The border issue Indigenous communities are talking about this election

Robyn Miller · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Members of Ottawa's Indigenous assemblage accidental they're disquieted astir the impact Canada-U.S. relations could person connected friends and household who unrecorded connected reserves adjacent oregon severed by the American border.

CBC went to the Odawa Native Friendship Centre to find retired what voters determination are reasoning astir up of the national election. In respective conversations, borderline mobility came up arsenic a pressing concern.

Michele Bourque is a retired national nationalist servant who was taking portion successful a quilting people astatine the non-profit Odawa centre, which provides a assortment of programming for Ottawa's municipality Indigenous population.

She's from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation successful southwestern Ontario, which sits conscionable crossed the borderline from Port Huron, Mich.

"I interest astir radical going backmost and forth, and I cognize a batch of radical person stopped going backmost and distant due to the fact that of the fearfulness of problems [of] being searched," Bourque said.

Border mobility

It's a interest shared by galore Indigenous families, according to Gabriel Pangowish, the wide manager astatine Odawa, who pointed to the illustration of Akwesasne, a territory that is severed by the Canada-U.S. border.

"The reserve is connected some sides of the borderline and those people, they conscionable request to amusement a presumption paper to beryllium capable to get across. Will this alteration present due to the fact that of the authorities down there?" helium questioned.

Pangowish said the uncertainty is particularly hard connected families who unrecorded and enactment connected antithetic sides of the border.

"It's a immense issue," helium said, adding that Indigenous people, specified arsenic the Ojibway, historically lived connected some sides of the border.

"So a batch of the families there, they would question backmost and forth, not even thinking astir this [as a] border, due to the fact that earlier colonization that was their territory," helium explained.

Cost of living 

Anita Armstrong, Odawa's enforcement director, said portion borderline issues bash travel up successful discussion, concerns astir outgo of surviving are besides apical of caput for radical successful Ottawa's Indigenous community.

She said Odawa's nutrient slope has grown to service astir 90 families, up from astir 45 families conscionable 2 years ago.

"We person adjacent unit members who are utilizing the nutrient slope astatine times. So it's decidedly apical of mind, and it affects everybody," she said.

Odawa is preparing to observe its 50th anniversary, and Armstrong said it volition beryllium a fantastic celebration. Sadly, she said, the centre is inactive dealing with the aforesaid issues it was decades ago.

"But we can't springiness up. We conscionable person to support ensuring that we honour our children," Armstrong said. "Our children are gifts from the creator, and we person to punctual our assemblage members and clientele that those small ones are our aboriginal leaders."

She's hoping for a "fair government" that recognizes the needs of the section Indigenous community.

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"We conscionable request to marque definite that we tin enactment them and proceed doing so. All of our programs are captious to the healing and of our assemblage members," Armstrong said, adding that she would similar to perceive much speech connected the run way of issues affecting Indigenous communities.

"Obviously we admit the docket is huge, but we conscionable privation to marque definite that we ... are represented. It's been alternatively quiet," she said.

The Assembly of First Nations has released its predetermination priorities and is seeking commitments from enactment leaders connected economical reconciliation, Canada-U.S. commercialized and borderline mobility, calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and calls for justness from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.