Liberal Tide Brings Five Indigenous Wins

Canada's swing from a Conservative to a Liberal majority government will bring big changes to Canada.

For the country's indigenous population, it could be monumental. A jubilant Grand Chief Derek Nepinak with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs called it "a great day."

"I feel a lot of relief from the years of very purposeful oppression that was brought forward from the previous government,'' Nepinak said.

Justin Trudeau's Liberals have made big promises to Aboriginal people, including a pledge to implement all 94 of the recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission earlier this year.

While it will take time and pressure to see through many of those election pledges, here are five near-certain wins for indigenous people.

Finally, a national inquiry

Despite making up less than five per cent of Canada's population, indigenous women are three to four times more likely to go missing or be murdered than their non-indigenous counterparts. There have been close to 1,200 identified cases of missing or murdered indigenous women between 1980 and 2012, although indigenous groups fear the number is much higher, and the growing outcry from indigenous and human rights groups to hold a national inquiry has resonated with the country's premiers, unions, and even the United Nations.

But for years now the Conservative government has denied the need for a national inquiry, saying it is a crime, not a sociological problem, when indigenous women are victimized. But the Liberals -- and the New Democrats and Greens -- disagreed, and pledged to launch a national inquiry "immediately."

'Nation-to-Nation' relations

Canada's 42nd federal election was the first to see any political party -- let alone three of them -- call for a "nation-to-nation relationship" with indigenous people.

The Liberals were vague on the details of what this relationship would mean beyond meeting with indigenous leaders annually, mending the Canada Elections Act to remove barriers to indigenous voting, and renewing the Kelowna Accord -- agreements reached between the then-Liberal government, provinces, and five national indigenous leaders to improve indigenous housing, education, and living conditions.

It fell apart when the new Conservative government slashed the funding from $5 billion of five years to $450 million over two years in 2006.

No more funding cap

Canada has maintained a two per cent cap on annual funding increases to all federal indigenous programs for close to 15 years.

Introduced by the then-Liberal government as part of a fiscal belt tightening to lift the country out of recession, the cap was never lifted despite loud protest from First Nations leaders, who argued their communities were falling behind in education, housing, and health.

The new Liberal federal government campaigned on a promise of removing the cap and reinvesting in First Nation housing, healthcare, and education.

Goodbye Harper, Valcourt

From denying the need for a missing and murdered women's inquiry, to changing the Election Act to make it harder to vote on reserve, gutting the environmental regulatory process, and promising extra education funding only if the Conservatives formed government again, the Conservatives did not make many indigenous friends during their nine years in power.

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper retained his Calgary-Heritage riding last night, former Aboriginal Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt lost his Madawaska-Restigouche seat to Liberal Rene Arseneault, who took more than 50 per cent of the votes while Valcourt got less than 20 per cent.

As minister, Valcourt told First Nations leaders indigenous men were responsible for the majority of missing and murdered indigenous women; introduced the First Nations Transparency Act that forced First Nations governments to post their finances publicly; and presided over a doomed First Nations education plan that saw Assembly of First Nations chief Shawn Atleo step down, and the divide between indigenous people and the federal government widen.

Not even the Conservatives' five indigenous candidates survived last night's election cull. Former health and environment minister Leona Aglukkaq, the first Inuk in Canadian history elected to Parliament, also lost her seat in Nunavut to Liberal Hunter Tootoo, capturing just one-quarter of the votes in the riding she held since 2008.

Peter Penashue, the first Innu cabinet minister in Canada, tried to win his Labrador riding back from Liberal Yvonne Jones, who is Metis, but came third with just 13.9 per cent of the vote. Penashue held the seat from 2011 until 2013, when he resigned after Elections Canada found $30,000 in campaign funding irregularities. He ran for the Conservatives again in a 2013 byelection but lost to Jones.

Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River incumbent Rob Clarke captured less than 30 per cent of the votes in his riding, despite introducing a private members bill to amend the controversial Indian Act -- the basis for the federal government's relationship with indigenous people -- which became law last December. New Democrat Georgina Jolibois, who is Dene, beat out Liberal Lawrence Joseph, who is Cree, by 70 votes.

Floyd Roland, former premier of the Northwest Territories and mayor of Inuvik came third in the race to represent the Northwest Territories. The seat went to Liberal Michael McLeod, who is Metis.

New indigenous MPs

Seven of 31 indigenous candidates who ran in the 2011 federal election were elected. In 2015, parties ran 54 indigenous candidates and elected a record 10: eight Liberal and two New Democrats.

Ten doesn't sound like a great victory considering how many white men continue holding power in Canadian government -- only one-quarter of MPs elected last night are women. Still, it's a historic moment for the indigenous peoples living in this country.

How the Liberals' indigenous pledges roll out from here depends on Canadians and indigenous people holding government to its promise to build a relationship "based on recognition, rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership."

With files from Canadian Press.