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This article was published 21/4/2016 (1612 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Premier-designate Brian Pallister has a responsibility to establish and maintain relationships with the indigenous community in the province of Manitoba. I have some advice for him, which he may or may not accept.

It is provided in the framework for reconciliation with indigenous communities to ensure their full participation in the province of Manitoba in a way that honours language, culture, and custom.

The premier wields considerable authority and power over the indigenous population in areas including health, justice, and child and family services. The previous government, through its neo-liberal policies, apprehended indigenous children on an industrial scale from their families and communities. Indigenous communities in the Interlake were flooded out in 2011 and the residents became refugees in the City of Winnipeg. It appears indigenous people currently serve as a commodity to feed the bureaucratic apparatus while their families and communities have lost hope and a connection to each other and the land.

This has to stop.

If there is to be "A Better Manitoba" — to quote the PC campaign slogan — the relationship with indigenous people must be renewed and supported. The spirit of the treaty relationship between indigenous people and communities, the province of Manitoba, and the government of Canada must be put in place in keeping with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Going forward, establishing a policy framework within an indigenous-planning paradigm would be crucial for success. This framework would respect the world views, principles, traditional and contemporary knowledge, processes and practice of indigenous nations. The outcome in working within this epistemology would advance the new government's priorities in developing more urban economic development zones. It would establish a duty to consult respectfully and productively with indigenous communities, enabling them to participate in the economy and increase the quality of life while setting a table to invite indigenous leaders to participate as equals and place their priorities at the table as well.

Engagement and collaboration are key to ensuring peace, order, and good government in Manitoba — and it should be done with respect to the six treaties in Manitoba, the seven indigenous nations in Manitoba, the urban aboriginal community, and indigenous political organizations. A "one-size-fits-all" approach will not work but a policy framework should be designed in an asymmetrical manner that addresses all parties' interests.

As a first step, the new government should create a minister for reconciliation, indigenous relations, and northern affairs with the mandate to breathe life into the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as they apply to Manitoba and UNDRIP. It should also reaffirm a commitment to put resources into building the "Freedom Road" at Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and abide by the terms, spirit, and intent of the 1989 tripartite agreement. As well, Manitoba must work with other levels of government to address bread-and-butter issues facing indigenous people. Finally, it needs to support indigenous efforts to achieve self-governance in a manner that does not take away their rights.

We are a gentle people who have experienced generations of colonialism and imposed government legislation and regulation. We seek only one thing: the recognition that we have always been self-governing and self-determination is the key to our self-sufficiency. Self-determination will make us independent and self-sufficient. It will enable us to overcome the dysfunction facing our communities and let us protect our children and raise them in an environment that fosters our culture.

If our communities are to achieve that vision, it will need the courage of all levels of government to go beyond the Indian Act and to create something new that respects and honours the treaty relationship — an Indigenous Self-Government Treaty Act.

Pallister can play a role as the statesman who goes beyond party lines to implement this in partnership with the federal government and indigenous nations, with an outcome that results in vibrant and healthy indigenous communities.

Maeengan Linklater is originally from Lac Seul First Nation, Ont., and is a member of Winnipeg’s urban aboriginal community. He has lived in Winnipeg for more than 30 years and is a member of Treaty No. 3 and Treaty No. 9, with direct family lineage to those Manitoba treaties with First Nations.