Dear Hon. Bloyce Thompson;
I wish to acknowledge your letter of Sept. 25, 2020. In that letter you stated: “The history of Prince Edward Island is extensive and complex. There is limited court guidance on how this history should be understood within the unique context of Prince Edward Island.” Nothing could be further from the truth for anyone with an interest in this history of this island of Epekwitk.
The shared Mi’kmaq-British history of P.E.I. begins with the occupation by the Crown of the Mi’kmaq National District of Epekwitk. This was followed by the British Crown’s cruel deportation of the Acadians from Epekwitk, their home, then known as Isle Saint Jean, in 1758. In 1767 a land lottery was held, wherein the British committed full-scale theft of Mi’kmaq lands in our District of Epekwitk, which violated the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
The Proclamation specifically states: "… as of Our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds … We do therefore, with the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our Royal Will and Pleasure ... that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our other Colonies or Plantations in America do resume for the present, and until our further Pleasure be Known, to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass Patents for ... any Lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them …"
The Mi’kmaq people can trace our culture and political structures back through our ancestors for several millennia, to around the time that the sea divided Britain from the rest of Europe, about 1,000 years before the first date in the Egyptian calendar (4236 BC). As Keptin, I serve in a role that is a continuation of that political structure – the Mi’kmaq Grand Council.
Thousands of years before Christopher Columbus became lost on his way to India, the Mi'kmaq of Mi’kma’ki had developed the four characteristics of nationhood: people, language, organized government and defined territory.
The Mi’kmaq people never ceded any lands to the French Crown, the British Crown, the Crown in Right of Canada, or the Crown in Right of the Province of P.E.I. The Royal Proclamation of 1763, preceded by the Treaty of 1760, and instructions by the Governor of Nova Scotia in 1761, were peace and friendship treaties; they were not treaties that ceded any of our lands in Epekwitk (P.E.I.). As these are Crown legal instruments, they are part of the Rule of Law in Canada. Mr. Minister, do you support the rule of law?
Mr. Minister you also stated: “To the extent that you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this process, we invite you to raise them with L’nuey.” It is not your place and unbecoming of a minister of the Crown that you have requested that I ask a corporate entity like L’nuey the questions that I have asked you. Min. Thompson, again, I am asking you if any sections of the Proclamation of 1763 have been rescinded. In particular, can you tell me if these sections have ceased to exist in law. I am asking you these questions as a voter and a constituent of the Province of Prince Edward Island. As a Mi’kmaq person and Keptin for Epekwitk, I am a treaty holder and a treaty beneficiary. I feel deeply insulted that you have refused to answer any of my questions.
I have to inform you that L’nuey and MCPEI are not persons. They are not part of the government of Mi’kmaqi and also not Mi’kmaq treaty holders or treaty beneficiaries. The do not represent the grand council. Do they work for your department?
Minister Thompson, the 1763 Royal Proclamation clarified and strengthened the 1761 instructions to British Governors, and was meant to remain in effect until “our further pleasure be known,” that is, until the king or one of his heirs changed their mind. Min. Thompson, as minister of lands, can you or the Crown provide us with copies of the documents proving the 1763 Royal Proclamation has been taken back, amended or rescinded by the sovereign such that you can purport to engage with a body other than the legitimate government of the Mi’kmaqi, the grand council?
Please do not refer me again to corporations such as MCPEI and L’nuey or any others holding themselves out to represent the Mi’kmaq people. If any Canadian citizen or any other person of a different ethnic background who is entitled to vote in P.E.I. has questions for the provincial cabinet in the provincial government, do they have to go to their respective ethnic associations to have their questions answered?
Mr. Minister, the British and settler elites — through governments such as your own — have violated the Royal Proclamation of 1763 in blatant dishonour to the Crown. This Royal Proclamation and its protections for the lands governed by the grand council is now part of the Constitution of Canada and therefore part of the right of law in Canada. It is your obligation to uphold it or to tarnish the relationship further.
Keptin Dr. John Joe Sark LLD, of Johnstons River, is a member of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council for the District of Epekwitk.
