Ontario election 2022: How are the parties addressing Indigenous issues?

As the Ontario election campaign winds down and much of the southern part of the province deals with soaring temperatures, communities in parts of northern Ontario are facing a different story where places like Sioux Lookout are under a state of emergency due to heavy rainfall and flooding.

In the coming weeks and months, the northern and rural communities will be turning their attention to forest fire season and its potential for damage and evacuations.

For Isadore Day, the former Ontario Regional Chief with the Chiefs of Ontario, the issue of responding to natural disasters in northern and remote regions and its intersection with climate change, food insecurity, skyrocketing fuel costs, accessible and clean water, and contaminated lands are among the things, he said, that haven’t had enough attention in the Ontario election campaign.

“If there’s no ability to get into those communities quickly and effectively, that’s where the government needs to step up its policy efforts and commitments in this election,” he recently said in an interview.

“Is it going to be cost-prohibitive to save lives? We never, ever want a government to go down that path. Every Indigenous life in rural and remote communities is important.”

CityNews spoke with Day to hear his perspective on issues facing Indigenous peoples as part of a review of each of the major parties’ commitments. He said what has been promised so far is lacking.

“I think these election platforms so far are very weak and there has been, I think, consistently with Indigenous issues. We’re seeing more of the same with this election,” he said.

Day said the over-arching concern has to do with governance and engaging Ontario’s First Nations communities on a nation-to-nation basis.

“We’re not hearing that governments are looking to include Indigenous communities on a nation-to-nation governance level. This is something that is almost mute in any of the discussions,” he said.

“Going back and decolonizing that process is really what the work of reconciliation is today and Canadians don’t quite understand that yet because governments have done a really poor job at setting the policy direction based on that. It’s always about the impact of what’s it going to cost, the impact of what control are we going to lose or what control do we need to maintain over Indigenous peoples.”

RELATED: What the Ontario parties are pitching on the campaign trail

Day pointed to the mineral- and resource-rich Ring of Fire development as an example. He accused the Ford government, during its last term of office, of not engaging Indigenous peoples and communities enough as part of a push to develop the region, adding they need to talk about recognizing governments and jurisdictions in the north.

“Because Canada is a resource-rich nation, Canada also has to grapple with the fact those resources are often in the hinterland where the traditional and treaty lands of the Indigenous people are across the country,” Day said.

“We should start seeing ways to include all of this brainpower that Indigenous communities – whether they be First Nations, Metis, Inuit and non-status people – are generating. We do have the capability and the capacity to provide to Ontario’s policy machine in a way that can help us be a much better land.”

Day said while there is a need to address economic issues, it needs to be balanced with addressing environmental and sustainability concerns.

“Somehow we’re going to have to figure out how to work together on the more fundamental issues of sustainability and keeping people alive,” he said, pointing to an ongoing need to improve access to food and nutrition equity.

“We can’t have substandard water, water systems in communities that need it for emergency response or need it to survive.”

Dealing with Canada’s legacy of residential schools and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is still front of mind for Day and others as well. As part of this, he said women, elders and youth are all stepping up to advocate for missing and murdered women and girls, protecting First Nations languages, and self-governance of children’s and families’ well-being.

“These MPPs are going to have to move beyond just the sorrow of reconciliation and look towards what the pathway is for solutions and that’s the hard work that’s going to need to take place now,” he said, calling for less partisanship in the legislature and working across party lines.

“We’ve always got to look to cultivate hope through policy development and execution … We don’t need more clashing. We need more people working together.

“We can’t get over-inundated by all the bread and butter policy issues all the time. We have to address some of the longer-term direction. See our young people look at a future that is clean, where they can breath the air, where they know there’s going to be a future.”

Meanwhile, Day called on all parties to get Indigenous youth involved at all levels of the political process.

“This is a young people’s election. If we don’t catch the attention of young people in this election, we’re going to see four years of the same thing. It’s time to include Indigenous young people,” he said.

“Don’t take your eyes off Indigenous young people and get them involved, and we’ll be a much better place to live if that happens.”

Responses from the parties

CityNews contacted the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, the Ontario NDP, the Ontario Liberal Party and the Green Party of Ontario to specifically what is in each party’s 2022 platform to address issues raised by Indigenous peoples as well as what kind of support will be offered when it comes to searching the sites of former residential schools, increasing education on Indigenous history and residential schools, and what specific outcomes each party hopes to achieve by the end of the upcoming term of office.

Here are the verbatim responses CityNews received:

Ontario PC Party

“The discovery of unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools has been deeply traumatic for many Indigenous peoples. The painful legacy of Residential schools has resulted in ongoing, intergenerational trauma and we are working together to ensure funding is available for culturally appropriate, trauma-informed supports as this work is undertaken.

That’s why we put forward $20 million to support the identification, investigation, protection, and commemoration of IRS burial sites, $36 million in community-led mental health and addictions support for survivors and their families and $12.8 million for culturally appropriate mental health services. We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Indigenous people across the province.

Doug Ford has a strong record of working with Indigenous leaders to get it done with initiatives that promote economic prosperity and create a better future for communities across Ontario. He met with the Chiefs of Ontario today—a group that he’s met with numerous times over the last four years.

Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs are saying yes to creating more economic development opportunities with and for Indigenous partners. In March 2022, we released Ontario’s first‐ever Critical Minerals Strategy. This will create an advanced manufacturing supply chain that will bring prosperity to Indigenous communities.

Only the Ontario PCs have been able to work alongside Indigenous partners to break the log-jam and take important steps toward getting an all-season road built to the Ring of Fire. Recently, Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations announced that they are co-leading the planning of the Northern Road Link project. This step represents significant progress in moving this project forward to build reliable, all season road access connecting First Nations communities to education, health, goods and services, and housing.

Indigenous‐owned businesses face unique challenges, which have worsened with the COVID‐19 pandemic. This is why the Ontario PCs are investing $25 million over three years to support Indigenous communities, including providing Indigenous‐owned businesses and entrepreneurs with working capital to ensure continued business operations.”

Highlights featured from Ontario’s 2022 budget:

• “Investing $25 million over three years to support Indigenous communities, including providing Indigenous‐owned businesses and entrepreneurs with working capital to ensure continued business operations who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Investing over $2 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years, to help colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes modernize classrooms by upgrading technology, and carry out critical repairs.
• Investing $9 million over three years to support the nine Indigenous governed and operated Indigenous Institutes.
o The Indigenous Institutes operating grant to expand postsecondary program offerings including new, independently delivered programs to train more Indigenous learners.
• 4/5 of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program streams were open to or included projects in or from Indigenous communities.
• Investing $128 million through the Social Services Relief Fund to help municipal and Indigenous partners to sustain, repair and grow the community housing system.
• Investing $3.8 billion over 10 years with a PC mental health strategy, to help fill critical gaps in child and youth mental health, addictions services, and indigenous mental health and addictions”

Ontario NDP

“First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Ontario continue to face barriers to basic rights others in Ontario take for granted. Unlike Doug Ford who carelessly stalled legislation that would apply the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to all provincial laws, Andrea Horwath and the NDP will implement UNDRIP. An Ontario NDP government will work in true, government-to-government relationships to recognize and uphold the full rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will work in partnership with Indigenous led housing providers and the federal government to ensure an adequate supply of safe, affordable, culturally appropriate urban and rural housing, including the construction of at least 22,000 new homes. We will act immediately to end boil water advisories in Ontario. And we will work towards improving access to culturally responsive health care, mental health care, and long-term care for Indigenous Peoples. We’ll work with First Nations leadership to identify health care priorities and deliver more and better health care, including mental health and addiction support, that’s culturally appropriate.

“New Democrats are committed to support, fund and and work with First Nations to identify burial site locations of children at Indian residential schools. This effort must be led by Indigenous people, and we’ll be there to support the search every step of the way.

“We will work with Indigenous Peoples to introduce a mandatory Indigenous curriculum for Ontario classrooms to make sure Canada’s actual history is taught to all Ontario children. And we’ll act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 82 by commissioning a monument that recognizes the victims of the Indian residential school system, to be created by an Indigenous artist and prominently displayed at Queen’s Park.

“For generations, Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to take action to address critical issues like boil water advisories, unresolved land claims, unsafe housing, and discrimination in the justice system. We have a plan to fix this working with Indigenous Peoples across the province.”

Ontario Liberal Party

“One year removed from the horrific uncovering of unmarked graves in Kamloops, it’s clear that all governments, including Ontario’s, have more work to do when it comes to learning from our history and reconciling with Indigenous people. We were inspired by Her Excellency Mary Simon’s remarks this week that spoke to a responsibility shared by all Canadians to listen, learn and understand, so we can move forward in saying ‘Never again will we stay silent.’

Ontario Liberals will move quickly on this call to action if elected, starting with the introduction of a standalone Minister of Indigenous Reconciliation to advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. We will work to remove systemic racism from our institutions and make critical investments so that Indigenous communities have access to the same world-class health care, education and services that the rest of Ontarians have. We have committed to supporting the investigation and commemoration of former residential school sites across Ontario. We will also update the curriculum to add more Indigenous learnings – as part of this curriculum update, we’ll bring back Indigenous lesson plans the Ford Conservatives cut and make them mandatory, including on the painful history of Ontario’s residential schools. We’ll also make it easier to choose a First Nations language class alongside more support for French learning.

Our platform – ‘A place to grow’ – includes a number of other initiatives that will support and protect Indigenous peoples, community and culture:

• We have committed to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action by working with and learning from Indigenous peoples and First Nations, guided by the principles of self-determination, reciprocity, and mutual recognition of nationhood. This includes increasing support for the option to learn First Nations languages, allowing Indigenous elders to teach Indigenous language classes and mandating the inclusion of the painful history of Canada’s residential schools across the K-12 curriculum while also learning about and celebrating the significant contributions of Indigenous peoples to Ontario and Canada.
• We will partner with Indigenous communities to expand and strengthen Ontario’s Indigenous Institutes to increase opportunities for diplomas, certificates and degrees in culturally enriched settings with permanent funding and invest $2 million in First Nations Public Libraries since only 30% of First Nations reserves have libraries.
• We will make September 30th – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – a statutory holiday so there’s an annual occasion for everyone to learn and reflect.
• Reconciliation is an opportunity to address decades of racism and discrimination that have pushed Indigenous people further behind others in Ontario – including when it comes to finding homes. We’ll work collaboratively with Indigenous housing providers and communities, as well as the federal government, to develop a distinct housing strategy for Indigenous peoples. This strategy will be led by Indigenous housing providers and include direct funding toward the creation of 22,000 new homes over ten years – enough to address current and future core housing needs of Indigenous peoples according to experts.
• We’ll reintroduce the $5 million Indigenous Culture Fund that the Ford Conservatives scrapped in 2019 and bring back the Ontario Sports and Recreation Communities Fund to help people live healthy, active lives. We’ll also invest $50 million to build, purchase or refurbish performing arts studios, visual arts galleries and event spaces – being sure that this includes more spaces to feature work from Black, Indigenous and other artists of colour.
• We’ll also eliminate set-up connection fees for rooftop solar charging panels and bidirectional electric vehicle charging, and support projects with Indigenous and Northern communities that reduce reliance on diesel and drive electrification in the remote north – including by supporting completion of the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project.
• We’ll work closely with municipalities and Indigenous communities to protect and restore Ontario’s rivers, lakes, wetlands and watersheds – including Moose Cree First Nation and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.
• We’ll unlock Northern Ontario’s reserves of sustainable battery metals and minerals to ensure that Northern Ontario communities, including Indigenous peoples, are the long-term benefactors of this industry while protecting the ecological and cultural values of the region.
• We’ll train 3,000 new mental health and addictions professionals, social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists, ensuring they reflect Ontario’s diversity and are culturally-competent – particularly for Indigenous and racially diverse communities.”

Green Party of Ontario

• “Fund 22,000 Indigenous-owned and operated permanent homes under an Urban and Rural Indigenous Housing Strategy. The strategy and implementation would be led by Indigenous communities to create homes for Indigenous peoples living in Ontario.
• Provide support for Indigenous healthcare workers through greater mentorship opportunities, partnerships with allies, and equitable human resources processes
• Invest in increasing the number of Indigenous-led health clinics.
• Create more Indigenous-led long-term care homes and allocate a portion of the new beds to these homes.
• Implement UNDRIP to ensure equity for Indigenous peoples
• Establish true nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous peoples
• Recognise First Nations’ right to self-determination and establish a co-management stewardship model for the development of provincial resources with fair revenue sharing
• Work with the federal government to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Work with the federal government and Indigenous communities to identify and close the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
• Work to repair the damage at Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong
• Work with the federal government to immediately end all boil water advisories.

Ontario Greens support the calls of the Chiefs of Ontario for support and funding for Indian Residential School Investigations.

Funding for something so important should be based on need, and not be capped or finite.

We also support calls for community-led research, funding for mental health resources and needs based funding to ensure culturally appropriate repatriation of remains.

And support a full non-partisan commitment to tackling the systemic racism and colonialism that perpetuates in our society as we confront the truth and work towards Reconciliation.

We are committed to restoring funding for the Indigenous curriculum program and work with Indigenous educators and community leaders to develop a mandatory curriculum on colonialism and residential schools, treaties, and Indigenous histories and experiences.

It’s unrealistic to propose that systemic inequity stemming from generations of colonialism will be solved in a single political term. But Greens will work to create a more equitable and anti-racist province, where Indigenous communities have access to clean drinking water, safe, affordable housing, healthcare, and economic opportunity.”