The
Honourable Justin Trudeau,
Prime
Minister of Canada,
House of
Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
October 26th,
2016
RE: Chaudière
Island and Our Promises to Walk Rightly With First Nations
Dear Prime
Minister:
I have been
watching with admiration the past year your in depth and skillful articulation
of the important issues facing Canadians.
For me, these include correcting the wrong relationship we have with
First Nations, for the first time ever in Canada making every vote count,
addressing the terrible wrongs in our criminal justice system, and truly making
a plan for Canada to cut greenhouse gases and renew our economy with renewable
energy. Today I am writing to you about
the relationships with our First Nations.
I have been
walking with my church to learn as much as I can about our colonial history and
our collective journey with our First Peoples.
It is appalling. One has to
wonder how a society could claim to be civilized after the terrible way we have
treated the Indigenous Peoples of this country.
I know you are fully aware of these problems. We are all responsible – Liberals,
Conservatives, NDP, and the citizens themselves. It will take a long time to correct this
situation. Nevertheless, there are many
things we can and should do as quickly as possible.
You have
demonstrated yourself to be the master of the ceremonial moment. I believe we are at such a moment in
Canada. We are about to celebrate, in
the next year, our 150th Birthday of this great country. I believe you should grasp this opportunity
and make the important symbolic gestures of reconciliation with our First
Peoples. In Ottawa, that would mean the
dedication of Victoria, Chaudière and Albert Islands to the Algonquin People
(including Kitigan Zibi and the Quebec Algonquin as well as the Ontario
Algonquin.) This gesture should include
the offer to clean up the toxic site, and the restoration of the falls. The only power generation that should happen
should be the more natural run of the river type that allows for the full
functioning of the river for the fish and other creatures that depend on
it. The area has a special energy that
is cherished by the Indigenous people.
It is a place for prayer and ceremony.
The rock and island formations form a sacred pipe bowl of peace. If the Algonquin choose, it could be
developed along the vision of Grandfather William Commanda. It would become a major tourist attraction
for the City of Ottawa and would function as the soul of our city. My hope is that the Zibi project would
continue to be planned, and would be allocated space in LeBreton Flats. It is a worthwhile project in the wrong place.
I believe
you should work with Indigenous peoples across Canada to identify other such
sacred sites that should be named and dedicated to the people of the land as a
symbol of your commitment to respect the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, their culture and religion. We tore their cultures apart by separating
the children from the families and by banning the drum and the potlatch and all
forms of ceremony. Indigenous people
live every day through their sacred connection to the Creator and guide their
actions through prayer and ceremony. To
restore right relations, we must restore their sacred sites.
It is important that our First Peoples must not
have to choose between restoring their sacred sites and having funding for
education, housing, health care, and economic development. Our obligations in these areas continue as
ever, and are not satisfied by symbolic gestures relating to religion and the
land. I recognize that these changes may
take time, but ask that you work on them urgently as well.
I hope you will begin by ensuring that every First
Nations, Inuit, and Métis child in Canada will have equal funding with every
other Canadian child for education. I
see no reason why this need take years to implement. Our indigenous citizens need to have the
funding to improve the quality of their schools immediately. Budget issues should not trump equality and
fairness. If non-indigenous Canadians
have to give something up in order to have equality with First Peoples, so be
it. I also hope that in this process, we
go as far and as fast as we can to put education decisions in the hands of our
First Peoples. Let the dollars not be
absorbed by bureaucrats and consultants who get the employment instead of
teachers and consultants chosen directly by the Indigenous Peoples
themselves.
And of course, it is equally important that we
work aggressively to solve long-standing problems of inadequate drinking water,
housing, and so on.
It is time our reconciliation with our First
Peoples goes beyond words to action. I
appeal to you to make the symbolic gesture of restoring the falls, and
restoring the Victoria, Chaudière and
Albert Islands during our 150th anniversary as an important first
step.
In faith that we will achieve reconciliation if we
try,
Rev. Frances Deverell (Retired Unitarian Minister
working in the community in Ottawa)
cc. The Hon. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
House of
Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
cc The Hon. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian
Heritage
House of Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
Cc Rona Ambrose,
Leader, Conservative Party of Canada
House of
Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
CC. Thomas
Mulcaire, Leader of the NDP
House of
Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
Cc Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of
Canada
House of
Commons,
Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A6
Cc Mayor Jim Watson,
Ottawa City Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1
Cc Russell Andrew Mills,
Chair of the National Capital Commission
202–40 Elgin Street
Ottawa ON K1P 1C7
Ottawa ON K1P 1C7
Cc Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Cc Philippe Coullard, Premier of Quebec
Édifice Honoré-Mercier, 3e étage
835, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec) G1A 1B4
835, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec) G1A 1B4
· This letter will be made open to the public.
