Keewatin v. Minister of Natural Resources

Part 8. Analysis of Historical Evidence as it Relates to the Parties' Interests 92"civilize," educate and uplift the red man to the higher cultural level of the white man. Heassumed if those of the superior culture helped them learn white cunning, civics, English,agriculture, trades and Christianity, the Indians would gladly, thankfully, and voluntarilyembrace Euro-Canadian ways and enter the Canadian mainstream. During his evidence Milloyread from Morris' book:And instead of the Indian melting away … as snow before the sun, we will see our Indian populationloyal subjects of the Crown, happy, prosperous and self-sustaining, and Canada will be enabled tofeel that in a truly patriotic spirit, our country has done its duty by the red men of the northwest, andthereby to herself ……They are wards of Canada: Let us do our duty by them and repeat in the Northwest the successwhich has attended our dealings with them in old Canada for the last hundred years. Among theIndian tribes, let us have a wise and paternal government faithfully carrying out the provisions of ourtreaties and doing its utmost to help and elevate the Indian population who have been cast upon ourcare…[Emphasis added.][418] Milloy quoted another passage from Morris' 1880 book (Ex. 9 at p. 231):I see all the Indians. I see the Queen's Councillors taking the Indian by the hand saying we arebrothers, we will lift you up, we will teach you, if you will learn, the cunning of the white man. Allalong that road I see Indians gathering, I see gardens growing and houses building; I see themreceiving money from the Queen's Commissioners to purchase clothing for their children; at the sametime I see them enjoying their hunting and fishing as before, I see them retaining their old mode ofliving with the Queen's gift in addition.[Emphasis added.][419] Milloy then commented on that passage on October 13, 2009 as follows:A. Well, I think that that quote… summarizes …what they took to mean Section 91(24) to be, withrespect to the constitutional organizational chart that was implied … that in the constitutional sensethe federal government was now the senior government with control over these people…responsiblefor the question of treaties …that the federal government had taken on with respect to lands andresources the responsibility to preserve, mediate, manage the promise of off-reserve resource accessin terms of hunting territories, and that there was in all this, despite its … realpolitik structure andrealpolitik motivation …dealing with Indians is part of creating a structure in western Canada thatallows Western Canada to play its economic role in the development of a free Canadian economy,which goes all the way back to why we started on this Confederation project in the first place, thatdespite those bones being everywhere evident in this vision, that there is on top of that a vision, andthat is that the senior government, representing a senior superior Christian culture, would protect itschildren, First Nations people, in the way in which we raise our own children, to be capable to moveinto adult life, to be self-sufficient -- self-supporting, excuse me, to have the cunning of the Whiteman, which was assumed to be cunning that no one else had, superior to all else, and that they wouldindeed be good citizens of the developing nation, both in terms of fulfilling a positive economic rolebut, indeed, being good citizens in terms of being Canadian, normalized as Canadians.[Emphasis added.][420] After the negotiation of several treaties during the 1870s, Treaty Commissioner Morriscommented in Ex. 9: "The provisions of these treaties must be carried out with the utmost goodfaith and the nicest exactness."2011 ONSC 4801 (CanLII)[421] Vipond gave evidence that the documentation generated shortly after 1873 by provincialautonomists interpreting ss. 91(24) and 109 vis-à-vis Indians Harvesting Rights provides insight