The Anishinaabeg as Stakeholder

In his Facilitator's report on the Northwestern Ontario economy, Dr. Rosehart chose to ignore the sad state of our Treaty relationships in his recommendations. It's our Treaties, you recall, that contain the moral, legal and economic principles on which Ontario and Canada are founded. It's our Treaties, even before our constitution, that shaped the all-important, conditional allocation of this land and its resources. As such, these solemn undertakings form the underlying building blocks of our economy.

But Dr. Rosehart is not the first white chap to treat this pesky legal detail with apparent disdain. As the Supreme Court has frequently pointed out in recent years, neither the Provincial nor the Federal Crown have been particularly attentive to their obligations under our Treaties either. But one would think that, in enlightened 2008 PC, the Queen's hired sage might have connected the dots between road blocks, court rulings, confusion and animosity and the Crown's historic neglect of our deal. You'd think that these various symptoms of protests in the streets, Aboriginal leaders in jail, mining companies hauling their dollars and drill rigs to more stable ground and that huge dark jurisdictional cloud casting a constant chill over the future of the forestry industry might actually have caught the attention of an astute Economic Facilitator.

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/top_story.php?id=100456
As reported in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal (link above,) a number of senior First Nation leaders were quick to point out that the good Doctor missed this most critical of the many maladies plaguing the Northwestern Ontario economy. In response, Dr. Rosehart dismissed their shared analysis as simply wrong. He helpfully eliminates any concerns these leaders might have by pronouncing his report fit as a fiddle. He does say, however, that the poor Indian's reading skills may be deficient.

Well, as the Anishinaabe leaders and their legal advisors have demonstrated to our highest courts, they can read very well indeed. But it doesn't take a post-graduate degree in English to discern the vestiges of an obsolete colonial attitude infusing the language of Rosehart's text and recommendations. Time after time, he refers to the Anishinaabeg as 'stakeholders', placing them on the same plane of consideration as municipalities, cottage owners' associations and tree-hugger collectives. It is revealing that, among all his footnotes, there does not appear to be one reference to the many Supreme Court decisions that have repeatedly confirmed that First Nations have interests, jurisdiction, rights and decision-making powers far beyond what has been historically acknowledged by the Provincial and Federal governments.

As in most parts of Canada, all families in our area enjoy the benefits of a Treaty. Both First Nation people and we, the more recent arrivals, are 'Treaty people'. We are all affected when our resource agreements are dysfunctional. (Sadly, the effects have been badly imbalanced.) While it should have been a matter of honour, it is now a matter of urgent economic necessity that our sworn intention to build a peaceful country based on equitable sharing needs to be translated into a system of effective and harmonious decision-making and benefit sharing. Considering the terrible legacy of poverty in First Nations and considering the latest economic depression in the whole region, we should be busy building our new, more respectful processes, as soon as possible! The neglect, greed and racism of the past have eroded and undermined the cornerstone agreements of our land-sharing deal. This critical foundation is now incapable of supporting a stable resource economy. It is therefore remarkable that Dr. Rosehart did not insist that mending and strengthening our basic working relationships be the governments' most urgent economic priority.

The process of 'consultation' will not get us there; as practiced by Ontario, getting 'consulted' means you are powerless. Stability can only be achieved if the fundamental Treaty principle of an alliance between friends is our starting point. So long as the representatives (and advisers) of the Crown persist in ignoring or diminishing the principle of true partnership contained in the words of our nation-to nation alliances, then the war in the woods and in the courts will not only continue, it will escalate. The only economic gain in that approach will be enjoyed by police officers, judges and lawyers.

While Dr. Rosehart observes in the text of his report that the principle of Treaty Rights was mentioned as being of "some concern" by a few of the Aboriginal leaders he spoke with, it is clear that he was not sufficiently persuaded of our Treaties' importance to the economy to warrant more than a few feeble references deep in the 74 page body of the report.

The Chiefs are right. This guy missed the most fundamental of our economic problems. Crown Ontario might have wanted an economic visionary -but what they appear to have got was someone who seems to be viewing our world from the perspective of the last century. In the last century a 'forward thinker' like Pierre Trudeau could get away with his opinion that there was no such thing as 'aboriginal rights.' In the pre-Delgamuk days of the last century it still seemed reasonable to flood wild rice fields, clear-cut forests, pollute watersheds and generally marginalize First Nations with virtual impunity; ...so long as it was in the name of the greater good of the (largely non-native) nation. The most any sensitive government or developer had to do was offer a few menial jobs and some other assimilative tokens to the impoverished folks who were being economically and environmentally displaced from their homeland. Thanks to the men and women who are the supreme keepers of our national mythology, those days are gone forever. For the honour of our Treaties and of our country, leading lights like Dr. Rosehart must acknowledge that First Nations cannot be treated as subservient "stakeholders". First Nations are among the founding and continuing governments of this country.

Ultimately, the oversight in the good Doctor's diagnosis and directions for economic recovery won't matter much; (...although his dismissal of the Chiefs' concerns does not do much to improve the atmosphere.) Whether Dr. Rosehart recommends it or not; whether he is capable of reading the signs or not, Treaty issues will command priority attention. Neither the law nor the First Nations will allow them to be ignored any longer. It is pretty safe to predict that the economy of Northwestern Ontario will not be going anywhere so long as our leaders fail to implement those mutually beneficial alliances that are the foundation of our country: that is, our Treaties.

The wheels have fallen off the car but Dr. Rosehart chose to focus his recommendations on mending the upholstery and improving gas consumption.

New Western Ontario

Dear Mr. Premier,
Let me first express my sincere appreciation for the prompt and surprisingly non-formulaic response to my letter. I await Minister Pupatello's reply with great interest.

There is one critical point that I am moved to reiterate here because, as is evidenced from your choice of words, it would appear that a dangerously false and unconstructive perception of our area persists. I am positive that, if asked to reflect, you are very cognizant of the fact that most of Ontario and, indeed, most of Canada is located north the 50th parallel. In light of this national, geographic reality, most other Provinces view that area located between the 49th and 50th parallel as being easily accessible, highly productive and a decidedly southern part of their territory. (Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver are all located in this industrious southern belt. Saskatoon and Edmonton are found even further north.) Unfortunately, most decision-makers in Ontario, apparently including your good self, persist in describing our boundary-hugging location as 'north'. Portraying the busy corridor from Sault Ste Marie to the Manitoba border in a way that connotes remoteness and isolation creates a whole set of negative images, expectations, assumptions and presumed challenges that are not only false, they are detrimental to the prospects of what should be a normally attractive, eminently developable REGION OF SOUTHERN CANADA.

As a politician, you well understand that perception and image are critical to outcome. If this region is perceived to be and is treated as if it is some sort of remote, northern 'hinterland', then our opportunities and our economy will reflect that perception. The reality is that we, -and virtually ALL of the rest of Canada, could only be seen as 'northern' by those who inhabit that phallic bit of Ontario geography that dangles downwards from the rest of the country. While the deep southern and populous parts of Ontario might have much to recommend them, so far as I am aware, the centre of the universe is not located there. Our very normal, very southern Canadian location, then, should not be misrepresented as 'northern' simply because the seat of our government happens to bag into the United States.

The good folks in Attawapiskat, Ontario, although they are some 250 miles south of Fort McMurray, might legitimately claim to be located in the north. However, do you not think it might be more constructive to the economic future of this part of the province, (which, by the way, is closer to a US border crossing than you are at Queen's Park,) if our leaders and decision-makers would begin to recognize and respect us for who we really are: namely southern Canadians living in Western Ontario?

But, you might well ask, if not "Northwestern Ontario", then what? History may be of assistance here. Shortly after our Treaty was signed with the Anishinaabeg Nation of this territory, our region was known as the "New Ontario". It seems to me that this sort of description might more accurately and positively reflect the significant and yet unfulfilled economic promise that this southern corridor region holds for our residents, our province and our nation. It would also better respect the people and the issues that are truly and uniquely in 'northern' Ontario.

In closing, while I appreciate your government's good intentions to address the needs of the 'north', I would ask that you not overlook those of us who inhabit places like Kenora and Thunder Bay. Located as we are in southern and central Canada, we believe we have an important role to play here in New Western Ontario.

Thank you for your patient consideration of this letter.
Freda Peeble,
Kenora, Ontario

P.S. : It might interest you to note that Dr. Rosehart's recent report on the economy of our region contains a very revealing map that clearly shows the considerable network of all-weather roads that exists north of 50 degrees in every Canadian province from Quebec to British Columbia, ...with the sole and striking exception of Ontario.

A Reply from Dalton!

Thanks for your online message regarding economic development and opportunities in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. I appreciate your taking the time to share your views with me.

Our government understands that strong, vibrant northern and rural communities are important to Ontario's economic success and quality of life. These regions have great potential to contribute to Ontario's innovative new economy, but they also face unique challenges that require a focused and coordinated response. That is why our 2008 Ontario Budget provides $508.7 million in strategic initiatives over four years to create opportunities in northern communities and help to secure the region's place in Ontario's changing economy. For further details please visit the Budget website at ontariobudget.ca/English.

I appreciate the specific issues you raised about your community. As they would best be addressed by my colleague the Honourable Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, I have asked the minister to respond to you directly.

Thanks again for contacting me. I value and welcome your input.


Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario

cc: The Honourable Sandra Pupatello

White Noise?

As George Strombolopolous would say: -"Here’s the set-up:"

• A mining corporation with head offices near Toronto wants to remove valuable, non-renewable resources from an economically depressed area in Northwestern Ontario. They do not want to leave any tax dollars behind with the local government.
• The Provincial Government’s and the company’s consultation process with local leaders, ...ostensibly intended to address local concerns, is judicially reviewed and found to be less than what the law requires. Despite the flawed process and the animosity created, the company is determined to proceed with work on the land, and does. They argue that they have permission from the Crown, after all.
• A distant and urban-centric Ontario government takes the position that it is they and their non-resident civil servants who have the right to make the ultimate decisions, (and the big money,) when it comes to the exploitation of northern resources. Their message goes all the way back to 1873 and it's simply that Northern folks and their elected governments don’t get much to say and little sustainable benefit when it comes to the exploitation of northern resources. Both power and profits seem to be the birthright of old Ontario; they belong to Queen's Park and Bay Street.
• The local politicians and their constituents object to this disregard for their interests. They feel that the gifts contained in the earth hold a unique opportunity as well as serious potential risks for both the people and the land on which they depend. They are of the opinion that they must do everything they can to ensure the wise management of such scarce resources for the long-term good of the families that live in this small Northwestern Ontario community.
• It's worth noting that this particular community has been sustainably inhabiting their locale for a millennia or two and they seem intent on being there for at least as long into the future. They have a deep attachment to this place and, for some reason, feel they should have a right to have some say in how it gets used.
• When the impoverished local politicians and their constituents launch a desperate physical protest to register their displeasure at being ignored, the response of the company is to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit. The southern provincial government is largely silent while the local politicians are thrown in jail.
• Did I mention that these local politicians happen to be the Chief and Council of a First Nation?

Now, if a small northern municipality were to be treated with similar disdain by distant corporate lawyers and southern government decision-makers; if it were Mayors and municipal councillors who were thrown in jail for defending the interests of their constituents, you could bet dollars to donuts that there would be a hue and cry of outrage and support from every Municipal politician in Northwestern Ontario.

But here we have thoughtful, responsible, government leaders in Northwestern Ontario going to jail in their struggle to secure some meagre measure of local control over the exploitation of their non-renewable resources. Here are respected men and women prepared to give up their personal freedom in their attempt to gain some equitable voice for the families they represent, -and do the Northern woods ring with outrage? …Well yes, but only from the Aboriginal community. In contrast, complete silence reigns from the ranks of the mainly non-native municipal leaders of the region.

What is most surprising and tragically eloquent about this silence is that it prevails in what is supposed to be a new era of native and non-native economic solidarity in Northwestern Ontario. Less than twelve months ago there was a unanimous and much heralded resolution passed by the Northern Ontario Municipal Association. The resolution was to create a strong regional lobbying organization dubbed “Common Voice”. Here's what the municipal leaders all said then:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT NOMA authorize the Board and Executive to take action to create a partnership with as many groups and organizations as possible in Northwestern Ontario with the goal of creating a common voice to talk with other orders of government on issues dealing with the economy;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT First Nation Treaty Organizations be considered as full partners in the development of a “Common Voice” and are consulted as to the manner and nature of the partnership to be formed;

Today, if you visit the "Common Voice" website, they boast a supportive vision that should hearten anyone standing up for the interests of northerners. It reads: "The NWO Common Voice Initiative is a movement toward unified action by the citizens of Northwestern Ontario to chart their own course within the Province and the Country by addressing regional challenges with realistic Northern solutions."

But where is the unified action of “Common Voice” in this case? Does NOMA’s all-for-one and one- for-all solidarity suffer laryngitis when First Nation Chiefs and Councillors are the ones crying out for made-in-Northern-Ontario solutions? It seems so, because here are duly elected representatives of a responsible Northern government, fellow northern citizens, friends and neighbours, NOMA’s declared First Nation "partners" stewing in jail for the next six months. Without even considering the added legal argument concerning Aboriginal and Treaty rights, here are men and women who are the latest casualties in the longstanding and shared battle of northerners to protect northern interests and find "Northern solutions". If ever there was a clarion call for the solidarity of Northwestern Ontario to be heard, this is it. ...and what do we hear from all those united municipal allies and advocates of ‘Common Voice”? ...utter silence.

Is this the sound of a strong Common Voice? So far, the hypocrisy is deafening, ...or perhaps this is what is meant by the term "white noise".

Dear Dalton

Dear Mr. Premier,
The Conference Board of Canada today projected that Manitoba will lead all the other provinces in economic activity in 2008. I live in Kenora, Ontario, about 20 minutes east of the Manitoba border. My daughter and son-in-law moved to Manitoba and while I might be pleased for their prospects, I also have friends, family and colleagues in Kenora, Nipigon, Red Rock, Thunder Bay, Dryden and Atikokan. We on this side of the border have the same renewable water powers, the same skilled labour, similar manufacturing capacity and the same abundance of raw materials from the Boreal Forest and Canadian Shield as Manitoba. We are about the same distance from the Alberta energy powerhouse, (Kenora being closer to Edmonton than it is to Toronto,) yet our unemployment rate is higher than even Ontario's lagging average. Projections for our region are not very hopeful either.
Can you please explain why the Manitoba economy should be red hot and Northwestern Ontario's; -immediately next door, should be in the dumpster?
Like Winnipeg, our urban centers are located on Canada's main economic, communication and transportation corridor. We too have access to the Trans Canada Highway, the Trans Canada Pipeline and both transcontinental rail lines. The main line fibre optic cables and micro-wave transmission systems are pulsing the same amount of digital information past my front door as my western neighbours’, - and at the same speed. This busy location eliminates ‘isolation’ as a possible hindrance and, since our communities are either about the same latitude or closer to the US border than is Portage and Main, it cannot be suggested that our economic malaise has something to do with being 'northern'. Relative to ALL our prospering western neighbours, we are decidedly southern, not 'northern'.
It is worth noting here that Manitoba's cheap hydro-electric power is made possible in significant part by the flooding of thousands of acres of Northwestern Ontario land and the strict regulation of our water flows and levels. Ontario also freely grants Manitoba's largest city the privilege of diverting their municipal water supply from an Ontario lake. In thanks for this privilege, Winnipeg demands that folks on this side of the border abandon the prospect of developing the substantial, proven and pre-existing mining resources in that watershed. For its part, Manitoba is uncharacteristically unfriendly to any suggestion that there might be some fair quid pro quo arrangement to offset the substantial loss to Ontario communities and companies who might legitimately expect to benefit from the development of our historic Ontario mineral resources.
Living here one sees this juxtaposition of contrasting standards and economic prospects and can't help but find it curious. My fellow Western Ontario neighbours and I would deeply appreciate it if you were able to provide just two or three logical and equitable reasons why our communities in this part of Ontario should have to struggle and suffer when, a few short miles away, Manitoba leads the entire country in economic growth. What is Ontario’s government doing, (-or not doing,) differently than Manitoba that is resulting in such dramatically different results on our side of the border?