01) TIME TO END THE INEQUALITY OF NATIONS
Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada welcomes the "Declaration of Commitment ‑ First Nations: Working Towards Fundamental Change", which was signed on January 23, as a major advance in the historic struggle towards full and genuine equality of all the nations within the Canadian state. We pledge to work side by side with all progressive and democratic movements in Canada to help make the principles contained in this Declaration a reality, and to overcome the impact of centuries of racist oppression which began with the European colonization of the western hemisphere.
The Declaration has been achieved through the collective resistance of the Aboriginal peoples, who have never surrendered their demands that nation‑to‑nation treaties signed with the British Crown must be fully respected and honoured, and that traditional indigenous territories which have never been ceded to the Canadian state (such as most of British Columbia) must be respected as the lands of their original inhabitants. These demands have been at the heart of the powerful Idle No More movement, challenging the concept that the capitalist state and the transnational corporations have an unfettered right to ignore the treaties and to exploit and despoil the environment and all the natural resources within the borders of Canada. We salute the inspiring actions of Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat First Nation, Raymond Robinson of Cross Lake, Manitoba, Jean Sock of Elsipogtog, New Brunswick and other fasters in recent weeks,whose courage and commitment have helped to make this Declaration possible.
At this point, the Declaration is a statement of intent, signed by the Assembly of First Nations, the Native Women's Association of Canada, and the caucuses of the two largest opposition parties in Parliament.
The Declaration calls for concrete action on many of the immediate problems of poverty and inequality faced by First Nations across Canada. But more fundamentally, it would also commit the Crown, Federal Governments, Provincial Governments and all First Nations to discuss outstanding Treaty and non‑treaty issues on a Nation‑to‑Nation basis, which is truly a historic statement.
These issues include resource sharing, sustainable environmental policies, a comprehensive review of Bills C‑38 and C‑45, guarantees that all federal legislation has the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations where inherent and Treaty rights are affected, an equitable fiscal relationship between First Nations and Canada, the removal of arbitrary funding caps, a public inquiry on violence against Indigenous Women, equity in capital construction and funding of First Nation schools, additional funding support for First Nation languages, and full implementation of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It is an unfortunate political reality that the federal Conservative government under PM Harper still stubbornly refuses to accept the national rights of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Just as the Harper Tories used every possible dirty trick to turn Canadians against Idle No More and Chief Spence, they will continue to sabotage every attempt to achieve the goals of the Declaration of Commitment, such as offering token promises of improvements while simultaneously attempting to slander and divide the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
Despite this, the fact that the caucuses of the two largest opposition parties have signed the Declaration is an important indication that the old "status quo" of Confederation ‑ the view that Canada is nothing more than the structure of the federal and provincial governments ‑ is an unacceptable relic of the colonial past. This concept argues that the Canadian state should be eternally based on constitutional agreements, undemocratically settled among a handful of 19th Century white, male politicians. In fact, these arrangements were simply meant to facilitate the drive by ruling elites for maximum power and profits.
As the long‑time leader of the Communist Party of Canada, Tim Buck, said during his 1931 trial on sedition charges, the Canadian state was founded on the theft of indigenous lands, and the exploitation of immigrant labour. The "nation‑building" project of the Anglo‑Canadian ruling elite came at the expense of the indigenous peoples displaced by the genocidal policies of the ruling class.
Similarly, the national rights of the Québecois, Acadiens, and Métis were also trampled by Confederation. When it suited their purposes, the domestic ruling elite willingly sold out the sovereignty of the peoples of Canada in return for a share of the profits from integrating the country into the U.S. imperialist war machine. The so‑called "free trade" agreements imposed by Conservative and Liberal governments in recent decades threaten to extinguish any meaningful exercise of political and economic sovereignty within Canada, including by Aboriginal nations.
The time has arrived to demand a new Canada. Ending the oppression and inequality of nations within the Canadian state will require unity of the working class of all nations against the corporate ruling elite. Unity to achieve the goals of the Declaration of Commitment will be a key element of efforts to create a broad and powerful people's movement to reverse the negative impact of capitalist domination since the time of Confederation. In stating our solidarity with the Declaration of Commitment, the Communist Party of Canada will continue to make this struggle a central strategic aim of our call for a People's Coalition to block the neoliberal agenda and win policies to put people and nature before profits.
(The following articles are from the February 15-28, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)