Towards Reconciliation
The historic and ongoing repression of Indigenous Nations are reprehensible breaches of Indigenous rights and human dignity. The Green Party of Manitoba believes we have a duty to ensure that the health and wellness, human security, justice, culture and equality of Indigenous Peoples is recognized, upheld and protected, as rights, on an equitable basis.
These injustices also rob Canadian settler society from a prosperity that can only be achieved through a vision of mutual benefit, where different peoples can share lands and resources, while respecting and sustaining their differences. To get there, we must recognize Indigenous Nations as the original occupants of this land, with rights to sovereignty and self-determination, and as true and equal partners, have a central role in moving Manitoba to its best possible future.
To work towards reconciliation, Green Party of Manitoba will:
Recognize Indigenous Nations as Nations, and endeavor to reform government practice to behave in accordance with this recognition
- Recognize the right of Indigenous Nations to sovereignty and self-determination
- Recognize and respect Indigenous constitutional rights as the original occupants of this land
Take direction from Indigenous Calls to Action
- Implement the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that are within provincial jurisdiction
- Push for implementation of the National Inquiry’s Calls for Justice
Engage in meaningful consultation and collaboration with Indigenous Nations
- Work with Indigenous Nations to understand how colonialism shapes our structures, institutions, legislation and policies, and meaningfully move towards indigenization of our institutions
- Work with Indigenous Nations to ensure that culturally appropriate services are offered across all sectors, including health care, education, and justice
- Pursue participant driven processes as a means of meaningful consultation with Indigenous Nations on all provincial infrastructure projects
Introduce reforms to Child and Family Services
- Hire additional child welfare workers in order to decrease caseloads to a maximum of 20 per worker
- Provide enhanced training for child welfare workers, including training on best-practice risk assessment procedures, culturally appropriate supports, and the legacy of residential schools
- Ensure that supports are available to youth in care until the age of 25
Provide support to keep children and youth in their communities and with their extended families
- Provide adequate resources to enable Indigenous communities and child-welfare organizations to keep families together where it is safe to do so
- Reduce the number of children in care by shifting resources to the support of families and extended families
- Increase the annual fund available to families to purchase support services
- Implement changes to the Adoption Act that would permit subsidized legal guardianship
- Institute custom adoption practices to allow the child to be raised by a relative according to the customs of the community
- Help families of children who are taken into care to regain custody when possible
Increase investment into restorative justice and alternative courts
- Develop and fund a restorative justice program, as an alternative to the traditional justice system
- Support the development a court system designed specifically for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
Support the promotion of Indigenous language and culture
- Support Indigenous-led organizations to provide safe, no-barrier, permanent, and meaningful access to Indigenous cultures and languages
- Support quality youth programming that promotes Indigenous culture, language, and the transfer of intergenerational knowledge