THUNDER BAY – Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa is expressing concerns that a recent provincial cabinet shuffle further violates an Ipperwash Inquiry recommendation.
Indigenous affairs deserve a dedicated provincial minister, he said. His northern colleague Greg Rickford currently holds the portfolio alongside another for northern development and natural resources.
The combination puts Rickford in a “conflict of interest,” Mamakwa argued, one he said was worsened after the government consolidated most of two existing ministries into the Ministry of Northern Development, Mining, Natural Resources and Forestry last month.
Rickford, the MPP for Kenora-Rainy River, is now the minister for MNDMNRF as well as for Indigenous affairs.
“It is problematic for the government to once again reduce the responsibility for Indigenous issues under two larger ministries focused on land and resource extraction,” Mamakwa said. “What happens when there is a conflict of interest between the aims of the resource industries and Indigenous communities?”
The Ipperwash Inquiry into the fatal shooting of Dudley George by an OPP officer during a 1995 protest recommended creating a standalone ministry for Indigenous affairs, with its own dedicated minister and deputy minister.
The standalone ministry was created in 2007, but the Ford government hasn’t followed the recommendation for a dedicated minister since it was elected in 2018, with Rickford handling dual portfolios.
Mamakwa, Ontario’s sole Indigenous MPP and the NDP critic for Indigenous and treaty relations, harshly criticized the government’s approach to the file in a statement issued this week.
“On June 18, while all attention was focused on finding our children’s hidden graves, Doug Ford announced a cabinet shuffle which would set the stage to further undermine our Indigenous inherent rights and jurisdiction,” he said.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle has agreed Indigenous Affairs should be a “strongly independent” ministry with a dedicated minister.
Having two portfolios under one minister doesn’t indicate they’re any less important, Rickford responded in June, adding he saw synergies between the two.
The consolidated Ministry of Northern Development, Mining, Natural Resources and Forestry will help “cut red tape” and better support resource development, he said, but promised that would be balanced with respect for Indigenous rights.
For Mamakwa, the shuffle was a clear indication of the government’s priorities.
“I think it just shows how the government looks at the ministries, how they continue to treat Indigenous people,” he said. “This government has shown their true intentions by unapologetically slashing the Indigenous Affairs budget and leaving behind any First Nations who are not willing to fall into line with provincial direction in resource development discussions and negotiations.”
Base funding for Ontario's Ministry of Indigenous Affairs (not including costs for claims settlements) fell from $86 million in 2017/18 to $73 million last year under the Ford government (though it says spending will rebound above $80 million in 2020/21).
Mamakwa said that program spending was minimal compared to resource revenue he believes needs to be shared more equally with First Nations to honour the intent of treaties governing Northern Ontario.
“There’s so much that comes out of the resources and we only get a very low percentage,” he said. “It has to be shared equally.”
Priorities like developing new arrangements for sharing resource wealth, addressing land claims, and supporting First Nations in a move to fuller sovereignty are among the big-picture issues he believes need a stronger focus within the Indigenous affairs file, he said.
