NDP wants legislature to acknowledge treaty land

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This article was published 15/12/2017 (2316 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew is hopeful the spring sitting of the legislature will open each day’s business with an acknowledgment that Manitoba is treaty land.

“It would be awesome if the Speaker (Myrna Driedger) consulted with Indigenous organizations in the province,” Kinew said.

“I wrote a letter at the end of September, of doing a land acknowledgment in addition to the opening prayer. It would be a nice way to start the spring session.”

Kinew said he talked to Driedger and provincial house leaders about the issue.

“They’re interested in looking at some suggested wording. It’s a group decision. It’s fair to say it’s being actively considered.”

The subject of treaty acknowledgment “has been on my radar for quite some time, even before Wab sent his letter,” Driedger said. “The decision isn’t the Speaker’s alone. It is on an agenda for a decision, hopefully, before the house resumes, but no guarantees.”

It has become common in Winnipeg to open events by acknowledging the people participating are on Treaty 1 land and the traditional homeland of the Métis people, Kinew said.

But the legislature encompasses all of Manitoba, so all First Nations and all treaties within the province should be included, as well as First Nations such as the Dakota and Inuit who have not signed treaties, he said.

Conservative government house leader Cliff Cullen said he has discussed the issue with Kinew and Driedger, and expects those talks to continue.

“While there is no protocol in place at the moment to have this as part of routine proceedings during daily sittings of the Manitoba legislature, our government acknowledges we are gathered on treaty territory and ancestral Indigenous lands at many special events and announcements,” he said.

The Liberal caucus is in favour of Kinew’s proposal.

“We fully support this initiative. It is long overdue. The Manitoba government currently recognizes that the legislative building was built upon Treaty 1 territory during the throne speech and budget speeches.

“It only makes sense to open daily session with this acknowledgment,” the party said in a statement.

However, acknowledgments during the throne speech are informal, Kinew noted.

“We want to formalize it and make it part of the tradition. It would be a powerful message,” he said.

It would be especially important to name each Indigenous community in the acknowledgment, and to use the name by which members of that community call themselves, Kinew said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca