NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler’s Remarks from First Nations–First Ministers’ Meeting

UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY, OTTAWA: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler delivered the following remarks at today’s First Nations–First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa:

I want to acknowledge all of you – relatives and friends that are here in this room. Miigwetch for being here and for accepting our tobacco offering to Elder Claudette Commanda on behalf of NAN so that we can have a good meeting and a good day. Thank you, Claudette, for always supporting our work.

I acknowledge the sacred fire that is outside, that has been burning for some time now. I also acknowledge our young people that are outside, struggling to have their voice heard about their future, about their land and their waters.

A year ago, in September, I sent a letter to your office, Prime Minister, and to Premier Doug Ford, asking both of you to sit with our Leadership so that you could hear directly from them about the tremendous pressures they are facing. Pressure to open up their territories for resource development while dealing with a water crisis. Forty percent of boil water advisories nationally, and sixty percent provincially, are in our communities.

Our communities face these pressures while losing young people to addictions and suicide, and while trying to address the impacts of climate change, as we saw this summer with forest fires and evacuations. They are trying to navigate systems that are supposed to be there for them, like healthcare. Those systems are failing them.

I want to give you one example of the harm that I talk about.

A young mother from Fort Severn with three children had major heart surgery in April. She was supposed to have follow-up appointments in May, June, and July. At least five of those appointments did not happen because her travel was denied (by NIHB). She went into medical distress in September and she passed away.

That is one name on a long list of harms and challenges our communities are navigating while dealing with pressure to open up their lands and territories. The Ring of Fire is just one example.

How can you expect a community like Marten Falls to effectively negotiate a meaningful agreement while trying to access clean water for themselves? They have been on the boil water advisory list since 2004. The same as my community.

My message to you, Prime Minister, and to the Premiers, is this: our Treaties should not be seen as obstacles to your economic agenda. They should be viewed as the foundation of our relationship. That is the only way we can make meaningful progress – if there is respect on both sides.

I will give you the letter I sent you, Prime Minister, and I will send a copy to Premier Ford. Along with that letter is a Treaty document, Treaty No. 9 and Treaty No. 5. I hope you will honour our request to meet.

Today’s agenda talks about a shared, resilient, prosperous path forward. My message is simple: honour the Treaties, implement the Treaties. According to my father, and those who were there to witness the signings, the Treaties were designed for three things: peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit, and – if you honour those two – we will have prosperity.

We do not need to create new policy to find a prosperous path forward. All you have to do, everyone in this room, is honour the Treaties.

Miigwetch.

For more information please contact:
Michael Heintzman,
Director of Communications
Cell: (807) 621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca