NFN: Statement in Support of Mi’kmaq Fishers
Press Release
GARDEN VILLAGE, ON (October 22, 2020) – Nipissing First Nation stands with our Mi’kmaq relatives and supports them in exercising their inherent Treaty protected rights, and constitutionally affirmed Aboriginal right to fish. We call on the federal government to defend the rights of the Mi’kmaq, and end the unchecked display of systemic racism in Nova Scotia that is sending a strong (and wrong) signal to all Indigenous people.
The lack of action from government and law enforcement has fueled the crisis and incited violent and destructive criminal acts against Mi’kmaq fishers in recent weeks. The assault of Chief Mike Sack of Sipekne’katik First Nation came the day after commercial fishers surrounded Mi’kmaq fishers in a lobster storage facility, stole their catch and set a van on fire. A few days later, the lobster storage facility was burned to the ground in a massive fire.
The world watched as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seemed to turn a blind eye to racial violence, vandalism and threats towards Mi’kmaq fishers. This despite the fact that the RCMP has spent over $13 million on policing the Coastal Gas Link conflict on Wet’suwet’en territory, where they maintained a near constant presence between January 2019 and March 2020. The RCMP let the Mi’kmaq down by failing to protect them.
We are pleased that a court injunction was granted on Wednesday to ensure the safety of Mi’kmaq fishers and that there are finally more police resources on the ground. However, we are also saddened that in 2020, anyone would need an injunction to get law enforcement to respond and protect them against violence and harassment. Concrete action from government and law enforcement is needed now, not words of concern, excuses and platitudes.
We expect laws to be enforced for all Canadians; for police to protect everyone from violence; and for justice to be served when anyone commits criminal acts. The silence from our country’s leaders and fellow Canadians implies approval of this hateful treatment of Mi’kmaq fishers, and serves to embolden some of the commercial fishermen.
Prime Minister Trudeau has said in the past that no relationship is more important to Canada than the relationship with Indigenous Peoples. Some progress has been made, but if that’s really true, why is Canada’s rule of law conditional? How can we possibly move forward together in a good way if our leaders won’t enforce the most basic laws – those protecting our freedoms – and do so based on principle, not based on preference or prejudice?
The inaction of government and failure of law enforcement to protect Mi’kmaq fishers from these acts of violence and racism is deeply disturbing, and a far cry from reconciliation. It represents nothing short of the violation of Indigenous inherent rights, Treaty rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
Today, more than 20 years after the Supreme Court twice upheld and affirmed Mi’kmaq treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather to earn a ‘moderate livelihood’, known as the Marshall decision, successive governments have failed to clearly define the term. Commercial fishermen argue that Indigenous fishing is undermining lobster conservation efforts and, by extension, their business. Yet, as the New York Times reported on October 20, 2020, “a professor of biology at Dalhousie University who specializes in fishing sustainability, said the approximately 550 traps being used by the Mi’kmaq were negligible in a province where about 900,000 traps were used for lobster fishing” (Bilefsky, D. ‘In Lobster War, Indigenous Canadians Face Attacks by Fishermen’ Available at nytimes.com).
This conflict is clearly about greed, intimidation and colonialism, not conservation. After all, the Mi’kmaq have maintained a fishery for thousands of years without overfishing or depleting the fish stocks.
Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod, who has over 25 years of experience in fisheries management and serves as the Ontario Representative on the National Fisheries Committee, puts it this way: “I do not support a ‘moderate livelihood’ for the Mi’kmaq as ruled by seven white judges of the Supreme Court in 1999. I do support a livelihood for the Mi’kmaq that was given to them by our Creator since time immemorial. A livelihood that is equal to any livelihood of non-Indigenous settler Canadians.”
Chief McLeod adds, “This is not simply a Mi’kmaq issue. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) is merely 145 years old. It cannot give the Mi’kmaq or other Indigenous peoples something they have had for thousands of years. Our inherent rights were not granted to us by a foreign court system. But what the SCC will try to do is limit our inherent rights by placing arbitrary limitations such as ‘moderate livelihood’ in their rulings. Not only is such a ruling arbitrary, it is a prime example of systemic racism. In other words, if you are Indigenous you are only entitled to a ‘moderate livelihood’ but if you are non-Indigenous this restriction does not apply to you.”
Nipissing First Nation stands in solidarity with our Mi’kmaq family, and we support their sovereign right to self-determination, including the inherent right to regulate and harvest their lobster fishery.
As Chief McLeod reminds us, “Canada is a country of great people of all colours, but it will only be as great as its leadership. Be informed, be vocal, be an ally and help make Canada the country you want it to be. Speak up, even if your voice shakes.”
We encourage everyone to contact your federal Member of Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to urge them to take action now and affirm the inherent and constitutionally protected treaty rights of the Mi’kmaq.
The people of Nipissing First Nation, known as the Nbisiing Nishnaabeg, have lived in the area of Lake Nipissing since time immemorial. Prior to the signing of the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850, the Nbisiings had occupied and enjoyed the lands surrounding the Lake Nipissing watershed for their sustenance and survival through harvesting and other means.
Today, Nipissing First Nation’s mission is to continue to protect our Nation’s inherent rights and to empower the membership to work together in a positive, progressive manner to improve well-being and quality of life, to be socially and economically independent, culturally strong and self-governing.
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Contacts:
Scott McLeod, Gimaa (Chief)
(705) 753-2050
Media Inquiries:
Gen Couchie, Communications Officer
(705) 753-2050 ext. 1270 | genc@nfn.ca
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