New chief supports Burnt Church

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Newly elected Assembly of First Nations Chief Matthew Coon Come made a strong statement of support for the community of Burnt Church, embroiled in a battle of wills with the Department of Firsheries and Oceans over fishing rights. Speaking to the community and the press on Aug. 17, the new national chief stated that he was there to show his unequivocal support.

"I am here to support the people and leadership of Burnt Church," he began. "I am amazed that in Canada in the 21st century I am visiting a place where government agents are confronting Indigenous people, and where last year the flames of burning Native boats and lobster traps lit the night."

He challenged DFO Minister Herb Dhaliwal's blunt assertion that DFO officers were only enforcing the law.

"The federal minister of Fisheries says the events at Burnt Church are about the orderly regulation of fisheries versus Aboriginal illegality, greed and refusals to negotiate. The minister and others are saying that this situation is about the rule of law and about one law for all irrespective of race," he said. "First of all, the people who are saying this is about race-based standards need a basic lesson in Canadian law and their own Constitution. We have always been nations and peoples.

"This unique status has been recognized in Canadian law and, since 1982, has been entrenched in Canada's Constitution. One aspect of this status is that we enter into treaties with the Crown. Our distinct rights flow from this unique status. We insist that governments and fishermen's organizations deal with us on a foundation of our inherent Aboriginal and treaty rights."

With all the discussion about the fisheries issue, Coon Come said one telling detail is being left out.

"There is a fundamental question that is not being asked," he said. "How can the people of Burnt Church, and other First Nations people across Canada, survive and thrive?"

He noted that under DFO's template agreement Burnt Church would get 5,000 traps while the non-Native fishermen were allocated 240,000.

"Burnt Church sees this as a gross disparity between the Mi'kmaq and the non-Native fishers in the area and they seem to be right," he added.

The term "gross disparity" was lifted straight from the United Nations report issued in late 1998 that was critical of Canada for its treatment of Indigenous peoples. Coon Come also referred to another historical milestone in the study of problems facing Indigenous people in Canada.

"In 1996, the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples called for a fundamental redistribution of natural wealth and resources in this country to end the cycle of poverty and dispossession faced by our people. In the Marshall case, the Supreme Court of Canada took a small step in the direction by affirming the Mi'kmaq treaty right to benefit from the Atlantic fishery," he said.

Reminding the crowd that claims by the federal government that it had to enforce its regulations in order to protect the fishery brought a stinging rebuke from the national chief.

"Let us not forget it was the federal government's mismanagement and non-Native fisheries that led to the devastation of the East and West Coast fisheries," he said. "First Nations peoples are the original conservationist on this continent. Our survival has always been tied to the health of the natural resources on which we depend."

He accused Dhaliwal of playing a cynical political game with this issue.

"The minister is now waging a sophisticated fight in favor of the status quo of inadequate First Nations access to resources, in this case the fishery. He is trying to divide First Nations from one another. He is trying to turn Canadian public opinion against us. He is misrepresenting the issues of law, particularly the extent of the federal government's authority in this context. And he is clothing the actions of his government in legitimacy when there is none," he said.

He ended by calling on the minister to re-think the strategyof employing force.

"Mr. Minister, call off your troops," he said. "I have always been opposed to the use of force for political ends, particularly when it is used by governments against Indians. I believe all Canadians want fair and equitable solutions that will enable our people to get off welfare, get to work, raise our families and build vibrant communities. For this to happen, we must regain access and jurisdiction over lands, waters and resources, for more than our people to just scrape by with the bare necessities of life - food, shelter if we are lucky, clothing and a few amenities."