British Columbia’s new budget promises “meaningful reconciliation” is embedded in provincial decision-making, but the document tabled Tuesday is receiving mixed reviews from Indigenous advocates.
Representatives of the Alliance of BC Modern Treaty Nations, the First Nations Summit, Métis Nation British Columbia and B.C. Assembly of First Nations said spending commitments that advance reconciliation fall short of what’s needed.
Robert Phillips acknowledged the province has been struck with back-to-back crises, including natural disasters and the pandemic, and “so we will have to work with the numbers.”
“I’m trying to be as upbeat as possible in terms of the budget and understanding that there will be a deficit,” the First Nations Summit political executive told Global News on Wednesday.
“More funding is necessary, but you know what we were able to find in there is some nuggets that will help First Nations.”
Budget 2022, introduced by Finance Minister Selina Robinson in the legislature, provides funds for two new roles that aim to advance reconciliation.
It includes $12 million over three years to support a new Declaration Act Secretariat that will guide the government’s implementation of the 2019 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). That legislation requires B.C. law to align with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to ensure the human rights of Indigenous peoples are respected.
“We are talking a lot of laws and legislation that happens every year, so I think this will help with the capacity to move things along,” said Phillips, applauding the funds.
“We only have so many lawyers, so many technical staff, and all of these laws and legislation just comes into us in droves.”
In a Tuesday news release, Métis Nation British Columbia president Lissa Dawn Smith panned the $12-million commitment as “well short of what has been requested.”
While it may increase capacity for the B.C. Public Service to engage Indigenous governments, she noted, the funds will not increase the capacity of Indigenous governments to engage the B.C. government.
“Budget 2022 reflects the Government of British Columbia’s commitment to supporting Indigenous Peoples broadly,” she said. “But MNBC, which represents one-third of the province’s Indigenous population, has fallen through the cracks — again.”
The province also dedicated $44 million to create a new Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship to support economic activity, environmental sustainability and reconciliation. That department will have a “leadership role” working with Indigenous governments, reads Budget 2022, and bringing the province’s natural resource policy framework in line with DRIPA.
“I think the devil will be in the details. We know very little so far about the new ministry,” Angela Polifroni of the Alliance of BC Modern Treaty Nations, told reporters Tuesday.
“One thing we would ask is that any agreements with neighbouring nations and near our territories — that the Modern Treaty signatories are engaged early on in the discussions.”
Polifroni, also the director of operations for Toquaht Nation, said she was pleased to see “Indigenous issues and acknowledgment of Indigenous jurisdictions” throughout the budget document, but noted that “fully-resourced implementation” of treaties is not possible based on the funds committed.
The new budget also includes new funds for Indigenous peoples in the justice, education, health-care, and environment sectors, and more.
A portion of $12 million dedicated to the digitization of B.C. justice services will go towards maintaining a virtual Indigenous Justice Centre. More than $289 million over five years will also help “close the digital divide” by connecting more than 280 rural, remote and Indigenous communities to high-speed Internet.
“I used to live in Kamloops and you know, you’ll be driving on a highway to the reserve, you watch the bars on the cell phone going from four to five to one or two if you’re lucky,” said Phillips. “So I think this high-speed Internet and cell service is so important.”
Connectivity is also a matter of health and safety, he added, as the province prepares to deal with increased impacts from climate change, including wildfires and floods.
To help Indigenous nations prepare, a portion of $83 million in the budget will go toward Indigenous-led initiatives to build climate adaptation capacity.
An additional $4 million will help expand the Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program, and $185 million has been dedicated over three years, in part, to support First Nations impacted by logging deferrals.
In the health-care sector, a part of $45 million will help bring traditional wellness providers closer to Indigenous communities and support the operation of up to 15 First Nations Primary Health Care Centres.
In 2023, additional funds will also be allocated to research and identify the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness, including Indigenous women.
In a press statement, the West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund decried the emphasis the budget placed on keeping Indigenous families together, and the lack of funds for kinship caregivers who are keeping Indigenous children in their communities and out of government care.
The non-profit also pointed out a lack of wraparound financial commitment to Indigenous women.
“While we are glad to see funding for sexual assault services, the province has not committed funds to a comprehensive response to gender-based violence, or to acting on the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, though nearly three years have passed since the Inquiry,” said West Coast LEAF staff lawyer Humera Jabir in the statement.
Implementing those Calls for Justice is the responsibility of all levels of government — not just the federal government, added Terry Teegee, Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.
Budget 2022 does include supports specific to Indigenous children — an additional $11 million will go toward the Aboriginal Head Start program, which provides culturally-centered child care, and to engagement, planning and capacity building with “Indigenous stakeholders,” it reads.
Meanwhile, $27 million will help add a new National Centre for Indigenous Laws to the University of Victoria, and $18 million will support a new First Peoples Gathering House at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. The new Stride Avenue Elementary School in the Burnaby School District will also include a Community Hub for Indigenous Learning and child care services.
Phillips said these are critical investments, and it’s important to remember that First Nations, Inuit and Métis prosperity supports the prosperity of all.
While some of Budget 2022’s commitments aren’t as substantive as many had hoped for, when it comes to being “on the right side of history,” he said it appears “this NDP government is giving it a good try.”
Teegee said the budget is a “good start,” but far too often, the funding purses for issues affecting Indigenous peoples are “short-lived.”
He called on the province to ensure sustained and increased funding moving forward, particularly as the pandemic continues to highlight disparity, and Indigenous peoples continue to be overrepresented in the justice system, homelessness, and the opioid crisis.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Robinson acknowledged reconciliation is an ongoing, multi-faceted process, “not a thing.”
“It’s not something you do once and you’re done,” she said.
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