Thanks, Michèle.
Good morning.
[Witness speaks in her native language]
My name is Teresa Edwards, as I was introduced by Michèle.
I am from the Mi'kmaq First Nation in Listuguj, Quebec.
As Michèle so eloquently stated, the MP Rob Clarke has claimed that he brought this legislation forward because the Indian Act is an archaic piece of legislation that treats aboriginal people as wards of the state, with no power. Yet there has been no thorough process in place to meet with our leaders, our governments, and the people within the communities to hear the voice of women on how to best proceed to amend the Indian Act.
Calling witnesses to a committee is not, in fact, a thorough consultation by any stretch. We have to ensure that any changes to the act are designed by first nations themselves. If they are not part of the solution, there will not be a successful implementation. We have seen this for hundreds of years. Aboriginal people need the provisions that will protect their rights. With the government moving forward unilaterally, as it has, it is still treating us as wards of the state and making decisions on what it thinks is best for us, even now in 2013.
It's become apparent to all Canadians that this government is not consulting our people, and the resistance is manifesting itself with every Idle No More demonstration that is happening in every community across this country.
There have been little to no opportunities for community women to express their views, to strategize, or to discuss their visions on any amendments to the Indian Act.
Despite the fact that aboriginal rights are protected within the Constitution, and despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has set out specific processes for governments to thoroughly consult, accommodate, and get consent regarding legislation affecting aboriginal peoples, this government has been systematically passing legislation that strips away these rights and our protections with little to no input from our people, which is a breach of this country's very own laws.
Any efforts to change the Indian Act must be based on collaboration between first nations and the government, not on independent action by a member of Parliament or by the government alone.
NWAC opposes this bill for a number of reasons. For example, residential schools created generations of alienated peoples whose earliest experiences were of forced removal from their families and communities, profound racism, and brutalization. In total, some 150,000 aboriginal children attended 130 Indian residential schools from the 1800s until the last one closed in 1996. This is a 100-year history, as the last school close in 1996. So the impacts are very real and very present in past, current, and future generations of our people.
The cultural traditions that honoured children and elders were replaced by Euro-Canadian ones that inflicted physical, emotional, and sexual violence while instilling deep notions of shame and inferiority. Violence was normalized and there was complete impunity for the perpetrators. While violence is a symptom manifested towards our women and within our communities, it is at the core of the ongoing intergenerational trauma from Indian residential schools and the challenges that face us today.
The current effects are demonstrated with educational achievement levels, addiction challenges, child welfare apprehension, over-criminalization, conditions of poverty, vulnerability of women and girls to predators, and increased indicators of mental health difficulties.
Given all these facts, it would be more appropriate to put in place legislation that would ensure that all Canadian students were required to learn in school about the true history of our peoples so that racism could finally be addressed through proper educational curricula and put these myths to rest.
There is an urgent need to address the context of inequality and the intergenerational trauma in which aboriginal women and girls are affected. In particular, more attention must be paid to the continuum of violence and poverty where aboriginal girls are unprotected, revictimized, and then later criminalized.
Measures and processes such as this are not the way to move forward. We can be far better served with other legislation that will positively affect the lives of future generations. This legislation, and similar legislative reforms that are being put forward, are all laying the foundation for further dispossession of lands; loss of resources and benefits; jeopardizing our socio-economic security; as well as putting the environment, water, and animals at future risk while enabling governments. Both federal and provincial governments will have more decisions about the future and about our resources. In no way will these methods or measures benefit our people.
I'm speaking to you about this legislation, but also all the other pieces of legislation that have been moving forward in the same manner.