Smith’s comments comparing Ottawa’s treatment of Alberta to Indigenous experience prompts criticism | 24CA News

Treaty 6 chiefs say they’ve concluded that Premier Danielle Smith neither respects nor understands treaty rights and Indigenous historical past after listening to feedback she made within the Alberta legislature Tuesday.

Smith in contrast the remedy of Alberta by the federal authorities to Canada’s remedy of Indigenous individuals underneath the Indian Act — a remark that has left Indigenous leaders and others feeling annoyed and indignant.

“This is all about making sure Ottawa stays out of our jurisdiction,” Smith mentioned as she addressed the legislative meeting. “The way I’ve described it to the chiefs that I’ve spoken with is that they have fought a battle over the last number of years to get sovereignty respected and to extract themselves from the paternalistic Indian Act.

“We get treated the exact same way from Ottawa. They interfere in our jurisdiction all the time and we look forward to pushing back and being treated exactly like Quebec.”

After dealing with backlash for the feedback, Smith instructed the home on Wednesday that she is sorry if she didn’t make her level clearly.

“If my comments were misconstrued, I absolutely apologize for it because my intention was to demonstrate that we have a common problem with Ottawa,” she mentioned.

“Ottawa, I think, unfortunately, treats First Nations with disrespect and they also treat provinces with disrespect.”

Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation issued an announcement to Global News on Wednesday in response to Smith’s feedback.

“We know this not to be true,” he mentioned. “I want Premier Smith to focus on our concerns about the sovereignty act, rather than try to use our people in her fight against Ottawa.”

“It was clear from our discussions that Premier Smith does not understand treaty or our inherent rights, nor does she respect them,” learn an announcement issued by Treaty 6 chiefs on Tuesday.

It simply so occurred that the provincial authorities had a gathering with treaty chiefs scheduled for the day after Smith made her feedback. The assembly was scheduled earlier than she grew to become premier and was not one supposed to be a sit-down about her sovereignty act.

Last week, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act was handed within the legislature. The laws was launched by Smith as a approach for her authorities to push again every time it believes the federal authorities has overreached into provincial jurisdiction and does one thing it believes harms Alberta’s curiosity.

First Nations chiefs have criticized the premier for not consulting with them earlier than passing the laws.

Following Wednesday’s assembly, the chiefs wrote in an announcement that the assembly didn’t represent a correct session with their nations on issues of mutual concern.

They mentioned the invitation in the course of the throne speech firstly of the legislative meeting was not an “inclusive approach” to consulting with the Indigenous group over the sovereignty act. They additionally known as Smith out for not understanding tips on how to respectfully strategy Indigenous leaders for such a dialog or on tips on how to work with them.

The chiefs have requested the province to “withdraw and reconsider any legislation that pretends jurisdiction over treaty lands and peoples.”

Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson denied having heard Smith’s feedback the day prior to this evaluating Alberta’s relationship with the federal authorities to the plight that has been confronted by Indigenous individuals due to the Indian Act.

He mentioned on Wednesday that the provincial authorities is working arduous to create good relationships with the Indigenous group and its leaders, and that Smith defined to treaty leaders what the sovereignty act actually means, and “how we want to help them step up as well and work with them on some projects.”

The premier’s workplace echoed these sentiments in an announcement to Global News on Wednesday.

“Earlier today, the premier had a meeting with the Treaty 6 chiefs to continue building and strengthening relationships with Indigenous communities across Alberta,” the assertion reads. “We look forward to continued engagement as we work together towards reconciliation and addressing the issues faced by our Indigenous and Métis communities.”

NDP MLA Richard Feehan mentioned Indigenous individuals have been talking out about Bill 1 for weeks and don’t really feel heard.

The relationship between Indigenous individuals and political leaders are “clearly not” being repaired, he mentioned.

“They had an opportunity to have a conversation this morning, where they could have made some kind of a bridge with the First Nations communities and Treaty 6, and the province failed to do so,” Feehan added.

“It shows that, despite being asked time and time again, they’re failing to grasp what it is that’s being said to them… When you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’re going to find yourself in trouble, and they certainly have.”

He mentioned Smith is making a narrative that fully undermines the historical past and expertise of First Nations individuals and that belief goes “downhill on a daily basis.”

Matthew Wildcat, an assistant professor of political science and native research on the University of Alberta, mentioned it was obvious earlier than the assembly that Smith doesn’t perceive treaty or Indigenous rights and title in Canada.

He mentioned what he’s most shocked by is what he described as Smith and her staff’s lack of information of essentially the most fundamental Indigenous politics.

“It shows me that, not only herself, but people in her inner circle haven’t spent 30 minutes learning about the Indian Act,” Wildcat mentioned. “Because if you even spent even 30 minutes learning about what the Indian Act is, and what it’s done in the past, you would never say we’ve been treated in the exact same way that the paternalism of the Indian Act has treated Indigenous peoples.

“The Indian Act caused fundamental human rights violations — that isn’t anywhere close to the type of conflicts that exist between Alberta and Canada.”

Wildcat clarified that when Indigenous individuals confer with a treaty, it’s not simply the authorized textual content of the doc, it’s about the best way they reside their lives and the usual they maintain themselves to in an effort to co-exist with Canadians.

“It’s offensive, for anybody… it’s not just offensive for Indigenous people,” he mentioned. “It’s offensive to anybody who would have any understanding of the Indian Act and its history and what it’s done.”

— With recordsdata from Morgan Black, Global News, and Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press