Group takes their treaty message to Ottawa

The people of West Hill United Church in Toronto are acting to hold the government accountable for upholding the treaties on their behalf.

“We’re all treaty people,” said Minister Gretta Vosper as she prepared to leave on Nov. 26 in a caravan headed for Ottawa with four members of the congregation, Ruth Gill, Steve Watson, Morlan Rees and Dorothy Hirlehey.

“The First Nations treaties that were signed with the Crown, we usually think of as treaties for the First Nations,” said Vosper. “We neglect to own the responsibility that we have as the party that signed on the other side of the treaty.

“As the Crown has been passed to the government of Canada which represents us, they’re treaties that we are engaged in. We need to hold the government responsible for reflecting our desires and beliefs in how those treaties need to be responsibly lived out. The government has not done that.”

The group was armed with a petition demanding that the federal government lift the two per cent cap, in place since 1996, on annual increases to core funding, increase funding so that First Nations have equal access to basic services such as clean water, housing, education, and to reverse the planned $1.2 billion cut to the 2015-16 Aboriginal Affairs budget.

Steve Watson said the caravan idea came out of the First Nations Study Circle that’s been going at West Hill for three years.

“We wanted to take our concerns to a higher level,” he said. “We had to be careful we weren’t portraying ourselves as spokespeople for Indigenous people in Canada.” That’s when they decided to forge ahead as the group on the other side of the treaty agreements.

“It takes two sides to make a treaty,” said Watson.

The First Nations Study Circle has been “a real eye-opener for people,” said Ruth Gill who coordinates the Circle. It was listening to a group of women from Grassy Narrows First Nation in Ontario talk about mercury poisoning in their community that made Gill realize that lies were being told about First Nations and deliberate efforts made on the part of government to hide or manipulate the truth.

“It’s endless. And it’s troubling because it’s endless,” she said.
“But once you know,” Gill continued, “you have to speak out honestly and tell the truth because there’s so much racism and misunderstanding out there.”

Once she learned the truth, Gill said, she felt compelled to do something, beginning with realigning her own personal priorities.
“You realize how materialistic we can be,” she said.

West Hill United is fulfilling its mandate with the petition, Vosper said.

“We’re known for doing things about social justice and about living just and compassionate lives as individuals and as groups,” she said. “It’s an honor to be part of creating this petition and sharing it with the people of Canada.”

“Our petition draws attention to the fact that the government is planning another $1.2 billion cut from Aboriginal Affairs,” said Watson. “If people ask, why is the government doing these things, we have to say, the answer isn’t pretty. If I were to say what it really means, it means that the government has a strategy of starving people into submission. If life becomes so terrible, they will have no alternative but to leave their homelands, their reserves or their territories. That means there will be that much less resistance to mining and logging because there will just be fewer people there.”

Watson said he has seen government documents attesting to this.

“They say if people can’t live under these conditions, then they’ll just have to find other economic opportunities, other solutions which is bureaucratic codeword for, they’ll leave the reserve.”

When the group arrived at Parliament Hill on Nov. 28, they had 3,300 signatures, hundreds of which were gathered along the caravan route. Stops were made in Port Perry, Peterborough and Perth.

Conservative MP for Scarborough East-Pickering, Corneliu Chisu, read the petition in the House of Commons on Nov. 28. The minister has 48 days to respond. The West Hill group is planning its next steps.

“Native people have a lot to teach us about how we can live better on this continent,” said Watson. “Idle No More woke us up to the fact that we had better start listening to a different perspective or we’re in a lot of trouble.”

Watson continued, “This is not about charity. We’re calling for equality and if we have a new understanding with Indigenous people in Canada, that’s to our mutual benefit.”

The petition campaign was supported by a number of groups, including Kairos, Unifor, Public Service Alliance of Canada and the OFL, as well as both opposition critics for Aboriginal Affairs.

Photo caption: The West Hill United Church Caravan to Ottawa just before their departure on November 26. From left to right, Dorothy Hirlehey, Ruth Gill, Morlan Rees, Steve Watson and Minister Gretta Vosper.