Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny199r
The problem is:
1. Remote living off the land is pretty impractical now due to the way the world and economies are structured.
2. Any goodwill by First Nations to the government is long gone after residential schools.
3. First Nations have treaties which create obligations for the government (people want to try to forget that, but you can’t)
4. Many First Nations were on better land but historically were kicked off that land and given the garbage land by the government.
5. Impossible for any First Nation to raise income unless your land is in a very busy tourist area, extremely close to a city or is full of great farming land (unlikely!)
6. Obviously, the goal is to educate young First Nations people. Those who succeed probably won’t return, should they obtain higher education (with some limited exceptions) which drains the remaining pool, but allows people to support their family.
7. Why doesn’t the government just move First Nations people to the city?
- can’t force them - treaties
- also assimilation didn’t go so well for First Nations people the first time (trust us this time! We promise! Just like our police are there to help you l!!the govt cares!)
- if governments really were serious about this, I estimate it would cost about 1 trillion dollars to support these people, many of whom will be absolutely lost and require intensive supports to adjust and have positive outcomes.
8. Ultimately, no government is going to run on a platform to do something decisive and revolutionary to bridge this gap. It would be political suicide. White people wouldn’t vote for them and it would cost a ton.
9. This status quo will continue until the end of time. Try explaining to your 5 year old how they got lucky being born in Calgary rather than a remote First Nation where the health outcomes are about the same as some African countries.
I have thought about this issue to death. My wife is from a First Nation. Her family are all from the Rez. I travel to First Nations every week. It’s very sad when you really stop and think about it.
My mother in law has been told by the gas station attendant (are you sure you’re in the right part of town?) family members have been told as they walk by the mouthwash section of a pharmacy (you’re not going to drink that right?), MIL goes to a hospital and the nurse says “oh she’s drunk” - when she hasn’t been drinking. My wife is a prosecutor - on trial days, cops show up and say (in reference an accused last name) “oh is that your cousin??!! and laugh right in front of her.
We love to look down on Americans like we’re not as racist as them and we somewhere treat people better in Canada. What a load of crap. We have no reason to be smug.
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What many in Canada don't realize is that we live in an apartheid system. It's a British colonial way of doing things, and it's very similar to the way South Africa did things. The main differences are that Canada had a lower indigenous population as a proportion of the whole, and Canada had enough land to locate the victims far enough away from the general population that colonists didn't have to observe the injustice on a day to day basis.
The reserve system is key to avoiding genocide of the indigenous people. Removing the system would just turn indigenous people into a lower class that would eventually be wiped out all together, as they would lose their culture, language, history, etc...The issue is that Canada hasn't upheld their obligations under the treaties. This isn't about "handouts", it's about supplying basic needs like drinking water, roads, infrastructure, etc.. Canada isn't as bad, overall, as the USA in the way that it distributes public funds among ethnicities and incomes, but when it comes to the indigenous people of Canada, we're probably just as bad.