Pre-election survey shows N.B. parties divided on Indigenous title, tax-sharing

Results of a pre-election survey by theWolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick showstark differences in how three of the political parties would tackleissues like title and tax-sharing if they form the next government.

This week, responses from the incumbentProgressive Conservatives, as well as the Liberal Party and Green Party were all published in full by the organization, which represents six Indigenous nations in the province.

The People's Alliance and NDPdid not respond to the survey, the groupsaid in a statement.

The organization distributed questions on Aug. 18 about Aboriginal title, treaty rights, systemic racism, policing and consultation on resource development and land use.

"It's a report card really, for the current government, is the way I look at it," saidChief Allan Polchies of Sitansisk First Nation, also known as St. Mary's, in an interview.

Progressive Conservative responses to the survey largely matchpolicydecisions already takenby Blaine Higgs's majority government.

If re-elected, the Tories wouldcontinue to "respectfully disagree"that First Nation lands were never ceded, as the organization has said, citing the Peace and Friendship Treaties.

That dispute is central toseveral ongoing title claims launched by Wolastoqeyand Mi'kmaw communities.

WATCH | Government's 'paternalistic' approach has to go, says Chief Allan Polchies:

What Indigenous leaders want from the next provincial government

1 day ago

Duration 0:51

In a pre-election survey, the Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick, which represents six Indigenous nations, surveyed the political parties about issues such as racism and treaty rights.

Polchiessaysthe Progressive Conservativegovernment has engaged in fear-mongering about what that title claim would entail for private landownersand he believes the party continues to do so in its surveyresponses.

"For any landowner out there that owns their own land, and has a beautiful home on it, we are not after you," Polchies said. "We are after the government for, of course, Crown land that they feel belongs to them."

The Wolastoqey claim waslaunched in 2020 andnames the federal government, N.B. Power, six companies predominantly in the forestry industryand 19 of their subsidiaries.

Both the Liberal and Green parties take the opposite stance, agreeing with the organizationthat First Nations'land was notsurrendered.

A re-elected Progressive Conservative government would continue negotiating "development agreements" to replace tax-sharing agreementsit cancelled in 2021.Its responsesays those contractshad "created an unsustainable drain on the tax base."

The Liberals and Greens are both in favour of re-establishing tax-sharing agreements, but the Liberals would negotiate new contracts while the Greens say they would reinstate the cancelled ones.

In a news release, the Wolastoqey chiefs say the PC response on systemic racismfocuses on past actions and gives less information aboutfuture commitments.

According to that response,"Work has begun or will begin soon to address over 75 per cent" of the recommendations made in a2022 reportby the province'ssystemic racism commissioner, Manju Varma.

The Green Party promises to implement those same recommendations, along with"an Indigenous-led, independent public inquiry into New Brunswick's justice and policing systems."

Wolastoqiyik leaders have been callingfor such an inquiry since summer 2020, when two Indigenous people were killed in just over a week by officers on two separate police forces.

That call was reignited last week afterSteven (Iggy)Dedam,a Mi'kmawman living inElsipogtogFirst Nation, was shot and killed by police.

The Liberal responsedoesn't mention a public inquiry, but says a Liberal government would perform a "review of existing laws and law-making processes," make institutional anti-discrimination policies strongerand ensure"inclusive hiring practices and representation on boards and commissions."

The party also promises to make "cultural competency training" mandatory across policing and the justice system.

Land-use and resource management consultation is another topic parties weigh in on in the survey.

The Progressive Conservative reply says it would give First Nations "meaningful involvement in resource development projects," specifically citing natural gas as a priority. They saya five-step consultation process has already been implemented.

The Liberals say First Nations would be "at the table and engaged on all files" if their party forms government, and that they would prioritizeadopting theUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Greens pledge new legislation that wouldreplace theCrown Lands and Forests Act, which it calls outdated and not reflective of the Crown's treaty obligations, and a dispute resolution process to keep the court system as a last resort.

The Liberals and Greens say the consultation process put in place by thegoverning PCs must be updated but they do not say how, citing the need forinput from Indigenous leaders.

Ultimately, Polchieshopes to see the next government take Indigenousvoices and concerns more seriously.

"We've sat down with this current government, and it's gotten nowhere," he said. "We want to be able to ... have that nation-to-nation relationship with a government that's going to listen."