Impetus Behind the Idle No More Movement

The Idle No More movement started in western Canada in fall 2012, sparked by four Aboriginal women (Nina Wilson, Sheelah Mclean, Sylvia McAdam and Jessica Gordon) who publicly voiced their anger over Bill C45, an omnibus budget bill introduced by the federal government that included changes to numerous laws and regulations, including the Indian Act and the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Even though some of the changes would have a direct impact on Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal peoples had no say in them. The four women organized protest marches and rallies that spurred mobilization in major cities across Canada. In December 2012, Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario went on a hunger strike to protest the severe housing crisis in her community. Her daring action fuelled the Canada-wide protest movement and helped draw media attention to the living conditions in Aboriginal communities. 

It was also during that time that Widia Larivière and Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis answered the call to action by co-founding the Québec branch of Idle No More. Widia Larivière looks back at the bills that led to the initial protests as the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back: Aboriginal people were “fed up with colonization.” She believes that the movement helped address other issues, that it was a means of voicing demands, calling for change and, especially, expressing the right to say “no” to projects. In short, [TRANSLATION] “the bills were the catalyst and gave a lot of Aboriginal people a chance to speak out on topics.” (personal interview)

Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis concurs, explaining why the movement was surprisingly big in Québec. She said that in urban areas, where she has been living for several years, there are no political channels akin to the band councils that exist in every Aboriginal community. 

Looking back, Widia Larivière said that in addition to giving Aboriginal people a voice, the movement had a ignificant impact on Aboriginal youth. “It gave many young people a renewed sense of pride in their Indigenous identity, leading to their social and political engagement . . . What is more, with so many women in the movement, it also generated an upsurge of Indigenous feminist activism.” (Idem.)