October 21, 2020
TORONTO – The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has written the Prime Minister of Canada Mi’kmaq fishing rights.
The letter states;
In brief, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association asserts that the Crown has breached its fiduciary obligations to the Mi’kmaq (again). Crown mismanagement of its treaty obligations to Mi’kmaq people is well established. A pattern of bias and sometimes racism against Mi’kmaq
people continues with any suggestion that this conflict is inexorable; that culpability arising from this conflict is shared by Mi’kmaq people; and that Crown-aboriginal reconciliation, when it comes to Atlantic fisheries, is about competing interests. In our view, it is just about racism and Crown fiduciary failures.
Your Solicitor General is accountable to Parliament for the RCMP. We were particularly concerned to hear reports of Mi’kmaq fishers pleading, unsuccessfully, for police assistance while their lobster pound burned. Leaving aside the importance of police de-escalation amid
conflict, the Mi’kmaq are as worthy of protection by the RCMP as non-indigenous people. Historically, the opposite has been the case.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
For the Media
For further comments, please contact us at media@ccla.org.
