Good morning. My name is Brenda Sayers, and I am from the Hupacasath first nation on Vancouver Island. I am here with a unique perspective on trade agreements.
I was a portfolio holder for my nation on the Canada-China FIPA and spent nearly two years in court with the former Government of Canada in an attempt to have our people heard. As it turned out, it was a rather futile exercise, as Prime Minister Harper chose to ratify the agreement without waiting for the court's decision in the case.
Today, I am representing UBCIC, an organization of indigenous nations in British Columbia, founded in 1969 and dedicated to promoting and supporting the efforts of indigenous peoples to affirm and defend aboriginal title, rights, and treaty rights. The UBCIC is guided by the principle that indigenous peoples possess an inherent right and responsibility to care for and protect our lands and resources, to govern ourselves, and to enter into relationships with other nations guided by our laws and traditions.
The TPP and associated processes threaten our inherent indigenous rights, title, and treaty rights, as well as our respective territories. UBCIC is extremely concerned the Government of Canada signed the TPP without consultation or consideration of the constitutionally protected, judicially recognized, and internationally enshrined rights of indigenous peoples across this land. It is especially true in B.C., as many of the resources require direct access to our lands, lands protected by our inherent and unceded rights and title. Trade agreements, such as the many foreign investment promotion and protection agreements, CETA, and TPP, prioritize corporate rights over our rights.
The TPP will impose non-discrimination between a local and an international investor, thereby granting more rights to the transnational firms, like PETRONAS, under its investor-state dispute settlement provision. The TPP provides a path whereby third parties could avoid the consultation and consent of indigenous communities.
The ISDS provision in the TPP allows companies to challenge and sue the Government of Canada if we, as indigenous people, choose to protect our lands from resource development. Canada will then have to choose between supporting aboriginal rights, title, and treaty rights, and the foreign state. If multinational corporations are able to sue national governments in private tribunals for a loss of potential profits, what incentive is there to obtain the consent of indigenous communities? Therefore, ISDS provides a loophole to ignore indigenous rights and title.
The UBCIC believes that the ISDS provision will also pressure the Government of Canada to defend international resource development corporations rather than honour, as Prime Minister Trudeau stated in the mandate letters of his cabinet, the “renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership”.
The UBCIC opposes the ratification of the TPP. The previous Government of Canada bypassed indigenous involvement at every level. This complete lack of consultation directly contravenes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The current government has stated that it supports UNDRIP. Therefore, it has no right to ratify this deal without our free, prior, and informed consent. We have witnessed the devastating impacts of similar free trade agreements on the rights and lives of indigenous people around the world.
The benefits of trade agreements have flowed largely to corporate balance sheets, investors, and highly paid salaried executives. Indigenous peoples have been criminalized for protecting their indigenous rights.
It is our hope with the new government in place, and with the recommendations on reconciliation adopted by them, that Prime Minister Trudeau's commitment to walking the path with indigenous people in partnership and in friendship will be more than just lip service and will include a real partnership when it comes to important matters, like trade treaties, that will affect the lives of all Canadians.
I thank you for your time.