Aboriginal people represent the fastest-growing demographic in the country and many social issues (incarceration, youth unemployment, suicide) disproportionately impact First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and communities. Despite such realities, little attention seems to have been paid to Indigenous issues during this black hole of a federal election, which has led AFN Chief Perry Bellegarde to repeatedly call out national leaders.
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Yesterday, VICE's Matty Matheson was able to ask Stephen Harper about murdered and missing Indigenous women."Most of these murders, sad as they are, are in fact solved," the Conservative leader said. "We are way past the time for further study, this is a time for action, and our government is going to proceed with our action plan."And earlier this week, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau told VICE he would get clean water to 93 First Nations communities within five years of being elected.But these are hardly the only issues facing Canada's Indigenous population, so we asked ten prominent Indigenous figures about what our national leaders should be focusing on during this election.
Tanya Tagaq, throat singer and winner of 2014 Polaris Prize for Animism (Inuk)
Tanya Kappo, lawyer, co-editor of The Winter we Danced (Cree)
Hayden King, director of Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, assistant professor of politics and public administration, frequent contributor to the Globe & Mail (Anishinaabe)
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Canada's Waterless Communities: Shoal Lake 40, from VICE Canada ReportsThe biggest issues I'd like the government to focus on are education, health, and justice. There's a huge gap between how much the government spends on First Nations and non-First Nations students in Canada, particularly on-reserve schools. There's this perception that Native people have a free ride with education and that's just not the reality. There are 94 recommendations the Truth and Reconciliation report released. There's already a blueprint out there for improving the relationship between the government and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians. It's very comprehensive. The Conservative government didn't set a very high bar. They can only do better. Given these tools the TRC has laid out, I think it's a no-brainer. Canada, around the world, has this great reputation. If you're a First Nations person in Canada, there are some third-world conditions in our country, and people are starting to wake up to that. I'm very hopeful the next leader will pay more attention. This is a long game working towards healing and reconciliation.My position is I don't vote. The Canadian system is the Canadian system, and we have our own nation. It's the two-world vision that us Mohawks have. Treaties are between nations. If it follows that Indigenous people say the foundation of our relationship is a treaty, then where's the logical connection between that and saying you're a Canadian who participates in Canadian politics as a Canadian citizen? You can't have it both ways: you're either a participant in a treaty relationship or you're a Canadian citizen. There's a willful manipulation of our treaty relationship and I just find that to be ill-advised in the sense they're obviously putting themselves in alliance with one or the other political party, which makes them even more politically vulnerable than they are right now to retribution from the governing party should the Conservatives win again. It's something I don't think is a very intelligent movement from the part of Native leaders, asides from the fundamental hypocrisy of it.We need to see improvements in housing. And not just asking for money to build the houses, but asking for support in some of the initiatives that some communities are trying, including building their own homes—log cabins and homes—but they need support from government for utilities to come in and hook them up, for example. They need support there where they could empower communities to build their own houses. At the same time, it's part of the fiduciary responsibility to help take care of some of the needs of the community. And then of course the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. We know the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People made the call. The provinces all individually made the call. I'm hopeful to work with a government that's receptive to improving the lives of the children and families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and also as a way to stop the trend and curb that. And restoring funding to some of the agencies that work with our First Nations, including MKO. There have been huge cuts there and we're all struggling.
Leela Gilday, singer/songwriter and 2015 Juno nominee for Heart of the People (Dene)
Taiaiake Alfred, professor of Indigenous Governance and Political Science at the University of Victoria, author of Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom and Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto (Mohawk)
Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, former reporter for CTV Winnipeg and CBC Manitoba (Cree)
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