Sheilla Jones, the author of Let the People Speak, calls for a change in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians by empowering First Nations people through modernized Treaty annuities.

Jones, a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, is an award-winning Canadian journalist, former CBC news editor, and author of several books on cosmology and quantum physics.

Jones says she has been working on this topic for nearly 20 years, but this now is the best time for her to release her work on modernized Treaty annuities because of her connection to Sheila North.

North is the former Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and Chief Communications Officer for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. She is also a Gemini-nominated journalist, from the Bunibonibee Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.

"It just seemed like a good partnership of an Indigenous and non-Indigenous team to work on an issue that affects us all - Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians," says Jones.

North says, "We had a few more discussion and the things that she brings out in the book are the things that I hear across the country from leaders and from grassroots people about empowering our First Nations." 

What are Treaty annuities?

"There is an enormous knowledge deficit in Canada," Jones says about Treaty annuities and Indigenous issues.

"The idea of a modernized annuity goes right back to the 1850s ... at the time, the idea was to guarantee a share in the growing prosperity of the land through annuities payable to every Treaty man, woman and child.

“They were meant to give them the economic autonomy to speak for themselves and their families. Parliament voted to increase the annuities only once — in 1878. The federal policy decision to freeze annuities at $4 or $5 has been deeply destructive, effectively rendering Canada’s first people politically voiceless and economically powerless.”

Jones presents in her book that Indigenous people cannot have a voice and be empowered if they are no economically capable of making an impact in Canadian culture and politics.

Instead of continuing the symbolic annual payment of a $5 bill that is the current custom, Jones says providing a regular and significant annuity would help First Nations families invest in and control their own futures.

Why do we need a modernized annuity?

North says the impact of a modernized annuity would be profound and immediate. It would, for instance, help address issues raised in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Final Report.

“First Nations citizens have been steadfast and resilient in the face of much adversity, but I see the winds of change sweeping our homeland as our demands for respect and honour are finally being heard,” North says.

“Women and girls, empowered economically to make the best choices for themselves, would no longer need to risk hitchhiking on the Highway of Tears to escape desperate situations. Nor would teenage girls be left vulnerable to predation when they age out of child welfare services."

Who is this book for?

A book like this and an issue like this is for all Canadians - Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike - say both North and Jones.

"For me, this book is really for people that have always asked, 'Well what can I do?' ... And also for people that are frustrated thinking that, 'My tax dollars are going to Indigenous people and they're wasting it.' People think like that for a reason, because they have misconceptions," says North.

Jones wrote this book with a sticky-note reminder saying, "Assume readers know nothing about this," as she worked with ordinary Canadians in mind.

For those wanting an introduction to this issue and to learn more from both North and Jones, they will be hosting a book launch on September 19 at Mcnally Robinson Bookseller in Winnipeg.

Jones says, "We invite everybody to come to join us in a celebration - a coming together - of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people because we all share the benefit when we can work together on this.

"We want to move this issue forward, so we're not waiting for other people to do it. We're going to move and we're inviting people to join with us."