Mi'kmaq districts invite PM to meet, redefine 'nation-to-nation' dealings

Two Mi'kmaq womenare waiting on Justin Trudeau's RSVP to a nation-to-nationmeeting in Nova Scotia,outside of Canada's relationship with the Assembly of First Nations.

During the first stop on Justin Trudeau's three-day town hall tour of Canada, Michelle Paul and Rebecca Moore circled the gym at Sackville High School, waiting for achance fora one-on-one with the PM.

Paul says she locked eyes with Trudeau during hisresponseto another question and felt "peace" wash over her.

An invitation to Prime Minister Trudeau

7 years ago

Duration 0:43

Mi'kmaq Michelle Paul says its time for a nation-to-nation meeting , outside of Canada's relationship with the Assembly of First Nations.

"I could feel it. It was time for this to happen," said Paul.

"I was empowered by the strength of all my ancestors. I always feel that whenever I'm doing something right."

Trudeau acknowledged the eagle feather Paul was holding and she was given the microphone.

"There's so much to say and I've been sent here as a messenger," Paul began.

She touched on First Nations poverty rates in Nova Scotia, and a lack of access to clean drinking water in First Nations communities.

Paul said that while she was representing herself, as a rights holder, her invitation was also a message on behalf of "at least one ancestral District Chief," whom she would not name.

There are sevenancestral districts of Mi'kmaqterritory, Mi'kma'ki, whose governance system,Paulemphasized toTrudeau,isstill intact.

'They do not represent me'

"When you campaigned, you promised a nation-to-nation relationship," she said.

"You've been consulting, I guess, with [the Assembly of First Nations]. They are not a nation.... They do not represent me. They do not represent the Mi'kmaq. You must speak to the people."

Paul told the prime minister that the ancestral districthad"a declaration" to offer himand invited him to meet at Mi'kma'ki's"treaty truck house," a traditional trading post,so itcould formally present Canadawith the document, which is titled Unity and Partnership.

Paul wouldn't provide details of the declaration's contents, stating it was for "Trudeau's eyes only,"but said it didn't ask anything of thegovernment.

"We don't want anything fromhim," Paul said.

"We're not having our hand out. Matter of fact, we want to help him."

New nation-to-nation dealings?

Paul said she believes the nature of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships in Canada is primed to change, noting the rate at which Indigenous populations are growing in Canada, and that recent generations ofFirst Nations youth are seeking to learn more abouttheir culture and history.

She saidgoverning bodies should begin reflecting those changes, and she thinks the dissolution of the Assembly of First Nations(AFN) could be a good place to begin.

The hashtag #dissolveAFNis being sharedon social media platforms, with much user commentary focusedon theassembly's government funding and foundationunder the Indian Act.

AFN responds

"One of the things always consistently said is 'we're not the nation,'" said MorleyGoogoo,AFNRegional Chief for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

"We're only an advocacy group. We're a lobby group on behalf of the 635 communities across Canada."

Googoosaid the assembly has policies and protocols in place so as not to misrepresent any of thenations. It represents the collective decisions of theChiefs, Googoo said, and the Chiefs represent their communities.

The nature of many First Nations coming together, Googoo says, is that there are many different ways of making decisions.

"The Mi'kmaqhave definite different way of doing business than theMohawk, and than the Dene," he said, adding that the opportunity is always therefor First Nations to havetheir own conversations with Canada.

"We just open the door, to make sure those opportunities exist," Googoo said.

AFNNational Chief Perry Bellegardeechoed Googoo's remarks in an email statement to CBCNews. It read, in part:

"The Assembly of First Nations advocates for governments in Canada to respect and implement First Nations rights, title, treaties and jurisdiction."

Trudeau: changeswill take time

Michelle Paul saidshe believedTrudeau's response to the invitationcame "from the right place."

"We cannot be the country we like to pretend we are in our smug moments," Trudeau said, prefacingthat stronger relationships with "Indigenous people" is something that all Canadians want.

"[You've] highlighted the complexities and challenges ... of defining what is a nation-to-nation relationship," Trudeau said to the two Mi'kmaq.

Trudeau went on to say that decisions on "a way forward" for Indigenous communities "cannot come from Ottawa," and that it will take longer than his "one or twoterms" in office to build up nation-to-nation relationships.

Six days later, Paul said the Mi'kmaqhaven't received an RSVP from the prime minister, but that she met withHalifax Member of Parliament Andy Fillmore who is requesting a response on their behalf.

Treaty 'disrespected every day'

Mi'kmaw Rebecca Moore, who took to the microphone after Paul, says her plan was to use rhetoric to make her point.

"If we, the Mi'kmaqNation, have best advantage in trade then why are we the poorest people in Canada?"Moore asked the prime minister.

Moore is a seventh-generation descendant of Jean-Baptiste Cope, who signed the Treaty of 1752 on behalf of the Mi'kmaq.Moore says she sees her great-grandfather's treaty "disrespected every day," and wanted Trudeau to know she plans on fighting to have it enforced.

"I was giving him a warning that it's my life's duty to assert [treaty rights]. I wasn't asking him something. I was telling him something," Moore said.

"I educated him a little bit."

By not honouringthe Peace and Friendshiptreaties to their full capacity,and impedingIndigenous rights to sell wares and fish for a moderate livelihood,Moore saysthe Canadian government is breaking international treaty law.

"I plan to hold him accountable for that," she said.

Given the opportunity to meet with Canada at the Mi'kmaqtreaty truck house, the way her great-grandfather did in his time,Moore says she'd feelbetter about Canada's dealings with her nation.

"I was coming at him as a direct descendant, as a treaty beneficiary," Moore said.

"[AFN] is not a nation. People like me are not going to let them get away with it."