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The Trudeau government has an ambitious agenda to move relations with indigenous Canadians beyond the Indian Act, judging by comments made by Jody Wilson-Raybould during Tuesday night’s emergency debate on Attawapiskat.

The justice minister, who belongs to the We Wai Kai First Nation in British Columbia, said it is not easy to remove the “shackles” of 140 years of life under the legislation, but her government “is committed to ensuring we work in partnership with indigenous peoples to do just that.”

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The most perceptive comment she made was that to do so will require a consensus among aboriginals.

“Only the colonized can de-colonize themselves,” she said.

That is easier said than done. Governments of all stripes have attempted to repeal or reform the Indian Act since at least 1969’s White Paper, which tried to terminate special status for natives.

The Indian Act was imposed on indigenous people, in contrast to treaties that were negotiated. It has always been a source of discontent, regarded as paternalistic and coercive.