Criticism of Quebec from the Aboriginal perspective is fundamentally fair and justified. Canada and Quebec have been colonial societies since Jacques Cartier and, despite some ad hoc efforts, they remain so today.
It is useless to shirk by saying that our colonialism is less awful than that of our neighbour. This does not change the fact that colonialism is by definition based on racial inequality. Colonialism was first French; he was later British; he is now Canadian-Quebecer.
The historical situation of the Quebec people is complicated because it is both dominator and dominated. It is at an intermediate level, complicit in the oppression of Aboriginal nations and bullied by Canada.
There are essential conditions to be met in order to hope to achieve a respectful and fruitful dialogue with the First Nations:
1. Recognize systemic racism in Quebec. We will never get to the first goal of an in-depth and authentic dialogue with the Indigenous nations recognized by the National Assembly without this recognition, because, for them, systemic racism is at the heart of their historical experience with the peoples of Canada and Quebec. , and this experience continues every day. Colonialism has been inseparable from systemic racism since 1534. Aboriginals never had the same rights as the French in New France.
2. Recognize that the oppression of the Aboriginal peoples is Canada-Quebec since responsible government was obtained in 1848. The first laws to civilize the Indians of Quebec by confining them to reserves date from 1851, at the time of the government of Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine at the head of Quebec and Ontario united to temporarily form the United Canada. The Indian Act has always had the function of clearing the territory of Aboriginal occupation to allow the government of Quebec to proceed with the development of natural resources without hindrance. From the Aboriginal perspective, these are two sides of the same coin.
3. Amend Quebec laws on natural resources and land use planning, as well as the Civil Code, to reflect and respect Indigenous rights. These laws are inconsistent with international law, specifically the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was introduced into Canadian law by federal law in June 2021.
4. Extend the peace of the braves model to other Indigenous nations who are entitled to it. These nations are five of them in my eyes: the Innu, the Attikameks, the Anishinabés, the Micmacs and the Malecites. These nations hold unceded territorial rights, that is, without a treaty. The claims of the Crees, Inuit and Naskapis were settled by a modern treaty, the James Bay Agreement, and its many amendments. The Mohawks, Abenakis and Huron-Wendats are special cases who can nevertheless benefit from international law and Canadian constitutional law. We congratulate ourselves on a peace of the brave, which is an amicable settlement of a legal action by the Crees. It is particularly odious that in 2022 the only way to obtain other peaces of the brave is, it seems, still the legal route, in very costly actions for indigenous communities impoverished by the refusal of the Government of Quebec to share revenues from natural resource development.
5. Create the permanent parliamentary forum promised by René Lévesque in 1985 for an in-depth and constant dialogue with the Aboriginal nations and communities, and reflect together on their permanent participation in the work of the National Assembly.
6. Include Indigenous peoples in the development of natural resources on their traditional territories by giving them a fair share of future revenues and compensation for the past, while reserving a portion of natural resource development and road contracts for them, as is already the case for the Crees and the Inuit. It is normal and legitimate for First Nations to become major economic players in their regions and in Quebec as a whole.
7. Propose to Aboriginal peoples to participate in regional governments, which must be created elsewhere, as is already the case in Cree and Inuit territories. The solution to the aboriginal question is largely regional.
8. Adopt a Constitution of Quebec that will be consistent with the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that the UN adopted in 2007.
9. In terms of symbolic reconciliation, replace the name of Sherbrooke Street in Montreal with First Nations Boulevard, as recommended by anthropologist Serge Bouchard, and modify the Quebec flag to include an Aboriginal symbol.
It is under such conditions that Quebec colonialism will come to an end. We are still far from it. Until then, complacency is out of order.
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