Why These N.B. Business Leaders Are Learning About The Racism Faced By Indigenous People
This is part two of a feature about business leaders who are supporting the call for a public inquiry into systemic racism in the justice system in New Brunswick. Read part one here.
In June, New Brunswick saw the fatal police shootings of two First Nations people – Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi – within eight days of each other. They happened amidst a global anti-racism awakening, helped by the wave of Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer in the U.S.
Like many people around the world, business leaders in New Brunswick sought to be part of change following the tragedies.
Tech entrepreneurs Keith McIntosh, Marcel LeBrun, David Alston and Andrea Feunekes were among those who came together in a Gathering Circle with Indigenous, community and other business leaders.
McIntosh established the Circle with elder Dr. Imelda Perley as a way to bring people together to talk, foster understanding and trust, and amplify the voices of the Indigenous people he works with.
He’s the founding CEO and president of PQA Testing/PLATO, which offers software testing and automation training, as well as employment for the Indigenous workforce across Canada.
Citing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, he says business leaders have an obligation to do their part in reconciliation.
“We have a voice and we can use that voice to make positive change,” he said.
Perley, a Wolastoqey elder from Tobique First Nation, St. Mary’s First Nation, and the Houlton Band of Maliseets, led the meetings and discussions of the Gathering Circle. They took place within and outside St. Mary’s, as well as at Government House in Fredericton.
Perley said it’s crucial that business leaders continue to vocalize their support for Indigenous communities.
“They contribute to society as business leaders. They are employers. They need to have that understanding of Indigenous cultures,” she said. “I’ve been emotional at every single meeting that we had just to hear the support we’re getting from these business leaders. And for them, if they’re going to be CEOs of their own companies, then what an example they’re setting for their employees.”
She said efforts like the Gathering Circle are important because there’s still a chronic lack of understanding about Indigenous cultures, and the relationship between settlers and Indigenous communities. Perley said she often reminds people about this, including when she does welcoming ceremonies for immigrants gaining their Canadian citizenship.
“I always tell people that come to our territory when my ancestors welcomed the first citizens from across the waters, all we ask them was just live in peace and friendship together. We’re not asking them to change languages. We’re not asking them to change cultures. We’re not asking you to change who you are. If anything, gift us with that flavour of your culture and live in peace and friendship with us,” she said.
McIntosh said discussions in the Gathering Circle made the systemic issues faced by Indigenous communities here and nationwide clearer – that even if individuals don’t want to be racist, “the system is racist.”
“It’s embedded in it. We’re all brought up in it and because of that, we’re all subjected to it. It’s a part of us,” he said, adding that racist incidents aren’t always so obvious and grandiose, but they’re painful all the same and they create barriers.
Aside from the well-known horrific impacts of residential schools, Perley said systemic and historical injustices of all kinds affect the prosperity of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people today.
For instance, many First Nations people still live on reserves. The reserve system was established by the Indian Act of 1876 but precursors of it existed prior to that with an aim to “civilize” Indigenous peoples. The system forced First Nations people to live on remote and small pieces of federal land to which they have no title, and that is not as valuable as those in settler communities. These lands are sometimes located outside the traditional territory of the First Nation as well.
That means if a First Nation had traditionally lived by hunting and gathering in an abundant area, living in a much smaller, uninhabitable area made for a tough transition.
Over time, federal and provincial authorities carved away reserve lands they deem as not being put to “productive use” or “proper usage” such as farming and other development. What’s considered proper usage is based on what authorities deem so, not necessarily what the communities need or want. Reserve lands have become so small that First Nations communities often don’t have enough for all its members to have housing.
Canadian laws and policies in the early 20th century that made illegal or limited traditional ways of resource distribution and ways of living also made reserves severely impoverished. While many First Nations people couldn’t sustain their families because of that, leaving the reserves had meant facing discrimination and assimilation, and forfeiting their rights as Status Indians.
Additionally, there were policies like the pass system, which was in place until the 1940s. It required First Nations people living on reserve to get written permission from an Indian Affairs officer when they needed to leave their community. If they were caught without a pass, they were either jailed or returned to the reserve.
Indigenous people with “Indian Status,” a legal identity under the Canadian state that also developed the criteria for who would be considered Indigenous legally, were only allowed to vote federally in 1960, about 12 years after Japanese Canadians were allowed to do so. “Status Indians” were only allowed to vote in New Brunswick provincial elections in 1963.
Indigenous communities today remain underserved and underfunded in many ways.
For instance, there are 58 long-term drinking water advisories in 40 Indigenous communities as of December 2020, down from 105 in 2015. But progress came slow. Pabineau First Nation and Indian Island First Nation, both in New Brunswick, only had their advisories lifted in 2016, 11 years since they were implemented.
Status Indians are wards of the Canadian government, which means for them, things like healthcare and education, which usually falls under provincial jurisdiction, is under federal control.
According to a January 2020 OECD report, while “levels of educational attainment strongly influence labour force participation,” Indigenous youth face many barriers to accessing high-quality education where they live.
First Nations students receive 30 percent less funding than those under provincial jurisdiction, according to a 2013 report by former TD Chief Economist Don Drummond. The underfunded education of First Nations students was also noted in a 2011 report by the National Panel on First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education for Students on Reserve.
Racism was prevalent in off-reserve schools as well. Perley, who is turning 72 this year, remembers being taken out of school in the 1960s because “the parents didn’t want their teenagers to be socializing with those ones from Tobique.” But her school decided to accept First Nations students again once the Department of Indian Affairs offered them money.
Perley also noted that while French and English linguistic communities in New Brunswick have mechanisms to allow economic growth, Indigenous languages are not treated with the same importance.
“It should be all our languages being respected so that we don’t have to leave behind who we are just so we can fit in with what another culture wants,” she said.
McIntosh, whose company aims to help lower the barriers for Indigenous people entering the job market, says all of this means the playing field isn’t level. He says when an opportunity is open to everyone, not everybody is set up to take it.
“You can say equal opportunity if everybody has a shot at it. But if you’re standing in a hole 10 feet deep, you can’t walk through that door. So it’s not just about saying anybody can apply,” he said. “You have to give them a box to stand on.”
McIntosh said it’s important to include Indigenous communities in the economy, especially when New Brunswick needs its population to grow.
According to Statistics Canada, the First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations are growing more than four times faster than the rest of Canada, at 42.5 percent between 2006 and 2018.
LeBrun, the former CEO of Radian6, said he gets that it could be difficult to see systemic injustices if you’re not subjected to the short end of the stick, but that’s why it’s more important to step up.
“If you’re someone who doesn’t experience [systemic racism] like me, it’s actually difficult to see how some of our systems that work really well for me actually don’t work very well for other people,” he said.
But discussions he’s had in the Circle helped him “understand how stacked some of our systems are against minorities in general, but against Indigenous people [in particular].”
“The unfortunate reality is that because of the systems, we have privileges and powers that, unfortunately, our Indigenous leaders don’t yet have that they should,” he said. “The privilege I have, I have to use it for good.”
LeBrun hopes the Gathering Circle can grow to include government leaders as well. He produced a short film in 2018 to help people understand the barriers for Indigenous communities today. Watch the film below:
Inda Intiar is a reporter for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected]