Conflict between national, tribal law testing Trudeau’s commitment to First Nations

Like all good and decent Americans, Canada drives me a little bonkers. Canadians love to cluck their tongues at Americans and our silly notions of exceptionalism. Canada’s top exports include oil, motor vehicles, and wood pulp, but talk to one and you’ll think their No. 1 export is smugness. Canada is like America’s perfect little brother everyone wishes we would be more like—we love you, but sometimes you’re insufferable. Well, at least Justin Trudeau is. In Obama's absence, Trudeau wants to be the smiling face of apologist, self-loathing, Western anti-Western, leftist global-progressivism. He bends over backward to show how tolerant he is. But the humiliating failure of his recent trip to India was delightful for all of us who know that virtue signalling is not a foreign policy. Trudeau has made much ballyhooing not just to Indians abroad, but those in his own country, though Canadians don’t say Indian (and certainly not “Native American”). He has promised to “decolonize” Canadian law regarding Indigenous peoples and empower them for greater self-governance. “We need to get to a place where Indigenous peoples in Canada are in control of their own destiny,” Trudeau said, insufferably pleased with himself as he enacts “things that will never be able to be undone.” Because otherwise, of course, Donald Trump would invade Canada to chase all the native peoples into the Hudson Bay. These are all nice-sounding goals. If this is what’s best for all Canadians, I hope the day will come when Mr. Trudeau can make good on his promises. And that day is today. Ken Hill is caught in a conflict between Canadian and native law. He is the favoured son of the Haudenosaunee tribe—better known to Americans as the Iroquois—and among the most successful First Nations businessman in Canada. A leading shareholder in tobacco company Grand River Enterprises, Hill is a great example of an Indigenous entrepreneur achieving success for himself and his community. Fellow Haudenosaunee Brittany Beaver, the mother of his nine-year-old son, is seeking spousal and child support from Hill, although the two were never married. Beaver wants Canadian civil law, the Ontario superior court, to adjudicate this matter, while Hill wants it resolved by their tribe’s Confederacy Council and Clan Mothers. Critics have said this would allow Hill to escape child support, but Haudenosaunee law still requires that a father assume responsibility for his child and, according to court filings, Hill is already providing considerable support. One Indigenous columnist responded that, “It is insulting to our identity as distinct communities, to our journey of self-governance and our intellectual abilities as indigenous people to insist indigenous traditional systems do not have the capability to resolve the matter.” The Canadian media has tried to paint Hill as a wealthy dilettante who “lives in a world of luxury and comfort” and parties with “Rod Stewart, Mike Tyson, the Trailer Park Boys and Snoop Dogg”—as though simply because he has been successful, we should view him through a different lens. Hill has the resources to fight this himself, but many First Nations peoples do not if the wrong precedent is set. Earlier this year, Canada passed an Indigenous People’s rights bill through the House of Commons, which promised “to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” The way this issue is resolved will show the world Canada’s commitment to its own commitments. Whether it’s the Ontario superior court, the provincial attorneys general, or Trudeau himself, First Nations’ rights must be restored and respected. Mr. Hill’s case is a good place to start honouring those commitments. Echoing these sentiments, Adam Beach, an actor raised on a First Nations reserve, told the press, "As Indigenous peoples, our rights, customs, ways, and laws must have a place of prominence in processes that impact our families, our children, and our lands. Otherwise, nothing will change and our people will continue to suffer." One of the problems with leftist global-progressivism is the conflict between values like absolute cultural tolerance and 21st-century feminism. In Europe, the potential conflict is with Islamic communities. But Haudenosaunee tribal law is not Sharia law, and the Canadian government has been unequivocal in its commitment to Indigenous self-determination. Trudeau’s insubstantial virtue-signalling embarrassed him with Indians in India. Is it going to do the same with Indigenous peoples at home? Are the Haudenosaunee “in control of their own destiny,” as Trudeau has pledged to push for, or aren’t they? Jared Whitley is a longtime Washington politico, who worked in the White House during the Bush administration and as a press aide to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. He is a contributor to The Hill, The Weekly Standard, and Investors Business Daily, among other publications. The Hill Times

Conflict between national, tribal law testing Trudeau’s commitment to First Nations

One of the problems with leftist global-progressivism is the conflict between values like absolute cultural tolerance and 21st-century feminism, writes former Republican staffer Jared Whitley.

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Conflict between national, tribal law testing Trudeau’s commitment to First Nations

One of the problems with leftist global-progressivism is the conflict between values like absolute cultural tolerance and 21st-century feminism, writes former Republican staffer Jared Whitley.

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