Question Period Note: United Nations Letter on Discrimination of the Mi’kmaw peoples

• The Government of Canada takes the allegations of acts of racist violence against the Mi’kmaq peoples in Nova Scotia very seriously.
• My department continues to work to with Indigenous peoples to move from a relationship based on colonialism to one that recognizes and respects Indigenous rights and interests.
• We currently reviewing the letter from the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and will respond to the Committee's inquiry.
• Of paramount importance to all of us is the safety of Indigenous and non-Indigenous harvesters, the general public, fishery officers, Canadian Coast Guard personnel, and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

• The United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considered information received
under its Early warning and urgent action procedure, related to allegations of acts of racist violence against Mi’kmaw indigenous peoples in Nova Scotia, Canada.
• It refers to the period between September and December 2020, when the Mi’kmaw people, and in particular Mi’kmaw fishers, were subject to escalating racist hate speech, violence, including with firearms, intimidation, burning and destruction of their property, including lobster traps, lobster processing facilities and work vehicles.
• It further alleges that Canadian authorities failed to take appropriate measures to protect the Mi’kmaw fishers and their property.
• There have been accusations of racial discrimination against the Government of Canada based on its perceived unwillingness to implement the Indigenous treaty right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood, as well as the perceived lack of response by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia to acts of violence against Indigenous harvesters and leaders.
• The identification of, and calls for the Government to address anti-Indigenous systemic racism, have previously arisen in reports from, for example, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG Inquiry). In June 2020, the Government failed to meet its deadline to respond to the MMIWG Inquiry’s final report, drawing criticism from a number of parties.
• The Ministerial statement of March 3, 2021, setting out the parametres of the moderate livelihood fishing, including that fishing should occur during the established season and be authorized, communicates the Department’s posture moving forward including establishing a new path forward for implementing the right.

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