe, a former journalist, a hip hop artist, and the leader of the New Democratic Party is one of four candidates seeking to form the next provincial government. In Canada voters pick a party, after that, the party with a majority (or a combination of parties) then becomes the government. The Progressive Conservative Party is now the ruling party and the current premiere is Brian Pallister.

Kinew was elected leader of the official opposition in 2016 after winning a seat in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. (To put that into U.S. terms: It’s the same as serving in a state legislature and the premier is a parliamentary version of a governor.)

This election raises all sorts of questions about Canadian politics — including Indigenous representation. There are more Indigenous candidates running for legislative seats than ever before, led by some 17 candidates for the New Democratic Party.

Yet there remains a deep division in Manitoba.

Pallister recently said that Kinew grew up with all those government benefits. He told the Thompson Citizen newspaper, Kinew “was handed more benefits than any premier in the last 60 years in this province.”

Pallister also says he’s the candidate who grew up in a home without indoor plumbing. (That’s why he hates taxes and is so pro-development.) And now? Critics say that Pallister lives in a mansion has a vacation home in Costa Rica.

Then this is the polite campaign.

A conservative campaign also directly attacks Kinew for his troubled past and tells voters that he is “a risk that we cannot afford.” One video asks: Did Kinew ‘try to intimidate his ex-common-law wife about the domestic assault allegations she made against him?” Another complaints challenge the circumstances around an assault of a taxi driver — a criminal act for which Kinew has been pardoned. Yet Kinew’s critics point out there has not been a full accounting of a domestic violence incident involving the former partner.

But the conservative ads also demonstrate a double standard in the era of Donald Trump (or in Canada, Doug Ford) who as candidates remained unapologetic about their past.

Kinew talks about his journey and how that led him to where he is today as a person and a candidate. Kinew told the Ottawa Citizen: “When I was being self-destructive, when I was partying too much, when I was getting in trouble with the law, there was family, community and spirituality.” It’s that idea that he says is essential before reconciliation.

Kinew also says the attack ads make it easier to talk about his journey and who he is today. He says this election is about the healthcare crisis in the province.

I am Mark Trahant.

Oh Canada

March 11, 2019 By Bob Petersen

Indigenous values, the rule of law, and a crisis for the Trudeau government.

This is Trahant Reports.

The chapter about Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the governing Liberal Party new era of reconciliation is over. It’s been replaced by a debate about the rule of law — and Indigenous values.

The story began more than three years ago when Trudeau— as the new prime minister—boasted of a new kind of democratic participation that included First Nations. The new cabinet was representative of gender, region, and included Aboriginal people.

When asked “why?” Trudeau replied, “because it’s 2015.” The chief of the Assembly of Nations even called it a “new era of reconciliation.”

One proof of that relationship was the appointment of Jody Wilson-Raybould, Kwakiutl, as Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

The relationship between the Liberals and First Nations was better than it had been under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, but it’s been far from perfect. First Nations leaders have complained about Indigenous rights being ignored. Several First Nations issued objections to pipelines saying that tribal lands were duly noted and ignored. While the First Nations that supported the development were highlighted by the government. A familiar story, right?

It took another corruption scandal though — one that did not involve First Nations — to change the story.

Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, reported a month ago that the prime minister had pressured Wilson-Raybould to intervene in a case involving SNC-Lavalin so that prosecutors would not pursue the case. The Globe reported that she declined.

This answered the question about why Wilson-Raybould had been demoted from her post as attorney general. A few days after the story broke, Wilson-Raybould resigned from the government. And then nother cabinet member, Jane Philpott, joined her and resigned because of the “serious concerns” raised in the case.

Raybould added Indigenous values into a national conversation.

She told Parliament: “The history of Crown-Indigenous relations in this country includes a history of the rule of law not being respected.”

Wilson-Raybould said she came “from a long line of matriarchs, and I’m a truth teller in accordance with the laws and traditions of our Big House. This is who I am, and this is who I always will be.”

The story is not over. Wilson-Raybould has already said she will run for another term in parliament as a Liberal member from Vancouver-Granville in the coming elections. But if she wins, she may not be welcome in the caucus.

One thing is certain: This will be an interesting election year in Canada. I am Mark Trahant.

Indigenous in Music with Larry K – Rellik in our Spotlight Interview

May 14, 2018 By Bob Petersen

On this episode: Larry welcomes back to our Spotlight from Edmonton, Alberta, Rellik.

Rellik tells us all about his new album: “Signal From Earth”, you can find out all about him on the web at rellickmusic.ca.

Also on this episode, hear music from:
Sinuupa,
Logan Staats,
Pa’l Norte,
Rose Moore,
Ana Tijoux,
Stolen Identity,
Nortec Collective,
Supaman,
Richie Ledreagle,
Joey Stylez,
Technicolor Fabrics,
Tito & Tarantula,
Lenine, Juanes,
Hour Eleven,
Spirit Cry,
Santullo,
Romeo Void,
Irv Lyons Jr.,
Quantum Tangle,
Fara Palmer
and much much more.

Trahant Reports – Canada’s New Government And The Music Of Elections

November 9, 2015 By NV1

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Events in Canada this week show why elections matter. This is Trahant Reports.

Yes, there will be better policies put in place: Perhaps a return to government-to-government relations with First Nations; more federal investment in Indigenous education; and, a serious, nationwide probe of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. All these things show a government moving in the right direction.

But there is something else: tone. The music of elections.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered the message that Aboriginal Canadians are significant intellectual contributors to Canada’s political discourse. Trudeau’s appointments, his first day of images, really set a high bar for what hope elections can stir in a community, including those representing First Nations, Inuit and Metis.

Most of us are surrounded by a narrative that says real shared power takes a long time. We have to move slow, methodically, bringing people along.

But that’s not what happened in Canada. Trudeau’s appointments were like a lightening bolt. In one instant the cabinet of Canada is representative of gender, of region, and, of Aboriginal people. When he was asked, “why?” about gender, the prime minister replied, “because it’s 2015.”

Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde told the CBC that Trudeau’s appointments begin a “new era of reconciliation” and the appointments send a powerful message about a new relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples.

The new minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould shows how a government can match diversity with extraordinary talent and experience. Much has been said about the attorney general’s role as a regional tribal chief and as an advocate for reconciliation with Aboriginal people. But she’s also been British Columbia crown prosecutor. The fact is she’s extraordinarily well qualified for this post. Wilson-Raybould is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation. When she was a child, her father said it was her goal to be Prime Minister.

That same richness of experience is true for the new minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Hunter Tootoo. He is Inuit and has a track record on issues such as economic development and housing. But he also was Speaker of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

Imagine what these kinds of appointments would be like in the United States: A leader of a fishing tribe named to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Or a tribal judge and attorney as the next United States Attorney General. Lightening bolt.

Canada, of course, is a different political system. Cabinet members must also be elected Members of Parliament. Here it would mean getting elected to Congress before you could be Interior Secretary. Yet even with the political differences, there is a shared sense of optimism after an election. Every government starts off with hope and the excitement of possibility of making people’s lives better.

I am Mark Trahant.

Trahant Reports – Canada’s Missing and Murdered Women

October 5, 2015 By NV1

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A rally on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature October 4th called attention to the 1,200 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Canada’s election day is October 19 and many Native groups are hoping a strong turnout will result in a national investigation and proposed solutions.

This is Trahant Reports. A similar story was told across Canada this weekend: Too many Native women have gone missing or have been murdered.

In Winnipeg, one event organizer, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, put it this way:

“As well as Aboriginal women, Indigenous women and girls we all deserve to be loved and valued and to feel safe. That we shouldn’t have to live in a society and worry about if we’re next. If we are going to be next to be murdered or to go missing. We need to feel safe. It’s our right to feel safe. ”

So on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature many rows of bouquets — shaped as a butterfly. Each flower a reminder of of so many loved ones who have been victims at of violence.

This is the tenth year of vigils; a tragedy that’s compounded by how little has changed since the movement began.

In a few days Canada will elect a new government. The hope is that through the ballot box the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls will take on new importance — and at the very least there will be a serious national inquiry.

Three of the four major political parties have agreed that there should be a major investigation and solutions put forward to the end epidemic of violence. But the party that said “no” is the current government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Indeed some have called the Harper years a “war” on First Nations because of his emphasis on resource extraction and budget cuts that disproportionately impact native communities.

Prominent Aboriginal Canadians from musician and broadcaster Wab Kinew to the new Mrs. Universe, Ashley Callingbull, have urged Native people to turn out and vote. Perry Bellegarde, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, recently told the CBC that he will vote in this election, ending his long time practice of abstention so that a new government might close the “gap between First Nations people and Canadians.”

Aboriginal Canadians are a higher percentage of the population than voters in the states — representing 4.3 percent of the country’s population.

All four major parties have Native candidates running for parliament. According to the nonpartisan IndigiPoll: Twenty-two Native people are standing for office representing the New Democrats, 18 as Liberals, 9 as Greens and 5 conservatives. In a parliamentary form of government, the parties elect the national leader.

One concern about this election is a new voter law that may make it difficult for First Nations residents. The law requires two forms of identification, including one with an address and that’s a thorny problem when many reserves do not have street names.

Canada’s election is October 19th.

One election in Canada (or the US for that matter) won’t automatically improve lives. But it can be a way to turn out a government that’s been hostile to Native issues. And at least start the framework for a better structure.

I am Mark Trahant reporting from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Station Spotlight – CFYT

August 25, 2014 By NV1

CFYT radio is located in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. The station provides a unique mix of programming to serve the unique needs of the community.

This community radio station is run by volunteers and receives some funding support from local and federal governments for equipment and operations.