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JACK LAYTON AND THE NEW DEMOCRATS:
AN AGENDA FOR JUSTICE AND HOPE
The New Democratic Party believes that Canada benefits
when we honour and respect each other. Through support
for our neighbours, we help unleash their potential and
through their efforts, our lives are made better. This is the
core of social justice and the core of our values as New
Democrats. This is our hope for Canada.
New Democrats know that the full capacity of First
Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to help make Canada a
better place has been suppressed throughout our history as
a country. We know that Indigenous knowledge allowed
the first settlers to survive in a challenging environment.
We know the resources of this land built our economy.
We also know that Aboriginal people form the youngest
and fastest growing demographic in the country and that
the future health of our economy relies on the equitable
participation of these young people in it. We know that
Canada will benefit through supporting First Nations,
Inuit and Métis peoples in realizing their aspirations.
New Democrats also recognize that Canada has failed
to truly honour and respect the original inhabitants of
this land and, as a result, we see Canada’s greatest social
injustice in the circumstances of First Nations, Inuit and
Métis peoples today.
We have heard the voices of Elders, of political and
business leaders, of educators and professionals, of ordinary
First Nation, Inuit and Métis citizens, and of concerned
Canadians in communities from sea to sea to sea. We
do not claim to have all the answers, but we seek to
understand the meaning of our common past and how we
must move forward together in the present to build our
common future. We know that First Nations, Inuit and
Métis peoples must be full participants at the tables where
decisions are made. We share a vision of reconciliation
between Aboriginal people and other Canadians from
which we all will benefit.
When the first newcomers interacted with the people that
were already on this land we call Canada, they did so on a
nation-to-nation basis. The settlers survived here with the
help of those who were here before them. They shared the
benefits of the land. Together, they formed partnerships
that were respectful and honourable. This was the spirit
behind the treaties. But the colonial powers unilaterally
changed that relationship, through policies of segregation
and then assimilation. Policies without respect or honour.
Policies of social injustice that have been disastrous failures.
The result is lived out in Aboriginal communities across
the country – in grinding poverty and its resulting health
and social ills – every day.
With half of Canada’s Aboriginal population under the
age of 25, it is time to invest in Aboriginal youth; not only
to improve the lives of Aboriginal people but to improve
economic outcomes across the country. It is well past time
to apply the wisdom and traditional knowledge of Canada’s
Aboriginal peoples to bring more sustainable solutions to
Canada’s current challenges. We have a responsibility and
an obligation to do better. We cannot afford to continue to
fail.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples sets out standards for the survival,
dignity and well-being of Indigenous populations around
the world. It has strong support from First Nations, Inuit
and Métis peoples across Canada and a New Democrat
motion to adopt the Declaration was passed in the House
of Commons in 2008. But Stephen Harper has disgraced
Canada by failing to accept its principles and enact them.
Canada must do better to honour and respect Indigenous
peoples.
A New Democrat government will meet the standards set
out by the UN by:
1. Forging a New Partnership with First Nations, Inuit
and Métis Peoples;
2. Fostering Economic Opportunity and Lasting
Prosperity;
3. Ending the Discrimination still faced by Aboriginal
People in Canada; and,
4. Supporting the Process of Healing the Harms of Past
Injustices.
By moving in these four directions, New Democrats seek
to help restore a central element of social justice in Canada
and reconcile the hopes of First Nations, Inuit and Métis
people with those of all Canadians.
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 A NEW DEMOCRAT GOVERNMENT
WILL PURSUE ITS AGENDA OF
JUSTICE AND HOPE BY
1. Forging a New Partnership
To build a relationship based on mutual respect
between Canada’s government and Aboriginal peoples,
we will forge a nation-to-nation partnership by:
∙∙ Immediately ratifying the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will ensure its
provisions are properly respected in Canada and
incorporated into Canadian law;
∙∙ Implementing existing agreements, particularly
treaties, with honour;
∙∙ Accelerating the settlement of self-government
agreements where Aboriginal communities seek
them;
∙∙ Respecting inherent Aboriginal and treaty rights
and supporting Aboriginal communities in their
relationships with the Crown;
∙∙ Legally recognizing the legitimacy and
jurisdiction of Indigenous governments. This will
include engagement in full consultations to give
respect to Aboriginal communities’ rights over
their own membership;
∙∙ Developing a comprehensive claims policy that
genuinely respects Aboriginal title;
∙∙ Ensuring equitable participation of First Nations,
Métis, and Inuit peoples and governments in
Canada’s stewardship of the environment and
resources, and on appropriate boards, commissions
and international delegations;
∙∙ Restructuring Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada as recommended in the Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996.
Between 2007 and 2010, the three-year average dropout rate among First Nations
people living off-reserve, Métis and Inuit aged 20 to 24 was 22.6%, compared with
8.5% for non-Aboriginal people. Among young off-reserve First Nations people
(North American Indians), the dropout rate was 25.8%, and for Métis, 18.9%.
(Statcan, November 3, 2010)
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2. Fostering Economic Opportunity and
Lasting Prosperity
To support Aboriginal people in achieving their
personal and collective aspirations and to continue
Canada’s economic growth, we will foster new
opportunities by:
∙∙ Investing in improvements to education and
training for First Nations, Inuit and Métis
children, youth and adults. Working with all
partners, our goal will be to achieve educational
attainment for Aboriginal people comparable to
others in Canada inspired by Shannen’s dream;
∙∙ Enhancing access to capital and small business
development so that First Nations, Inuit, and
Métis people can establish sustainable local
economies and fully participate in the Canadian
economy;
∙∙ Removing barriers to local control over Aboriginal
business development;
∙∙ Supporting First Nations, Inuit and Métis
participation in resource management decision-
making and resource revenue sharing;
∙∙ Improving physical infrastructure, housing,
drinking water, sewage, roads and other services
that are essential to economic development;
∙∙ Addressing the health care needs of First Nations,
Inuit and Métis people, especially those relating to
chronic diseases that particularly affect Aboriginal
people;
∙∙ Investing in human capital and physical
infrastructure in the North as the best means of
guaranteeing Canadian sovereignty;
∙∙ Addressing the needs of urban First Nations,
Métis and Inuit citizens with special attention
to the appropriate development and delivery of
affordable housing, public health care, education,
skills training, as well as the development of
economic and employment opportunities.
3. Ending Discrimination
To bring down the barriers that prevent progress
and overcome impediments to equity for Aboriginal
peoples, we will end ongoing discrimination by:
∙∙ Removing the punitive 2% funding cap on Indian
and Northern Affairs Canada transfers to First
Nations that was instituted by the Liberals and
maintained by the Harper Conservatives;
∙∙ Ending current funding inequities between
federal services to First Nations and provincial or
territorial services to Canadians, beginning with
Child and Family Services and education;
∙∙ Engaging with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
women and appropriate organizations to ensure
that their rights and personal safety are assured;
∙∙ Implementing Jordan’s Principle to guarantee First
Nations children are not hurt by jurisdictional
disputes between governments;
∙∙ Working with local child service organizations to
reduce the number of Aboriginal children
in care;
∙∙ Enabling Aboriginal communities to develop
restorative justice and healing practices that
offer Indigenous youth better opportunities and
choices. As it costs approximately $100,000 a
year to keep a person in the corrections system
and only $25,000 a year to deal with them in
preventative justice programs, this policy will save
money immediately while providing better long-
term results.
If educational and labour market outcomes of Aboriginal Canadians in 2026 reach
the non-Aboriginal outcome levels of 2001, the annual output would be $36.5
billion higher, tax revenue would be $3.5 billion higher and government spending
for social programs would go down by $14.2 billion.
(Centre for the Study of Living Standards, May 2009)
4. Healing the Past
To heal the wounds of the past, we will ensure proper
resources and support are available to Aboriginal
peoples by:
∙∙ Supporting the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
and ensuring that Residential School survivors
left out by the current agreement are fairly
compensated;
∙∙ Supporting the efforts of First Nations, Métis, and
Inuit communities to renew Indigenous languages
in this generation, by developing and improving
language curricula and developing a corps of those
able to help teach Indigenous languages with
improved funding for language training;
∙∙ Investing in urban friendship centres that are the
focal point of integration into the urban social
fabric for many Aboriginal people;
∙∙ Working with the provinces, human rights
commissions and others to promote anti-racism
education in all applicable venues;
∙∙ Supporting initiatives to celebrate each June as
National Aboriginal History Month.
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