Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
one thing the Canadian gov't needs to do is stop throwing money at the issue hoping it will go away. that's not doing anyone in this country any good
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This is the main point I've been thinking on for a while. Right now, what can be done to change this situation for the better.
To answer that, you need a defined future goal. If you say that "Making the Reservation system work", that requires many different steps than "Integrate the Natives into the rest of Canadian society and do away with Reserves."
My personal thought would be to integrate them and do away with Reserves. Mishandled or not, the system hasn't worked pretty much since it's inception (that I can tell anyhow.)
To do that, ways need to be found to motivate the Natives and give them pride back. To make them want to stand on their own two feet and not have the government take care of them. They need a reason to stop accepting the handouts and start grabbing their bootstraps, as it were.
Is it easy? Are they going to want to? Probably not. To be quite honest, if the government was funding my life, I'd have a hard time finding the motivation to work, too. Why work when you don't have to, after all (it's called work, not fun, for a reason...)
The thing is...I don't have the answers. I don't know what (if anything) would make the Natives decide 'enough is enough' of this, and it's time to stop taking the handouts and start earning their way. If I had these answers, I'd be in office, not here on CP.
But it just seems logical to me that the Natives need a reason to get out there and integrate. And throwing money at the Reserves isn't going to make that happen at all.
And on the other end of the scale...who knows. Maybe all the Reserves need are Chiefs who aren't out just for themselves. Maybe, with the money the government is sending their way and proper management, the Reserve system could work very well. I don't know. It's been over 25 years since I was last near a Reserve.
But what does seem evident to me is that Natives need to find that pride in themselves as individuals and as a group again. And being constantly handed money is not the way to achieve that.