Supporting Indigenous Rights

Canada is a colonial state. We have major problems with blatant and systemic racism towards the Indigenous peoples of this land. As Canadians we need to take collective responsibility for the historical and current wrongdoings of the Canadian government. For far too long this country has marginalized and discriminated against Indigenous people. We have conducted a cultural genocide that involved ripping children from their families, imposing our culture and language on them and brutalizing those who did not comply. Today, many First Nations live in extreme poverty without even the most basic human rights such as access to clean drinking water, education and healthcare. Cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women go un-investigated by our police forces. The MMIW inquiry termed it as genocide and it is ongoing. We must, as Canadians, do everything we can to stop this systemic oppression.

Before running for the leadership of the Quebec Greens I became good friends with Indigenous elder Raymond Robinson of the Pimicikamak (Cree) nation in Northern Manitoba. He is best known for his 43-day hunger strike with Theresa Spence in Ottawa during the Idle No More Movement. In early 2013, Raymond started a second no-liquid hunger strike due to Harper’s lack of action following the peak of the Idle No More Movement. During this second hunger strike, he put me in charge of his communications. It was a lot of pressure, but we managed to get meetings with the federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and many federal politicians. On the sixth day of the hunger strike, we had organized vigils in 30 different cities. Raymond concluded his hunger strike on that night and we have been friends and allies ever since. In 2013, I travelled with Raymond to New Brunswick where we took part in protests against hydraulic fracking lead by the Miꞌkmaq of the Elsipogtog First Nation. In 2019 we traveled across the country together visiting the tar sands, the Wet’suwet’en anti-pipeline camps, as well as the Arctic community of Tuktoyaktuk to observe firsthand the impacts of climate change in the Western Canadian Arctic.

Under my leadership the Green Party of Quebec put forward a bold program for indigenous rights including recognizing the right to autodetermination, fighting systemic racism and by proposing to give First Nations seats and voting power within our legislature.