LIVE SOON: How Canada went wrong, and why resource negotiations go wrong
Tristin Hopper and Mitch Case join Matt Gurney for another episode of On The Line.
Hello, friends. We’re splitting On The Line’s releases into audio and video. Videos are now in the late afternoon/evenings, and you can check ‘em out in all our usual places. (Audio options can all be found here, as ever.)
This week on On The Line, Matt is on vacation, but he was able to sneak in a few great conversations before he left, and wanted you to enjoy them. In the first segment, Matt catches up with his old National Post colleague Tristin Hopper, now the author of Don’t Be Canada: How One Country Did Everything Wrong All At Once. They talk about what prompted the book, the reporting moments that pushed him over the edge, and how quickly the world’s view of Canada has shifted. Some readers saw it as a welcome dose of honesty. Others, as a betrayal. Matt gets it — he's had exactly the same reactions whenever he's noted things like "Maybe we shouldn't have so much trash on the sidewalks."
In the second segment, Matt speaks with Mitch Case of the Métis Nation of Ontario about Indigenous rights, especially around resource development. What does “consultation and accommodation” actually mean on the ground? Why do Canadians and Americans keep getting it wrong? Mitch also reflects on the differences between how each country understands (or doesn't understand) its own history — and the frustrations that follow for Indigenous peoples.
Full disclosure: The MNO is an advertising partner for The Line, including for this episode. But this segment is not sponsored content — it was produced through The Line's normal editorial processes, and the MNO did not receive (or ever seek) any special treatment or consideration, and exercised no editorial control over the interview or its contents. They really just were the right people to talk to for this segment!
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This episode is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. For generations, Métis communities in Ontario helped build Canada’s first great economy — the fur trade. They farmed, traded, raised families, and fought for their rights.
In 1993, they founded the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) to protect their future. In 2003, the Supreme Court affirmed their rights. In 2023, Canada recognized the MNO as the Métis Government in Ontario. Now, with a newly elected federal government, it’s time to move forward.
The MNO is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to advance the government-to-government relationship; resolve outstanding historic Métis claims; improve access to health care, mental health, and addictions services; and invest in Métis housing, education, and infrastructure. Generations of leadership brought us here. It’s time to get it done. Learn more at OntarioMetisFacts.com.
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I write this after watching the "On The Line" episode in full.
I enjoyed the first session with Tristan Hopper; I had read of his book (but not the book itself) previously and it remains on my "To Do" list to purchase. A good interview between two friends.
Ah! Your interview with Mitch Case .... Wow! A great interview.
I confess, Matt, that I am (and have been for many decades) much more aware of Metis organizations than you. I say that not as a matter of pride but simple fact. I live in Alberta and I recall that many decades ago (I am now seventy-four) this was a topic matter in elementary and junior high school. Since that time I have dealt with the Metis nation in Alberta (sometimes something so simple as to open an office hall door - with the sign, "Metis Nation of Alberta, District something" - and ask where the washroom was in the building). There are a number of Metis settlements in Alberta and, from time to time, they make the news with evacuations, appeals to government of this or that and so forth.
My son-in-law is Metis. I mentioned that I live in Alberta. My son-in-law grew up in Saskatoon and his memory of "natives" (his word) was the stereotype drunken Indian as he saw a great deal of that in Saskatoon. As a result, although he is himself Metis when he came of age he refused to seek recognition of his status. His mother is status Metis; his sister is status Metis; his niece is status Metis; his daughter could be status Metis; but he refuses to this day to seek that status. Because he saw many individuals who reflected badly on being a native.
All I can offer from my son-in-law's experiences is that we, in the rest of Canada, need to think about that. As Mitch Case made clear, Truth and Reconciliation is important but ignoring people is incredibly detrimental
What remains unclear from second segment with Mitch Case:
First, since Mr. Case admits he doesn't really know anything about what actually happens in other areas where industrial/resource development happens, I am entitled to disbelieve his hearsay accounts that the companies show up and talk only puppies and unicorns and don't disclose any risks unless the information is screwed out of them. It also has to be said that many of these studies the companies don't want to talk about, which supposedly show poor health outcomes from industry are activist junk science and ignore risks like cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity among the local residents. So there might be some justification for the companies taking a sunnier view of what they propose.
Second, are the Metis yet another sovereign government, with its own laws (as Mr. Case alluded), we have to negotiate with in order to get anything done? Who actually speaks for the Metis "nation" so we can tell when their consent has been granted, that the accommodation proposed is acceptable....or not? Is it Mr. Case's call, by himself, or some other activist, or is there is a transparent grass-roots process that the proponent, and the government, can get a deal with that both know will be binding?
How many Metis rely on the Sault fishery that the other 40,000,000 of us must yield to their traditional lifestyles? How much of the blame for the dysfunction and misery in aboriginal and Metis communities is down to the sins of our fathers and how much is down to learned helplessness? A lot of vague stewardship and ways of knowing mumbo-jumbo tied together with "you-know" every few words. No, I don't know what "justice" would really look like in the opinion of the Metis and I still don't know after listening to this segment.