Indigenous groups are denouncing a new bill that will allow the federal government to bypass a whole slew of regulations and potentially infringe on Indigenous rights.
Bill C-5, or the One Canadian Economy Act essentially allows the government to ignore regulations that stand in the way of the capitalists’ ability to plunder natural resources. Things like the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Species at Risk Act, Fisheries Act, Migratory Birds Convention Act, and Impact Assessment Act all can be ignored if the government decides that it is in the “public interest” (an extremely-nebulous concept) to do so.
Many Indigenous groups rightly suspect that this will be used to steamroll land rights. The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak warned, “First Nations are very concerned that this proposal may violate many collective rights.” The Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta said that it fits within an “ongoing pattern of legislative overreach, constitutional neglect, and Treaty violations.”
One sign held by a protester at Parliament Hill reflected fears more bluntly: “Bill C-5 Will Desicrate (sic) Burial Sites.”
In response, Mark Carney claimed that “Indigenous partnership is a critical component” of this bill. But that’s complete hogwash. Reading Bill C-5, you’ll find that it doesn’t offer any real rights or guarantees to native communities. Just vague promises that they’ll be “consulted”.
But no Indigenous group was consulted about the bill. And the federal government originally wanted to include the Indian Act in the list of laws that Bill C-5 could bypass. That point was only removed at the very last minute.
This is classic Liberal hypocrisy. They constantly virtue signal about how much they respect oppressed groups, but they always contradict their words in practice.
Carney, doing the bidding of the bourgeoisie
But why is this happening?
With the crisis of the system, the Canadian economy has been sputtering along. Labour productivity is declining and private investors have fled the economy, in search of more profitable investments elsewhere. For a long time, the ruling class in Canada has needed to do anything in their power to make Canada a more attractive sphere of investment. However, the ruling class has continually run up against stiff opposition in the form of Indigenous groups resisting capitalist encroachment on their land, and a huge portion of the electorate who have been politicized by the environmental crisis and would not support a government that allows the capitalists to destroy the planet.
But now, the state of panic provoked by the trade war with the United States has provided just the crisis the ruling class needs to ram through their regressive program. And their man, Mark Carney, is not letting this moment go to waste.
With the trade war, Canadian capitalism faces an existential crisis. Promising to “diversity trading partners,” Carney is moving to retool the Canadian economy and eliminate internal barriers to trade—no matter what form those take. With the drive towards militarization driven by NATO, the greedy eyes of imperialism are now locked on Canadian critical minerals—which are essential to building military components.
There is a sense of urgency as various jurisdictions compete for who will get to be the quarry for the military industrial complex.
The ruling class, who in the past have conciliated with indigenous leaders in order to avoid a social explosion, are no longer able to maintain this balancing act. More and more, whether it’s through the federal or provincial governments, indigenous rights are but a small consideration next to the future survival of Canadian capitalism.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in defense of his own similar bill, recently let slip his real opinion when he accused Indigenous people of “coming hat in hand all the time to the government.” He complained, “when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you’re saying, ‘No, no, I don’t want to touch that, by the way, give me money’—not going to happen.”
He immediately backed down and apologized, but these comments speak to how the ruling class actually feels. They want access to minerals and they don’t care if they violate Indigenous land or destroy the environment.
However, the harder they push, the more they risk sparking off movements in Indigenous communities. In fact, a similar bill passed by the Harper government in 2012 set off Idle No More, a mass movement that inspired protests and blockades all over the country.
What way forward?
At a recent protest at Parliament Hill, Ramon Kataquapit, a youth councillor with chiefs of Ontario, said that Indigenous youth are “starting a movement”. He added, “This can turn into something much bigger, and a lot of our people—a lot of the youth—we see that.”
Some Indigenous leaders have appealed to governor general Mary Simon to delay or cancel the bill, on the basis that she’s an Inuk woman. And the AFN even appealed to the senate to slow down the bill’s approval.
This is very misguided. All layers of government—provincial, federal, and the crown—are part of a tightly entwined machine designed to uphold the interests of capitalism. Regardless of the fact that she’s Indigenous, Simon will always support the needs of the bosses. The same goes for the senate, a living relic of Canada’s colonial past.
Instead, attacks need to be fought outright. There’s clearly an appetite for it.
Past movements like Idle No More and 1492 Land Back Lane point the way forward. Acts like Bill C-5 need to be fought against through mass protests. Unwanted economic developments need to be fought back through protest camps and blockades.
And the labour movement needs to be prepared to support any struggle of Indigenous people against Bill C-5. What the government is doing is not simply about Indigenous rights and environmental regulation. The capitalists have an insatiable appetite for profits, and they’re beginning to attack all barriers in their way. First, it’s environmental regulations and native land rights. Next, it will be labour protections and union rights. We must fight together against our common enemy.
A victory against the government on this issue will weaken their ability to attack the labour movement and the working class as a whole.
This issue demonstrates the urgency for the movement to fight not simply against reactionary bills like C-5—but against the capitalist system as a whole.
A socialist planned economy would mean putting the wealth of society to fulfill the needs of the many. Production will take place on the basis of rational planning, and we can retool production to be as clean as possible. Indigenous people will no longer be victims, but equal partners in economic development. They’ll benefit directly from development, and won’t be forced to accept any projects on their land that they don’t agree with.
We have enough wealth to give everyone a decent standard of living. But it’s only socialism that will make that possible.
