Major Changes in Trudeau's Cabinet Seen as Diminishment of Indigenous Relations

Last week, Prime Minister Trudeau made major changes to his cabinet. Only seven ministers keeping their portfolios: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.

The most significant move is Minister Marc Miller from Minister of Crown – Indigenous Relations to Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada which became official on July 26, 2023. Lametti was not reassigned a role in Trudeau's cabinet.

Miller has cultivated many friends and who is often seen in Akwesasne. In 2017, Miller, after spending months learning Mohawk, delivered a statement in Kanieńkehá language in the House of Commons. It was the first time the Mohawk language had been spoken in either of Canada's houses of Parliament since Confederation, according to research provided by the Library of Parliament.

Reactions have varied from supportive to frustration on the cabinet shuffles. Moving Miller and removing Lametti from Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada is "pretty significant," says Hayden King, Anishinaabe from Beausoleil First Nation and executive director of the Yellowhead Institute.

King said, "These are two of the most important Cabinet portfolios...for leading the government engagement with First Nation, Métis and Inuit people on a variety of policy and legislative issues...(and) Indigenous issues."

Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough Rouge Park, new Minister for Crown-Indigenous relations was first elected in 2015 and has served as a parliamentary secretary to the Justice minister. He also sat on the Indigenous and Northern Affairs House committee.

Anandasangaree led the government's charge to develop a national anti-racism strategy when he was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Heritage and Multiculturalism.

The Ontario MP arrived in Canada as a refugee from Sri Lanka in 1983. Prior to his election, he worked as a human rights lawyer and with a number of community organizations, including as a member of the Toronto Police Chief's Advisory Council.

Viewed by some as rookie ministers in those positions, who when lobbied by Indigenous leaders, will get little attention on their issues. Others view new cabinet members as having limited understanding of the north and other parts of Canada, being they are both Toronto MPs.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is encouraging the new minister of Crown-Indigenous relations to continue the work of Marc Miller in pushing for the search of the Prairie Green Landfill outside Winnipeg.

"Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said in a statement, "We hope that Minister Gary Anandasangaree can help us and be an ally for MMIWG2S+ and assist us in bringing our loved ones located in the Prairie Green Landfill and the Brady Landfill home."

The bodies of two First Nations women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, are believed to be buried at the landfill that is located just outside of Winnipeg.

Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak (LFMO)LFMO in particular would like to acknowledge the collaborative efforts of the Honorable Marc Miller, formerly Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who is now Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. LFMO also congratulates the newly appointed Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Gary Anandasangaree, and looks forward to continuing to address the issues that impact the full and equal participation of Métis Nation women and gender diverse persons across the Métis Nation Motherland in the spirit of trust, respect and co-development.

The AFNQL wishes to welcome the appointment of the Anandasangaree as the new Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and underlines the fact that the Minister of Indigenous Services Canada, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, will remain in her position, thus maintaining stability in several other important files.

Chief Picard stated, "I hope that these ministers will welcome the Prime Minister's decision as an invitation to redouble their efforts to consolidate our relationship and strengthen our Nation-to-Nation relations. I would also like to thank the Honourable Marc Miller for his work with the First Peoples over the past few years."

King sees the changes in Cabinet as a departure from Trudeau's first-term election promise of having a significant relationship with Indigenous peoples. Two other major changes include Dominic LeBlanc as the new Public Safety Minister and Quebec MP Diane Lebouthillier as the new Minister for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard; both carry significant weight in relations with Indigenous engagement.

King anticipates there will be little progress in those files in the months ahead, saying "I think it's an indication that reconciliation is falling further down on the Liberal government agenda as it enters the last stages of its government."

Courtney Skye, a Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and fellow at the Yellowhead Institute, also thinks the relationship between Indigenous people and the Cnandain government 'doesn't figure as prominently anymore', even though we are a "significant part" of the discussions at the Cabinet table.

Skye says the Trudeau government has failed to strike the balance of working on a long-term relationship with Indigenous peoples while also dealing with the "current events."

Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) Beaver Clan From the Opaskwayak Cree Nation is the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto's faculty of law. Sanderson wrote in an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, "The personal, one-on-one connections that Mr. Miller had made with Indigenous leaders were cast aside to raise the profile of a backbencher before his constituents next go to the polls. Time will tell how Gary Anandasangaree will do in building these relationships again from near-scratch, but the shuffle was a visceral demonstration of an old saying: to Indigenous people, a treaty is a marriage; to the Crown, it's a divorce."