Aboriginal people and the Canadian democracy

By Kenneth Williams
Windspeaker Staff Writer

There have been three proposals put forward that would see seats in governments delegated to Aboriginal people. In Saskatchewan, last summer, in New Brunswick, earlier this year, and in a constitutional proposal for the Territory of the Western Arctic (which will be created in 1999 when the Northwest Territories is divided) it was suggested that there would be seats in government exclusive to Aboriginal candidates and voted on by just Aboriginal voters. The Saskatchewan proposal was for municipal governments, New Brunswick for provincial government and the Western Arctic the territorial government. The purpose of these proposals was to promote and protect the rights and interests of Aboriginal people, who are a minority.

According to the 1991 national census, just over one million people claimed Aboriginal origin. With Canada's total population estimated at 29 million, Aboriginal people account for just 3.5 per cent of the population. Proponents see Aboriginal seats as balancing this incredible disparity. Opponents see it as undemocratic and regressive.

"There shouldn't be any political seats set aside for anybody," said Roy Bird, former chief of Montreal Lake First Nation, who is now running for the Liberal Party's nomination for the new riding of Churchill, Sask. "We [Aboriginal people] have to win on our own merit."

John Duncan , the Reform party member of parliament for North Island-Powell River, on Vancouver Island and adjacent and a member of the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern development Standing Committee, agrees.

"I don't support it because it just doesn't meet any of our litmus test of what the party basically stands for," he said. "Everything we [the Reform party] do we try to be totally blind to age, sex, race, and culture. As soon as we try to get into designated seats, we're talking about creating a form of special status for somebody or some group. It offends the deepest part of our principles."

The problem arises because of the nature of the Canadian democracy, which is based on the philosophy of "one person, one vote." Each citizen is equal, but these proposals suggest Aboriginal people would become "more equal than other citizens."

In a democracy, politicians have to address the concerns of the majority. It becomes a problem for Aboriginal people to get their concerns addressed by the government when they are such a small minority.

But Bird disagrees that this is a problem, but rather a time for Aboriginal people to show leadership.

"I know it's hard because many Aboriginal people live in other areas of Canada were it would be difficult for an Aboriginal to win seats," he said. But "it brings out the best in us. We have to be just as sharp and just as fast as non-Aboriginal people. It develops us faster and makes us stronger."

Lawrence Joseph, a city councilor in Prince Albert, is the first treaty-Indian to be elected to municipal government in Saskatchewan. He too sees designating seats for Aboriginal people in government as "regressive" even though the recommendations to do so came from a race relations committee in his own town.

Len Marchand, the first Aboriginal member of parliament after Louis Riel, is not sure that there should be a separate Aboriginal house of parliament but feels that there should be designated seats in the House of Commons.

"I don't want us to be marginalized. I want my people to be full participants. I want to see more of our people in the Parliament of Canada," he said.

But both Bird and Duncan wonder just who would be considered Aboriginal and what kinds of problems that would raise.

"Would it be a Liberal Aboriginal, or NDP or PC?" asked Bird.

He feels that designating seats would limit the power and influence of Aboriginal people, not ensure it.

"I like to think that an Aboriginal candidate could run in the city of Toronto and there isn't any reason why they can't be successful if they're the best person there," said Duncan. "I think our society is much further ahead to treat everybody the same."

But Duncan also sees a pitfall for Aboriginal people if they get designated seats that are separate and equal.

"There's a proposal for a separate Aboriginal legislature in the western arctic and there's 8 Aboriginal groups and that legislature would have one representative from each of the groups and they already have 8 different designations," said Duncan. "It would eventually lead to struggle and divisiveness amongst the Aboriginal community itself."

The Aboriginal population in Canada is growing faster than the rest of it, and Bird sees this boom as political power that should be harnessed today. He sees the possibility of Aboriginal people controlling seats through the current electoral process and not by special status.

"If anything were set aside, what equal voice would we [Aboriginal people] have with the other MPs who said they earned their stripes the hard way, and you were parachuted in," said Bird.

Joseph agrees, and wants Aboriginal people to become more involved in the mainstream political process.