Conference 2023 Panel Recap - "Northern, Rural and Indigenous Food System Governance: Challenges and Perspectives "

Photo by Francesco Ungaro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wild-reindeer-standing-in-snowy-forest-6939342/

Panel: NORTHERN, RURAL AND INDIGENOUS FOOD SYSTEM GOVERNANCE: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES 

Our first panel of the 2023 CAFLP conference featured a broad selection of presentations on Northern, rural, and Indigenous food system governance by Courtney Vaughan, Laura Wilmot, Don Buckingham, Sarah Berger Richardson, Kerrie Blaise and Michel Koostachin, moderated by Heather McLeod-Kilmurray. 

Courtney Vaughan

Courtney is a Métis woman who joined us from the Great Lakes community of Echo Bay/Sault Ste Marie. Courtney’s presentation “Metis Food Sovereignty in the Great Lakes Region” began with an introduction to her family’s history, rooted in the region. Forcibly displaced by colonial borders and policies, generations of her ancestors moved across the Great Lakes region while maintaining an intimate relationship to the land, water and country food sources. 

Today, all of Courtney’s family live in the Sault Ste Marie/Echo Bay region and routinely fish, canoe and live with the land. She demonstrated to us that despite the land extradition and colonial policies that attempted to divest Métis people from their traditional lands, her family’s resilience and connection to the land and waters ensured a continued relationship with the Great Lakes. “There is something about a woman’s connection to the water that ties us to this space.”

Colonial dispossession is far from being a uniquely historical phenomenon. Courtney described how when she moved back to her community in March 2020, she was shocked to discover that the fish - in particular her beloved Smelt - were no longer edible because of the high levels of heavy metals and chemicals polluting the waters. This pollution, she explained, is a result of colonial action, which continues to separate Indigenous peoples from their food sources. 

The presentation ended with Courtney asking us to revisit our own relationships with the water, land and fish and to situate ourselves in our own communities to learn from Indigenous land and water stewards. She advocates for an Indigenization of policy and law in order to combat contemporary land and water alienation. 

Laura Wilmot

Laura’s presentation “The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Act: a lever for sustainable food security in Inuit Nunangat” explored the Canadian Federal Government’s UNDRIP Act roll out in June 2021, and its application to the Inuit Nunangat’s food systems.

Her presentation commented specifically on three sections of UNDRIP: first, s. 5, which requires the Government of Canada to consult and cooperate with Indigenous peoples in implementing UNDRIP; second, s. 6, the obligation of the Minister of Justice to develop an action plan to achieve the objectives of UNDRIP; and third, s. 7, which requires an annual report from the Minister of Justice on progress made on ss. 5 and 6, drafted in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Laura points out that these three sections have yet to be satisfactorily executed. Section 5, she explains, has yet to come to fruition while ss. 6 and 7’s application have been strongly criticized by stakeholders. 

Despite these criticisms, Laura appeared optimistic on the potential for UNDRIP to increase food security in Inuit Nunangat. To date, self-determination of Inuit food systems has been severely suppressed by colonial laws and policies. UNDRIP could serve as an alternative legal framework under which Inuit access to land and food could be reified and protected. 

In order for UNDRIP’s potential to manifest, Laura notes that s. 5’s requirement of meaningful consultation and cooperation with Inuit communities will be crucial. Potential levers for more effectively integrating UNDRIP will be principles of free, prior, and informed consent and a more robust framework of land rights. Additionally, emphasis must be placed on the centering of Indigenous knowledge and education.

Potential limitations include tensions between Federal and Provincial/Territorial jurisdiction. As UNDRIP falls under Federal law, its application in Provinces and Territories has yet to be determined. 

Don Buckingham & Sarah Berger Richardson

Don Buckingham and Sarah Berger Richardson collaborated to present “More food or more protection? Looking at NWT food system challenges and opportunities”. The presentation was a follow up to a report they authored for the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute in 2019. 

The 2019 report found that the Northwest Territories’ food regulatory framework was occurring in silos with little to no collaboration. This isolation created barriers to agricultural development and created conflict between the markets of wild versus conventional foods. In fact, a complete lack of wild food regulation was inhibiting any form of sale or systematic resource sharing. As Sarah aptly put it, ‘you cannot do anything if there is no regulation to do it’. Navigating potentially conflicting interests from different stakeholders is an additional obstacle identified in the report. There appeared to be a tension between centering local producers vis-a-vis large industry players, who were more resourced. The report suggested fostering dialogue between stakeholders and actors to create an integrated food policy that centers community and increases access to country food.

Since the report was published in 2019, the NWT Government has issued a Mandate Letter with the objective of increasing food security through locally produced, harvested and affordable food. There have also been statutory reviews of the Species at Risk (NWT) Act and the Wildlife Act with recommendations to remove regulatory barriers which prevent communities from sharing wild meat. The speakers also asked the audience to look out for a development of meat safety regulations under the Public Health Act, which will be out by the end of 2023. 

Don and Sarah suggest momentum should be harnessed by ensuring a continued and collaborative consultation process, the implementation of strategies identified in the Mandate Letter and increased reporting to increase local food production and distribution. 

Kerrie Blaise & Michel Koostachin 

Kerrie and Mike’s presentation, “Extractive Colonialism: Impacts of the Ring of Fire to Indigenous Rights and Food Gathering in Treaty 9” focused on environmental activism spearheaded by the Friends of the Attawapiskat River, a grassroots organization. 

Kerrie began with an overview of the Ring of Fire mining extraction project, which has been positioned to take place in central Treaty 9 territory. This project has a proposed life span of over 100 years and will have significant negative impacts on the fragile muskeg wetlands that cover the territory. Kerrie notes that these muskeg lands are not only home to the Caribou of Treaty 9, but they also function as a veritable ‘carbon sponge’, holding the equivalent of 39 billion car’s worth of emissions. Any destruction of these lands poses a threat to the Anishinaabeg peoples of Treaty 9, and of the larger international community because of its important role in combating climate change.

While this project has not yet been approved, Kerrie notes that the government does not recognize mineral exploration as environmentally significant and has issued hundreds of permits for the region. Exploration activity has already enacted significant damage to muskeg land. The imperative to protect these lands is urgent and goes beyond resisting the Ring of Fire project. 

Mike, founder of the Friends of the Attawapiskat River, opened his presentation by providing many examples of how colonialism has disrupted Indigenous food systems. The introduction of invasive species, legislation that deprives First Nations of their right to fish and hunt, and prohibitive colonial regulation have all reduced access to traditional foods. 

In contrast, Mike’s Anishinaabeg teachings proclaim that each living being is sacred and holds spirit. We all have a timeline and a role to play in the environment in which we live. The interconnectivity of humans, animals and land is so entrenched that there will never be an action without some kind of repercussion. He explains that the moose either chooses to give himself to the hunter or to evade capture.  

Mike’s stories highlighted the interconnectivity of our lives with the environment in which we live, and the sacredness of these relationships.