MCC Joins Churches in Campaign Supporting Aboriginal Rights

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 1 July 2000

WINNIPEG, Man. -- A coalition of church groups including Mennonite Central Committee Canada is launching a national public education and action campaign this fall in support of Aboriginal rights.

The group--called the Aboriginal Rights Coalition-- is calling on the Canadian federal government to take immediate steps towards addressing the ongoing injustices against Aboriginal people. The announcement was made on National Aboriginal Day--June 21.

Included in the campaign is a petition calling on the federal government to act immediately to establish an independent commission to implement Aboriginal land, treaty and inherent rights, said Rick Zerbe Cornelsen who coordinates the Aboriginal Neighbours program for MCC Canada.

"We will have the petition, and a resource packet to go with it, available to churches in the fall as part of year three of the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative," he said. "This is an opportunity for churches to act together on an issue that cuts to the core of who we are as Christians living in this land. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to act."

"We all know the statistics," said Richard Renshaw, co-chair of ARC. "In Canada, Aboriginal people are the poorest, their living conditions are the worst, their life expectancy the lowest. We also know that this situation will not change until Aboriginal peoples' rights are respected and implemented. The existing system for resolving Aboriginal rights and treaty issues is inefficient and puts too much power in the hands of the federal government."

In its landmark report in 1996, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples found that reforming the land claims process and ensuring that Aboriginal communities have an adequate resource base is essential to their long-term well-being.

It concluded that without a greater share of lands and resources, economic development initiatives and Aboriginal self-government institutions will fail. Over the years a number of United Nations agencies have called on Canada to implement the Royal Commission's recommendations.

ARC's campaign is supported by the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative (CEJI). The theme of CEJI's campaign is Renewal of the Earth, and Aboriginal land rights is a focus. In 1998, CEJI collected over 635,000 signatures on its petition calling on the goverment to cancel the debt of the poorest countries.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org