The late Brian Mulroney’s legacy with Indigenous peoples in Canada is marked by its contradictions — failures remembered for their good intentions, successes accompanied by catastrophic disappointments.
The former prime minister is praised by some Indigenous leaders for creating a Royal Commission on Aboriginal peoples, for recognizing Métis people and for the successful negotiations that led to the creation of Nunavut.
But for others, those achievements pale in comparison with his government’s failure to deliver self-government during constitutional talks in the 1980s, and the 1990 Oka Crisis that bloodied Canada’s reputation on the world stage.
“Don’t underestimate how traumatic Oka was for Indigenous peoples,” said Robert Falcon Ouellette, a
