MP of Timmins-James Bay revealed chilling insights into ‘Children of the Broken Treaty’ at Laurier U

Charlie Angus just had to speak up.

The long-time Northern Ontario federal politician couldn’t watch so many children left behind and remain silent.

“We should be bloody angry that this is happening and we have to speak up,” said the MP for Timmins-James Bay. “It is not just a political issue. It is a fundamental moral question of who we are as a nation and this is going on. So I speak up because I have to speak up.”

He brought to Laurier students’ attention the plight of First Nations children through his award-winning book, Children of the Broken Treaty.

“The [Aboriginal] communities are always in perpetual crisis,” said Angus. “There is nothing accidental about the continual state of emergency and suicide crisis on reserves, these are the results of chronicle underfunding.”

Angus said the federal government’s customary and systemic negligence of the First Nations families and children has perpetuated “a pattern of dysfunction” in Canada. The Aboriginal communities are always in perpetual crisis because the government who is responsible for the delivery of services deliberately underfunds and refuses to provide a stable, long-term program funding and support for the First Nations.

Angus said the federal government has practiced “a power structure” on Aboriginal communities in Canada. And within this “power structure,” the federal government has treated the First Nations as “colonies” of Canada.

He appealed to Laurier students and his readers to challenge the structure of this systemic discrimination and racism that are against First Nations communities and First Nations children.

“I believe there is an incredible good will among Canadians to bring change [to the unequal relationship between Aboriginal communities and the rest of Canada], but it takes political will. And things are not gonna change just by being nice,” said Angus.

“What I am saying is not radical. It is a reflection of what I’ve seen on the ground year after year in the communities I represent,” said Angus. “It is a waste of enormous potential of children, a waste of our country’s potential.”

Charlie Angus has bee the MP for Timmins-James Bay since 2004. He is also the NDP member of parliament for the area. His dedication to the fight for equal rights for First Nations children and national palliative care strategy has inspired him to complete Children of the Broken Treaty, the award-winning book. It chronicles the dire state of Aboriginal children in the James Bay lowlands.

“We have so few public figures, especially white politicians, speaking about this [Aboriginal inequalities]. It was like this has been a dreadful secret. It felt as if it is almost impolite to talk about government negligence of Aboriginal communities in Canada. It’s like having sort of a nasty conversation and nobody wants to talk about or hear about.” said Jean Becker, Senior Advisor of Aboriginal Initiatives of Laurier University. “I thank him for speaking up for us.”

The legacy left by residential school system still has impacted the Aboriginal communities profoundly.

According to the 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, residential school was designed by the federal government of Canada in an attempt to eradicate Aboriginal culture by systemically sending Aboriginal children to a boarding school and separating them from their parents and culture. It was put in place as early as the late 18th century and lasted for over a century. Even though the residential school system was removed, the federal government’s customary negligence of the First Nations bore remarkable resemblance to the residential school system of the day.