Communities protest Bill C-5

Youth from communities across Turtle Island were key rallying figures at a protest in Ottawa this week that drew around 350 people to protest Bill C-5, federal legislation that proposes fast-tracking infrastructure projects in the name of development.

“I’m not surprised that I’m standing here. I’m a little surprised it’s only a month after a new Liberal government was elected after all the talks of reconciliation, that went out the window 30 days in,” Mohawk Council of Kahnawake grand chief Cody Diabo told attendees at the protest on Tuesday. “It doesn’t look good for Mr. Carney.”

Leaders from various First Nations communities and organizations addressed the crowds, including groups of youth. Ramon Kataquapit, a member of Attawapiskat First Nation, told the protestors that youth are willing to fight long and hard to challenge the bill.

“I understand that a lot of our older generations are tired. They’re scarred. They’re traumatized from a life of fighting,” he said. “But not to worry, because we’re here.”

He advocated for Indigenous people of all walks of life to get involved in fighting the bill - many First Nations have said that should the bill pass, they will challenge it in court.

“We’re the generation to make change and I’m calling for your support, whether you’re grassroots in here, whether you’re a chief, whether you’re our mothers, our fathers, our elders, our kids, whether you’re an organization, a PTO (provincial/territorial organization), a tribal organization, please support us. Because we will need it,” he said.

Diabo told The Eastern Door that he plans to consult with the community at the next community meeting to determine what they want Kahnawake’s response to the legislation to be.

“We want to see how the community feels about this, what they want us to do and how the MCK can support or lead some of these actions,” Diabo said. “The government needs to stop taking this type of approach. We’re not opposed to development but it’s about having communications and working together. It’s our land and our resources at the end of the day.”

The bill, which is also known as the One Canadian Economy Act, would allow major infrastructure projects to be approved by fewer people, fast-tracking projects and bypassing the need for certain parliamentary reviews. First Nations have said that the bill undermines Indigenous rights, with projects determined to be of the “national interest” effectively approved without consultation with communities.

It mirrors similar legislation passed in Ontario, which First Nations leadership has said passed without adequate Indigenous consultation. That legislation allows for municipal and provincial laws to be suspended for infrastructure projects, threatening land, animals, and communities. There continues to be groups of Indigenous advocates camped outside the Ontario legislature, with communities promising an uprising of activism throughout the summer and until the bill is repealed.

Ontario premier Doug Ford this week angered communities further with comments regarding protests about that bill, saying that First Nations cannot “keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government” for money.

Diabo said that prime minister Mark Carney responded to MCK’s requests for a meeting on the matter on Wednesday morning, telling the Council that he isn’t able to meet at this time, but that their concerns will be forwarded to Mandy Gull-Masty, the government’s minister of Indigenous services, who is the first Indigenous person to serve in the role.

Members of Parliament voted 305-30 on Monday to expedite its passage, with members of the transport committee meeting until after midnight on Wednesday to address 100 amendments to the bill proposed by members of the house.

The House will now vote on amendments made to the bill - the Liberals want the bill passed by midnight tonight (Friday June 20), before the House rises for summer.

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