Not much for Aboriginal Canadians in throne speech

Once. That's it. The new federal government's throne speech, which sets out the agenda of the ruling Conservative party as it heads into its first session of Parliament, mentions the word Aboriginal only one time in more than 2,000 words. The speech was delivered by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on April 4 in the Senate chambers in Ottawa.

There was no mention of the myriad issues in Canada specific to First Nations, Inuit, or Metis. Nothing about compensation for Indian residential school survivors, or for Aboriginal veterans. There were no commitments to the targets and goals set out in the Kelowna accord on housing, health and education. Nor was there any mention to funding for that accord. The only commitment of the federal government to Native people was to "seek to improve opportunity for all Canadians, including Aboriginal peoples and new immigrants." The mention was wedged between a specific promise to apologize for the Chinese head tax and the development of disaster relief programs for those toiling in the agriculture industry.

So, what does that say about the next year-and-a-half to two years for Aboriginal peoples while this minority government rules the roost? Has the Aboriginal agenda been placed on the backburner for the foreseeable future?

Not according to Partrick Brazeau, new Congress of Aboriginal Peoples national chief, who said the vague promise of improved opportunity to Aboriginal peoples was all he needed to call the day a success. He said the pre-election letter sent to the congress by new-Prime Minister Stephen Harper was Brazeau's speech from the throne. In it the Conservative leader promised to visit the issue of equitable distribution of funds for off-reserve Aboriginal people, which make up the majority of Aboriginal people in Canada, Brazeau said. The congress threw its official support behind the Conservative campaign based on the commitments in that letter.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice, when questioned by the Ottawa press corps about the lack of Aboriginal-specific references in the speech, said the government promised to improve living conditions for all Canadians, and that blanket statement included Aboriginal Canadians. He said he had already made a commitment to improve water quality in First Nations communities and in the days ahead would move forward on other issues specific to the Aboriginal agenda.

But if it's not in the speech from the throne, can it be high on the government's to do list?
Not according to Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine who expressed his disappointment that the speech left out mention of important agreements reached in the days leading up to the dissolution of Parliament before the federal election.

"Our expectation was that there would be no specific mention of First Nations issues, given that we were not one of the government's five stated priorities, but we are still disappointed that there was no reference to our agenda, nor any reference to our historic agreements on residential schools or to close the gap in quality of life between First Nations and other Canadians," said Fontaine.
Fontaine highlighted the government's intent to issue an apology regarding the Chinese head tax through Parliament as evidence of the government's willingness to address the institutionalized racism and discrimination of the past, and called on the prime minister to move forward with agreements on residential schools compensation and reconciliation as further evidence of that willingness.

"We applaud the efforts by government and the Chinese-Canadian community to address this outstanding injustice from our past," said Phil Fontaine."We have an agreement-in-principle on residential schools, which is a means to address one of the most widespread, pervasive and destructive examples of past discrimination. All that is required to implement this agreement is final approval by the federal government."

Of the five stated priorities of the government, accountability and transparency in government topped the list. The government plans on bringing in an accountability act that many suspect will include a component on Aboriginal governance.

The accountability legislation also promises "real protection" for whistleblowers in the public service, and strengthened capacity and independence for the officers of Parliament, including the auditor general.

Other priorities include a safe street legislation, which is expected to remove the faint hope clause in parole legislation and provide mandatory sentences for gun crimes and crimes of violence.
The Conservatives will be pushing forward with their election promise to discontinue provincial agreements made by the former Liberal government on child care and provide $100 a month to families with children under the age of six.

The government also promises a patient wait-time guarantee on health services.