Yes.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post advocating that newspapers should close their comments sections.  In the days since then I have heard from many people agreeing with me, and no one has disagreed.  I have had a twitter conversation with a National Post reporter whose piece about the breaking of a copper on the steps of the Victoria Legislature was – as is typical – hijacked by racist comments.    In that Twitter conversation, Tristin Hooper, the reporter stated that there is nothing he can do to influence this conversation and that “freedom can be an ugly, ugly thing sometimes.”

Well no doubt.  But in pondering this situation more, I am left to conclude that newspapers are actually trafiicking in racism.  Take for example this really interesting Globe and Mail piece about the spiritual side of Idle No More. This is a good discussion where people actually learned something in the conversation.  And then you get comments like this:

“What a load of crap. With the chiefs, elders and anyone directly related to them on the take the two spiritual sides of ‘idle no more’ are 1) Hand over more cash,2  ) and dont even think for a second we want to work at an 8 to 4 job. Oh, and add the mantra of Accounting? Accounting? Thats a white mans distraction.
If you dig back far enough you will find the simple hunter-gatherer approach to understanding the cosmos. Toss in the guilt ridden white mentality and the stone age vision of the world becomes an all encompassing stewards of the land ‘religion’. The only way this all flies is that modern society buys into the idea and pays for it.
Settle directly with everyone covered by the Indian Act bypassing the chiefs and elders completely. Give them their home and the land it sits on fee simple, a wad of cash and that is the end of it. It would be way cheaper then continuing this on for ever!”

So.

The Globe and Mail has a polcy at the top of its comments page that reads:

Editor’s Note: Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of The Globe and Mail, but only of the comment writer. Personal attacks, offensive language and unsubstantiated allegations are not allowed. For more information on our commenting policies, please see our  Community Guidelines page, or read our full  Terms and Conditions. If you see a typo or error on our site,  report it to us. Please include a link to the story where you spotted the error.

The comment above contains two of these three violations and elsewhere in that same comment section Teresa Spence is referred to as “Thief Spence.”  The editor’s policy may be that these are technically violations, but they are allowed to stand.  To make matters worse, replies on the Globe and Mail website are collapsed in threads, making it impossible to address this information and have your objections seen.  Not much of a free market of ideas. A false comment gets more visibility than the reply that aims to correct it.  Want to create a set of misperceptions of First Nations? Just write all manner of comments.  No one will read the replies.

So what is going on here?  The Globe and Mail does not enforce its own polices, or at least does it completely arbitrarily.  An interesting read on the spiritual side of Idle No More gets poisoned by racism, personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations, and we just keep looking.

The editorial policy says that the opinions in the comments are not the opinions of the paper.  But by leaving comments sections like this open to this kind of abuse the Globe and Mail is sharing an opinion with you.  It is stating that “it is the opinion of this paper that comments like the ones below are not in violation of our policy and contribute to the conversation.”

Furthermore, according to the Globe’s own terms and conditions, when you upload anything to the comments boards at the Globe and Mail you give the Globe and mail a license to use the material any way they want.  By leaving it on their site, they are using comments to drive traffic to their advertisers and therefore earn revenue.  Comments, and especially outrage, represents real cash money.  Racist speech, unsubstantiated allegations and personal attacks all drive comment threads that are hundreds of comments long.  More readers = more revenue.  Racism sells.

Furthermore, also from the Globe’s Terms and Conditions:

When participating in a Forum, never assume that people are who they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated. The Globe and/or its affiliates and licensors cannot be responsible for the content or accuracy of any information, and will not be responsible for any reliance or decisions made based on such information. When using a Forum, you may not post, transmit, link to, or otherwise distribute any information, materials or content that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of the particular Forum. Use of a Forum for commercial purposes of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please note that The Globe reserves the right to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that, in its sole discretion, are unacceptable, undesirable, or in violation of these Terms and Conditions.

This is no about restricting freedom of speech. This is not about stopping a conversation in society on First Nations issues.  Quite the opposite in fact.   Every single person who posts in a comments thread has the freedom to start their own blog and post anything they want.  What it is about is this clever dodge that papers use to hide behind the guise of freedom while trafficking for money in hate speech and libel.  And the sheer volume of it plus an insubstantial disclaimer protects them from legal action.

So is there hope for a conversation with editorial boards on the merits of comments sections?  Are their editors who agree with me?  Are their journalists out there who consider this worthy writing about?  Or are we just too tied to the money to turn off the tap?

Public conversation, and by extension, public policy suffers for this rhetoric.

PS…bonus link…the   Globe and Mail allows a personal attack to stand in an article about one man who is addressing racism on Craigslist. WTF?

PPS…The Globe and Mail has, since its inception, had this quote on its editorial page:  “The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures.”  Going to war against arbitrary measures was the paper’s founding principle.  I wonder if people still talk about what that means around the editorial board?

Five years ago I wrote about a speech from former  Governor General Adrienne Clarkson who pointed out that all Canadians are treaty people.

Now more than ever I want to underscore that fact.  Idle No More is drawing attention to the fact that Canada has been founded on a relationship, a relationship that has been set out many times in treaties.  Treaty rights are so foundational to the existence of this country that they are enshrined and protected in the Constitution of Canada.

A lot of recent rhetoric from settler Canadians in the last few months has focused on the benefits that flow to First Nations as a result of treaties.  But we haven’t had the conversation about the benefits that flow the other way.

Under Canadian law, Aboriginal title exists in places where there are no treaties.  This is the case for most of British Columbia, although no First Nation has yet made the case under Canadian Law that they hold title.  But the concept is simple and it is clear.  Without the consent to enter into a different kind of relationship between First Nations and Canada, Aboriginal title exists.  Where Aboriginal title is proven to exist, it has massive implications for Crown land ownership.

Over the past few hundred years, the Crown and later the Crown in right of Canada acted upon the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and pushed its claims further westward making treaties as it went to cement and clarify the relationship with First Nations. This process continues today in BC.  In effect this meant that, in exchange for a few benefits flowing to First Nations, the Crown gained control of lands and resources such that it was able to issue title, permits and licenses for use of land.  If you own land privately or you lease it or you have a permit to operate on Crown land or you extract resources from the land, you are a treaty beneficiary.  You are a treaty person.

Some of the most ridculous opposition to treaty rights comes from people who believe that First Nations should not receive special benefits or have their treaty rights enshrined in the Constitution. This is the same Constitution, by the way, that guarantees the freedom for people to make ridiculous speeches about First Nations.  Most who opposed to treaty rights would have a fit if their free speech rights were taken away, but the rights have exactly the same weight in Canadian law: the are protected in the Constitution.

Opposition that is littering comments sections around the web essentially comes down to this: we should tear up the treaties and just have indigenous people assimilate into Canadian society.  But this is a ridiculous position.  If we tear up treaties, then the contracts are broken and the ownership of the land reverts to First Nations.

If people want to restart the relationship, fine.  I’m sure that First Nations will be more than happy to return the billions of dollars of benefits for the trillions of dollars of land value.  Then we can start negotiations again.  What would you pay now for the right to own private land, or the right to earn a living extracting resources?  Trust me, setller governments got the bargain of the millenium.  Never has so much been given away for so little, the billions that flow to First Nations every year are a small portion of the trillions that are earned off of formerly Aboriginal-owned lands..

Every Canadian is a treaty person.  Every Canadian benefits from treaties made with First Nations, and every Canadian has responsibilities under those treaties as well.  First Nations have rights and under treaty have responsibilities too.  Idle No More is simply about respecting that we have a relationship and that we all have to live up to it.  It is very difficult to do so when huge numbers of your “partners” don’t even acknowledge that they have made a bargain that benefits them.

So allies, make this point to your friends and those who don’t understand the relationship.  Ask them where they think the right to own land comes from?  It comes from treaties.  If they don’t believe you, point them to the Delgamuukw court ruling which says that Aboriginal title cannot be single handedly extinguished by the Crown.  It’s simple.  When you realize how much you have gained through the power of a longstanding and honourable relationship, you should be thankful.  If you still resent the benefits and rights that First Nations enjoy under this relationship, then offer back your land and your ability to make a living and feed yourself and keep your hard earned tax dollars.  You cannot be a Canadian without inheriting the legacy of treaty makers.  You cannot have the benefits without the responsibilities.  This country would never have existed without these agreements and that is why they are protected.

Such a small price to pay for such a huge benefit.  Why not celebrate and honour the agreements that make Canada possible?

Since 1986 I have been working for our communities across Canada. I have met every national chief since George Easmus and am on a first name basis with two of them. I have worked in probably more than fifty communities but have hosted meetings with citizens of almost every First Nation in Canada. Much of my work is geared towards making things better, and in my life time I have seen improvements.

#IdleNoMore is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my 26 years of working in our communities. It is a grassroots voicing of many concerns and issues, but it focuses on one thing: honour. If you have been wondering what First Nations want, let me break it down for you, because it is nothing new. The ask is for a simple honoring of existing agreements, studies and plans. To make it easy, here is a five point plan for radically changing First Nations communities for the better without doing anything new:

• Implement existing treaties. The Crown made treaties with First Nations starting in the 1700s specifically to manage the relationship between governments. It is a simple matter to continue to implement these treaties as they are existing commitments that both sides can continue to live by. Existing treaty process are simple contemporary ways to work the relationship. Sme First Nations have chosen this path of reconciliation and they should feel free to continue to have that right to invite Canada to a legally binding relationship.
• Update and implement the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples findings. When RCAP was created in 1992 it was in response to the way in which Canada had handled the 1990 Oka crises. It was an acknowledgement of the realities facing indigenous communities and it asked for and listened to thousands of hours of testimony about current conditions and possible solutions. It represented the best and brightest thinking of its time, and it proscribed hundreds of recommendations that would have changed things for the better. Thirty years later, only some of those recommendations have seen the light of day, and they have been half hearted implementations at that.
• Revisit and implement the Kelowna Accord. In 2005 there was an unprecedented process that brought together First Nations leadership, provincial premiers, territorial leaders and the prime minister to reach consensus on a ten year program to seriously and collaboratively address the health, education and social needs of our communities. As one of his first acts in taking office, Stephen Harper scuttled the deal citing the $4 billion price take as too high. It was merely a fraction of what he was eventually willing to spend on fa handful of fighter jets, but it represented an historic opportunity to seriously make a dent in the socio-economic gaps between indigenous and non indigenous people in this country. By the way BC went ahead and implemented many of the Kelowna principles on their own and although there was so much they could do as a province without the Feds involved, they have made bigger strides than any other province since 2005.
• implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada was one of the last countries in the world to ratify this declaration, but ratify it they did in 2010. All it takes now if for the federal government to work with first nations communities to create theologies that would ensure that indigenous rights are protected and responsibilities are implemented by rights holders, such as governments and social institutions.
• implement Canadian law with respect to consultation with First Nations on legislation that may infringe rights. Aboriginal law is very complicated, but the Supreme Court of Canada has been very clear about the processes that governments must follow to adequately consult with First Nations on issues in which rights might be infringed. Whenever the federal government fails to do this, court cases generally go against them. So a cheap solution would be to engage in a consistent, honorable, legal and high level consultation protocol. If such a process had been followed with respect to the current government’s omnibus bills, #IdleNoMore would never have started.

In my lifetime I have witnessed the entrenchment of Aboriginal rights into our constitution and that many major initiatives that never got off the drawing board. My generation did what we could and now the young ones are saying “it’s our turn.”. And they are rightly saying that we haven’t done enough in the last thirty years. And they are speaking from a place of resourcefulness, connection and creativity that is totally different from what we had in the 1980s.

So Canada, make it easy on yourself. Just complete the good things we started together. Let’s just try that. Nothing new, nothing complicated, nothing we haven’t talked about doing before. But this time, let’s commit.