Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the arrest of 14 Wet’suwet’en land defenders a “less than ideal situation” this week, adding everyone has the right to protest, as long as they respect the rule of law.Let’s unpack that for a moment. A “less than ideal situation” is missing the sale on three-ply Kleenex at Shopper’s Drug Mart and having to settle for two-ply instead.A “less than ideal situation” is locking your keys in your car.The arrests of 14 people by heavily armed RCMP officers over an issue that will loom large in the 2019 federal election — adherence to Indigenous human rights and land title? Less than ideal doesn’t capture it. As this week again showed, on a number of important fronts, the Trudeau government’s relations with Indigenous communities are nowhere near ideal. Take the situation that transpired in an Ottawa hearing room on Wednesday, as Canada once again found itself arguing against Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Family and Caring Society. At issue was which children are Indigenous enough, according to the Indian Act (a paternalistic law created in 1876 that governs the lives of all Status Indians in this country), and therefore who should qualify for services under Jordan’s Principle, which aims to ensure all Indigenous kids receive equitable care no matter where they live. Read more: Agreement reached in Wet’suwet’en, Coastal GasLink land dispute RCMP and Wet’suwet’en chiefs strike tentative dealWet’suwet’en land defenders rally after 14 arrests, retreat from Gitimt’en checkpoint: `We lose this, we lose our culture`At the end of the hearing, Blackstock said “nobody had an answer as to what will happen to children” in need of urgent care for life-threatening conditions while the tribunal process continues — or, more to the point, who will pay for their care. At least unti ...
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