Justice minister pitches Assembly of First Nations with 'imperfect' UNDRIP plan

Justice Minister David Lametti admits his Liberal government's draft plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples isn't perfect but he wants First Nations to support it anyway.

"The draft plan is just that: It's a draft. It is not perfect. It is not final. It is not complete," Lametti told an Assembly of First Nations (AFN) chiefs' conference Wednesday in Ottawa.

"But we have, I think, an opportunity and I think I have a responsibility to you to engage and try to make it as perfect as possible, knowing that it will be imperfect."

On an icy day in the capital, Lametti's plan, which is due by law in June, garnered a similarly chilly reception from the AFN's chiefs and delegates as they met for the third straight day at a rare spring gathering.

"The prime minister said the most important relationship is with Indigenous people, but I don't see that," said Chief Wilfred King of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) in a response to Lametti that was met with applause. 

"When we have ministers come to our meetings and are rushed out the door, we don't have the time or the opportunity to address important issues."

Faced with similar criticism on everything from the Doctrine of Discovery to the provinces' control of natural resources, Lametti said "reconciliation is a generational process" that no single government can achieve given Canada's 150-year history of colonization.

"I can't go back and reverse what has been done. In a sense, we're all here to stay," Lametti said. 

"We need to find a path that reverses what we can reverse and compensates for what we can't reverse."

Lametti must complete the plan under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, federal legislation from 2021 that says Canada must align federal laws with the UN Indigenous rights declaration. It's similar to provincial legislation the British Columbia government passed in 2019.

Terry Teegee, AFN regional chief for B.C., said the chiefs must seize the opportunity and make the best of the situation, having already had a disappointing experience in his province.

"You can't lose this opportunity by trying to get perfection. I don't think we'll get perfection either in some ways," he said in an interview.

Saskatchewan Regional Chief Bobby Cameron similarly told the delegates Lametti's plan "will be flawed" if it doesn't come directly from First Nations.

"It will fail if it's not getting direct input from our First Nations," he said in a speech to the delegates.

Teegee said Thursday's "big-ticket item" will likely be a resolution that attempts to unite the assembly in a consensus-based response to the action plan.

Chiefs pass resolution on missing and murdered Indigenous men

The AFN is a national advocacy organization that lobbies for 634 First Nations. The UNDRIP action plan was just one of several pressing issues throughout the week.

On Tuesday morning, the chiefs unanimously carried a resolution supporting a revised agreement worth more than $23 billion that would compensate victims of the discriminatory First Nations child-welfare system. 

The deal was unfinalized as of the previous Friday, according to court documents, and was reached at the last minute prior to the meeting's start on Monday.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick announced to the assembly that the body of an Indigenous woman, 33-year-old Lake St. Martin First Nation mom Linda Mary Beardy, was found in a Winnipeg landfill.

Following a plea from Merrick on Wednesday, the chiefs unanimously passed a package of resolutions concerning justice and policing reform.

"We are not garbage," she said.

"As the assembly here we have to make that movement and make sure that the government listens to us … Our lives matter. Our children's lives matter. Our grandchildren's lives matter."

The package of resolutions included support for new advocacy on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys, in addition to ongoing advocacy for missing and murdered women and girls.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh appeared virtually at the assembly Wednesday afternoon, offering his condolences following the landfill discovery.

Singh declined to offer his opinion on the action plan in his speech.

"I'm here to listen to what First Nations have to say," he said.

"It is imperative that the federal government get the action plan right."