aboriginal issues

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With all the attention paid to the Idle No More movement and the off-again on-again talks between some native chiefs and the Prime Minister, one basic fact about Aboriginal life in Canada has been forgotten: Most aboriginals do not live on reserve and seem to be better for it.

That’s an important fact that should be part of any debate about how to improve the living standards of Aboriginal Canadians.


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In the wake of the Idle No More protests that have blocked railway lines and have hinted at more mischief, multiple grievances have been advanced in place of clear-headed analyses. But none of the slogans, clichés and guilt-tripping get to the bottom of why some Aboriginals, especially on reserves, are in a sorry state.

First, some misinformation about one supposed reason for the protests, that reserves will be broken up by Bill C-45, should be debunked.

That recent federal legislation allows First Nations to lease some of their land to others if they so choose.


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The recent decision by the Assembly of First Nations to reject Ottawa’s musings about reforming on-reserve education was an example of a react-first, ask-questions later approach. It was unhelpful, most of all to First Nations kids.


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The federal and B.C. governments have always claimed that native land claims would never affect private property, that First Nations governments would never have veto power over private land.

Right. Tell that to a retired 70-something couple from Vancouver Island, Gary and Fran Hackett, who face a Caledonia-like entanglement with their land. Their property in the Marpole neighbourhood in the City of Vancouver, in their family for almost five decades, has just been frozen. That was due to the discovery of assumed aboriginal bones.


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In the midst of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan used to say you could tell a lot about a country by what happens when its gates are flung open. If people flowed in, it was an obviously desirable nation; if they ran out, not so much.

Reagan meant it as a criticism of collectivist countries, where almost every sort of freedom and opportunity was restricted, including economic, religious, media, and freedom of association (i.e., to belong to a union or some other group).


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Ever since the northern Ontario reserve of Attawapiskat burst into public consciousness late last year, a plethora of pundits and politicians assert that if only reserves had more cash from the minerals or oil around them, reserve hamlets could be turned into Hong Kong.

Perhaps. There are examples of reserves that capitalize on their location. The Osoyoos Indian band in the south Okanagan does smart things, having created a first-class winery (Nk’Mip), hotel and conference centre and thus profiting from wine sales and tourism.

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Imagine two small Ontario towns. One is a reserve that blocks an outside investigation into its $31.2 million annual operating budget. That town, Attawapiskat First Nation, has 1,549 people on the reserve according to the last census.

Now imagine another town, a non-Native one, where recent budget estimates peg its annual operating expenditures at $8.4 million. That’s the township of Atikokan, near Thunder Bay, with 3,293 people.

Careful readers will notice that the larger town, Atikokan, has a much smaller operating budget than does Attawapiskat.


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Are First Nations reserves in trouble? The recent coverage of northern Ontario’s Attawapiskat reserve and its squalid conditions suggest the answer is “yes.” So too Ottawa’s decision to put Attawapiskat band finances under third-party control.

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The federal government spends almost $12-billion annually on aboriginal matters, with much of it transferred to First Nations for governance, education, infrastructure and income assistance. That figure doesn’t include spending by other levels of government, but given the amount of just federal tax dollars at stake, Ottawa’s new legislation to require transparency and accountability on reserves makes eminent sense.