Aboriginal Affairs in a chaotically balanced province; What’s gonna give?
After four months, two failures to launch and an illegal entrance into the legislative assembly I was able to sit down with Jake Stewart, age 41, conservative MLA and current minister for Aboriginal Affairs in New Brunswick.
As an alumnus of STU’s graduating class of 2003 Stewart went into provincial politics in 2010 and has been a member of the legislature for ten years. With this year’s upset or upstart elections Stewart was asked by Premier Blaine Higgs precisely what he wanted to do.
“The premier sat me down and asked me what role I wanted to play, and I said aboriginal affairs. I studied sociology, history and theology. I was not surprised when he gave me this role.”
“I was fortunate to grow up in Blackville where New Brunswick started with first nations, French and then English. You can tell when you’re reading the Indian Act that the people that designed it did not want first nations people to succeed. I can’t change the history all I can do is accept that and know that its wrong and now I can try and make new relationships. Growing up in Miramichi which was named by the Mikmaq and managed by the Mikmaq before anyone else was undoubtedly a benefit to being able to do this.”
Many New Brunswickers question the use of having a provincial department of aboriginal affairs. The over-sized heart from Espenopitij where the minister went to support the actualization of Jordan’s principle in providing healthcare without barriers to indigenous peoples said differently. Stewart in his own words is focusing on balancing the needs of reserves and making sure departments have frameworks to establish consent for projects like Sission Brook.
“We have a responsibility to consult. There were arrangements made [for Sisson Brook], and I haven’t seen them, but it’s another department, in this case, energy and resources that have made them. Honestly, I’m not well briefed on that right now and can’t comment on everything. ”
In its current state, the aboriginal affairs department has an advisory and outreach focus where it advises other branches of government and attempts to work with the 16 indigenous communities federally recognized in New Brunswick.
Outreach is more responsibility than it is capable as the energy and natural resource ministers would not have to listen to the suggestions and directions of Stewart and Indigenous peoples.
“My relationship starts with the chiefs. I know that there are the elders and the grandmothers and they hold the real weight. But my role starts with the chiefs.”
“Would you work with traditional chiefs?”
“If they called me up and made the offer of course.”
Regarding the issue of who is at the consultation table, Stewart is primarily focused on elected chief and councils as he has yet to meet with traditional leaders like Ron Tremblay, traditional grand chief of the Wolastoqey.
Educated partially on residential schools and the disenfranchisement of native women Stewart has a basis of understanding that ties into personal friendships and recognizing the economic barriers reserves are facing and the responsibility of the province in alleviating that.
Stewart and his staff said they were unaware of recent issues like protests over Alton Gas in Nova Scotia and the RCMP” s project Sitka which identified and monitored persons deemed high influence targets in aboriginal communities in 2013 where New Brunswick had the most RCMP targets.
The national scoop rate in which aboriginal children abducted into foster care was also new information to the minister.
“I didn’t know about Manitoba. Eleven thousand kids are in foster care, and 10,000 are indigenous?”
“Yes”
“Wow”
Regarding the possible revival of the Sisson Brooke mine planned by current premier Higgs; Stewart didn’t expect any progress on the plan but couldn’t say if he would be able to stop it if the department of energy and resources. Stewart did say the government has to consult with First Nations but did not say which ones were to be included at that conversation.
Because Stewart also represents his constituents he has been devoting time to the Renouse campaign for the national Kraft Hockey vile campaign after the death of a young player.
New Brunswick was established in 1784 while the Wabanaki Confederacy of Wolastoqe, Penobscot, Abanaki, Mikmaq and Passamaquoddy peoples existed in 1606 to be strangled out by federal and provincial legislation. Stewart didn’t know this.
With a nation focused on a federal election, we will soon see how a provincial government decided by any MLA’s vote is going to deal with a history of assimilation, appropriation and subjugation and what trauma can be healed.
“What first nations want are economic development, self-government and total self-reliance and they are on the right track. They need someone to understand that and there a lot of people that don’t accept that. I’m the first real minister of this department, and it’s all new, so there were a lot of firsts, but there will be more. “
When asked about how he won’t fall into the same cycles of appropriation and exploitation Stewart said it would be the role of his department to help, not to direct, as it would be Chiefs and first nations, people
“I plan to tour this summer with each community and work with whatever they want me to work with. Recently I spent a day in Eel River Bar, and we discussed their needs and visited their businesses. True reconciliation is about love and respect, and we’ve had a systemic marginalization of first nations people throughout Canada for four hundred years and to try and reconcile that you need youth, like the youth from Espenoptitj. It’s about being a good person. I think if you get people in leadership who understand the history and children learning the language you’ve got a good start.”
With a good start in mind seeing where these new initiatives start and if they’re followed up on is the next big thing. Ministers preparing for the federal election will have to follow through on party promises and the current provincial legislation may be temporary.