Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories

Indigenous Peoples and Democratic Politics conference

Strategizing change 15 years after RCAP

9:00am
- 5:00pm
Friday March 1 2013

JOIN US FOR A ONE-DAY PUBLIC EVENT WITH COMMUNITY AND ACADEMIC EXPERTS.

Speakers include: Beverly Jacobs (U of Calgary), Grand Chief Stewart Phillip (President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs), Michael Chandler (UBC), Malcolm King (SFU), Margo Greenwood (UNBC), Eldon Yellowhorn (SFU), Vanda Fleury (U of Manitoba) Ravi de Costa (York U), Andrew Woolford (U of Manitoba), Wenona Victor (U of the Fraser Valley), Sandrina de Finney (U of Victoria), Fiona MacDonald (U of Manitoba), Glen Coulthard (UBC),James Tully (U of Victoria), and Rima Wilkes (UBC).
 

WHY HAS SO LITTLE CHANGED IN INDIGENOUS-STATE RELATIONSHIPS SINCE THE ROYAL COMMISSION ?

It has been 15 years since the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. With media headlines exposing decient housing, undrinkable water, low rates of investment in education, and high levels of incarceration in Indigenous communities, it is time to take another look at the political relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian state. While a growing number of social movements, non-govermental agencies, communities, and academics are devoting their time, energy, and careers to the goal of eradicating the numerous injustices that Indigenous people face there remains a poverty of action on the part of the Canadian governments . At the same time, while facing a number of challenges due to the political, economic, and social legacies of colonialism, Indigenous peoples have demonstrated profound agency and determination in pursuing a just relationship with Canadian governments. The Idle No More movement has placed these efforts front and center and has demanded both reaction and action regarding the legitimacy of current systems of governance.