First Nations people need the help of all Canadians to get governments to recognize the legal and moral obligations of treaty rights says the Assembly of First Nations Chief.
Shawn Atleo was in Thunder Bay Thursday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Treaty No. 5 which represents seven Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities. Atleo said everyone in Canada needs to recognize the importance of treaties in the Canadian fabric.
"What’s been happening in this country in the last number of years is we’ve clogging up the courts, battling it out it’s been conflict-filled on the ground and it will continue to be so until we really come to resolve and reconcile the original treaty spirit and intent in a modern context and there’s every reason why we should be able to do that," Atleo said.
While revenue sharing is still an outstanding issue, Atleo said education was also included in treaties signed with the crown. Atleo said 65,000 post-secondary graduates would be needed from First Nation communities in the next five years in order to close the achievement gap with the rest of Canada. People need to realize that having that many post-secondary graduates could contribute $170 billion to the Canadian GDP which would benefit everybody.
"We need the support of Canadians to accomplish these things," Atleo said. "Canadians are the ones that elect and put governments in place and we’re asking Canadians to keep walking with us to accomplish that."
NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy said the agreement with the crown, signed in 1910, meant peaceful co-existence and allowed settlers to come to Canada but most importantly it was supposed to mean everyone shared in the benefits of natural resources.
"We live in harmony in Canada, we allowed the settlers to access the natural resources from time to time but I think the third point (wealth sharing) is where we’re having difficulty and as a result my First Nations are very poor because there is no wealth sharing with the governments with my First Nations," said Beardy.
If Canada wants to continue enjoying a prosperous high-quality of life over the next 100 years, Beardy said a redistribution of wealth is necessary. When the commemoration ceremony happens next month, Beardy hopes government officials invited, from the Prime Minister to cabinet ministers to the Governor General, attend.
"I think anytime your treaty partner, Canada, doesn’t show up it’s a message to us that maybe they don’t take the treaty relationship as seriously as First Nations people," Beardy said. "Treaty making and the treaty itself is very significant because it’s as legal today as it was 100 years ago when we signed it."
