The Red Paper

And so seven generations, which is how we're supposed to look down the pathway on the decisions that we make, we start to see that, um, Canada and now Alberta are acting in ways, um, that are further kind of solidifying that, um, that fight that our, our, um, um, previous, you know, treaty warriors, the late Harold Cardinal, um, the late Mike Beaver, um, the late Helen Gladue, all people of that era who were doing the kinds of things that we were doing.

And it just, it occurs to me that the core reason why we're pushing back so hard at this point in time is because the headway that was made in 1970 with the red paper, which was the response to the white paper, that idea of citizens plus, still to this day is something that Canada and Alberta want to turn the page on, as though treaty is history rather than treaty living, and that both non-indigenous and First Nations people like us are still living with the, with the legacy and the commitments that were made under those sacred agreements.

So I know that, um, you know, in the Treaty 8 territory, which is where a lot of the current objectives for natural resource extraction, which I believe is the underpinning rationale for, um, both the referendum and for Canada's activities, um, in relation to the MOU and to, uh, fast-tracking of major projects, um, they have been, uh, at the forefront of the fight both in domestic courts, but also internationally and, um, politically.

Um, my nation, uh, in Treaty Number 6 has always been treaty strong.

[laughs] All right.

For me, it's always treaty.

Right? So as a treaty person, um, and honoring and upholding what the ancestors and our elders have put for us, uh, to benefit us, um, and that the words, like y- the 19- the First Nation response to the 1969 Red Paper, uh, was Citizens Plus, the Red Paper as it was also known as, and how when we entered into treaty that we were to both benefit.

Right? And non-interference, yet that's all it's been, is that interference and that legislative, um, um, manipulation over us.

If you look at some reserves, uh, if you look at the statistical successes and, and so on, the current system has not worked in their favor, even-

Now Danny, I won't take us into the weeds too much here, but Pardee seems unaware he's discussing ideas that Indigenous leaders in Alberta created for the entire country through something called The Red Paper back in 1970.

Now, the idea that Canada hasn't worked for Indigenous people is probably one of the few things that everyone can agree on, even separatists.

When I spoke with Mitch Sylvestre, here's how he put it.

[upbeat music] What strikes me is the knowledge of history.

I'm used to Canadians not knowing how our country was formed.

Still, I was surprised that the Cree position during the Quebec referendum in the '90s wasn't well-known among separatists, that Trudeau's white paper wasn't, the red paper either.

So it feels like what's needed here is to ground all of this in some history and some knowledge.