Why a residential schools apology has led to calls for N.L.'s Indigenous affairs minister to resign

Arguments over Inuit identity have taken the forefront in Labrador, following the revelation that the provincial government plans an apology to residential school survivors in partnership with the NunatuKavut community council — a group that does not hold federal treaty rights.

Labrador's two other Indigenous groups are now calling for Newfoundland and Labrador's Indigenous Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster to resign or be fired.

The Nunatsiavut government made a public plea for her resignation Wednesday afternoon and were joined hours later by the Innu Nation.

"If Premier [Andrew] Furey or his government truly believes in reconciliation for Indigenous peoples they must begin to reconcile the harm to the true Inuit and Innu of Labrador by removing Lisa Dempster from her portfolio, immediately," said Innu Nation Grand Chief Simon Pokue in a press release Wednesday evening.

The province promised in 2017 to apologize to residential school survivors. The decision to do that in Cartwright, with only representatives from the provincial government and NunatuKavut in attendance, has caused outrage among the Innu represented by Innu Nation, and the Inuit represented by the Nunatsiavut government.

"An apology to an unrecognized Indigenous group in advance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an insult to survivors and to Labrador Inuit," said Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe on Wednesday.

The NunatuKavut community council says the backlash is uncalled for.

"It's quite egregious," NunatuKavut President Todd Russell said Thursday. "The remarks are misleading, some border on lies and mistruths. They do not reflect history. They do not reflect reality. In my estimation, this is nothing short of crass politics and playing politics — baseless politics, harmful politics — with the lives of our people."

The dispute between recognized Inuit groups and NunatuKavut goes back to at least 1991, when a group called the Labrador Métis Nation filed a land claim with the federal government.

The claim was rejected by both the provincial and federal governments, but it became active again in 2010 when the group renamed itself the NunatuKavut community council. The council signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government in 2019, laying the foundation for a path to self-governance.

That angered the Nunatsiavut government and the Innu Nation. Both groups went to federal court to block the agreement from moving forward. Neither believes NunatuKavut is an Indigenous collective.

Russell was irate that the matter would be brought up during something as sensitive as a residential schools apology. He said his group catches flak from Nunatsiavut and the Innu Nation each time it starts to make progress.

"I think it is damnable that other Indigenous people are out there condemning other Indigenous people, just for the sake of greed," he said. "This is unacceptable. This is not the way of our ancestors."

Russell said he's trying to focus on Friday's apology and the support he'll need to give members as they relive traumatic experiences.