Avi Lewis has a colonialism problem while some of his left supporters have a deification problem.
Recently Joel Bergman posted “Eby betrays indigenous people — Lewis refuses to criticize him”. In his Facebook statement the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party noted, “David Eby, the NDP premier of British Columbia, has moved to amend the Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) — passed in 2019 by an NDP government. Eby, who was the attorney general at the time supported making DRIPA law.
“But if we are to be honest — this was never compatible with capitalism. A series of court cases have brought private property rights into question. In particular, Eby has mentioned the Gitxaala case — which challenges the rights of mining companies to make claims — as the reason for needing to amend DRIPA.
“Let’s be clear what this means: Eby is bending to the interests of mining corporations. Indigenous leaders, in a meeting with Eby, called this move an ‘absolute betrayal’. Another said that it ‘smacks of colonialism.’
“Lewis, in his first press conference as leader was asked about this: ‘So, First Nations obviously are quite uh upset in the province on that. So, do you think he made the wrong decision?’
“Choosing diplomacy over principle, Lewis gave a very [Jagmeet] Singh-like evasive answer: ‘I think they’re having a debate in British Columbia and we’re focused on the federal level.’
“The only way out of this mess is socialism. This IS a contradiction between Aboriginal title and private property. Eliminate private ownership of mining, oil and gas etc… And we will be able to create the basis to resolve this problem.
“If Lewis doesn’t do this, he will find himself trapped, playing diplomatic games, betraying indigenous people and non-indigenous workers alike.”
In response I posted, “I’m genuinely curious to know if Lewis’ left backers are just going to ignore this as they’ve ignored his outrageous (re) appointment of Heather McPherson as foreign critic and failure to turf [NDP national director] Lucy Watson.”
Bergman replied, “while I do agree with you regarding Watson/McPherson, in the grand scheme of things — I consider the big policy decisions more important than the inside baseball of the NDP which normal working class people don’t care about.”
I added, “Avi could have simply stated, ‘I support BC’s pioneering DRIPA and believe many NDP supporters in the province and outside do as well.’” The BC-based Lewis would have had no problem saying something far stronger if Eby were a Liberal, Conservative or Green. But Lewis doesn’t want to step on the (colonialist) toes of a provincial NDP leader even as some in the provincial NDP caucus push back against a party leader undercutting DRIPA. In fact, an indigenous sparked caucus revolt has forced Eby to shift gears and he appears to have finally backed off the changes.
Lewis’ considered refusal to defend DRIPA at a politically salient moment will forever stain his political record. Despite his obvious sop to colonialism, former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour Sid Ryan ferociously defended Lewis, making him out to be a Big Bear figure.
On Bergman’s Facebook thread Ryan replied: “I’m curious to know why both of you are so laser focused on everything that has to do with Avi Lewis? You give Carney and Poilievre a free pass as they destroy the social fabric of Canada and constantly attack the only guy who is promoting democratic socialism. You want him to jump into the middle of an internal dispute among BC NDP members of provincial parliament — to what end? He has on dozens of occasions made clear his support of indigenous rights and his position on pipelines and fossil fuels. WTF more do you want and why are either of you not going after Carney, Poilievre and Danielle Smith who want to plow over indigenous land to put in another pipeline. Get your priorities straight and stop with the 24/7 undermining and attempt to tear down the one person who is actually trying to build a left opposition to the oil and gas oligarchs.”
He added: “You are spouting a load of nonsense. Lewis has been an outspoken supporter of UNDRIP long before you ever knew what it was. He has been taken heat on this topic ever since the Leap Manifesto. It’s ridiculous for you to be challenging his support for indigenous rights. You are looking desperate with your feeble attempts to undermine him at every opportunity. Give it a rest and go challenge Carney and Poilievre.” (Ryan repeated his line about Avi leading the charge against colonialism and others knowing nothing about the matter when Blueprints of Disruption podcaster Jessa Mclean responded.)
In the previous week on Facebook Bergman criticized Lewis once and applauded his election as leader and he’s obviously criticized Carney and Poilievre in the past. For my part, I just posted a half dozen widely circulated video clips from the Liberal convention questioning ministers and MPs. Since he became prime minister, I have probably written 50 articles criticizing Carney and repeatedly spoke about his Bill C-5 (Building Canada Act) undermining indigenous rights during my campaign events. The “Anticolonialism and Land Back” section of my campaign’s “Capitalism can’t be fixed” platform, which was drafted by 45 activists and researchers, is well considered. It notes:
“The current system of Aboriginal Title and Fee Simple Treaty lands remains rooted in the racist doctrines of discovery and terra nullius, treating Indigenous peoples as subjects rather than sovereign nations with equal standing. There must be recognition of the Underlying Title of Indigenous lands and support for genuine nation-to-nation relationships based on mutual respect and equality. This means working toward governance models that allow Indigenous nations the autonomy to determine their own political structures, moving away from paternalistic frameworks that have dominated for too long. True reconciliation demands acknowledging Indigenous sovereignty as an inherent right that predates colonial impositions.”
Since becoming politically active, I’ve participated in around a hundred rallies/demonstrations about missing and murdered indigenous women, in solidarity with Barriere Lake, Idle No More, etc. and have put up a thousand posters related to indigenous rights. Additionally, my partner was the main person who made the launch of the Leap Manifesto a huge success and I spent tens of hours assisting her behind the scenes. (Avi was little involved with the Leap Manifesto until after it blew up.)
Even without that political background, I was just part of a left insurgent effort to participate in the NDP leadership race, which the NDP brass squashed with open support from Lewis (in the Globe and Mail and at an NDP social). Additionally, many of Lewis’ advisers/surrogates smeared the campaign/myself as “grifters”, “harassers”, “tankies” and “antisemites” in what (consciously or not) assisted the NDP brass in excluding a campaign promoting Land Back, shutting down the tar sands and withdrawing from NATO. As such, I have more than enough justification to press Lewis from the left. In fact, it could be said I have a moral obligation to do so.
Lewis is the leader of a mainstream political party. He must be pressed when he concedes to colonialist, imperialist and capitalist forces and the sooner his leftist backers understand this the better.
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