FYI

This was in yesterday's UWO Gazette. It is a University Student Newspaper in London, Ontario, Canada.

Canada has done enough for its Aboriginals

By: James Hayes <http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/profile.cfm?ID=27

Whether you're in your history tutorial or drunkenly yelling at your friends, one topic that often stirs controversy is Aboriginal Canadians' rights.

To an extent this is deservedly so. Many of us believe European-Canadians, and later Canadian immigrants, have manipulated the rights of Canada's native peoples. But my take is a little different.

European immigrants who first inhabited Canada treated native peoples unfairly. Aboriginals were driven off their land and racked with disease because Europeans felt it was their right to monopolize lands that Aboriginals had inhabited for thousands of years.

Having said that, the current Canadian government cannot erase the past or what happened in the formation of our country. Even an apology, although a nice gesture, is questionable as to its usefulness. The injustices under consideration didn't involve the people apologizing or the people being apologized to.

What the federal government can do (and has done) is provide concessions to Aboriginals. Aboriginals don't have to deal with many taxes (most notably income taxes and sales taxes) and have subsidized post-secondary education.

After all these years, the Canadian government has done enough, providing numerous financial boosts for Aboriginals to succeed in contemporary Canada. These exemptions are entirely called for because the Aboriginal person does face disadvantages compared to other Canadian citizens in terms of where they live, how they make a living and ingrained discrimination in the workplace.

Now, though, when an Aboriginal person truly utilizes all the exceptions afforded to him, he can have an enormous advantage over another Canadian citizen. Current Canadian immigrants also have it tough in this country, for many of the same reasons as Aboriginals -- blue-collar job opportunties, discrimination, et cetera -- and they don't receive the perks Aboriginals enjoy.

If Aboriginals are going to continue to live on reserves and not utilize many of these government grants, that is their prerogative. I do not think, however, that any non-Aboriginal Canadian citizen needs to feel guilt for the situation of Canadian native peoples. We, as Canadians, have done enough for this group already.

Dear Editor,

The ignorance expressed by James Hayes in his opinion "Canada has done enough for its Aboriginals" is appalling, but all too common in Canada. If the so-called "perks" he refers to were so great, one would think Aboriginals would be much farther ahead today. He completely ignores the fact that to get ahead in today's society, one must have access to capital. The capital of the First Nation peoples is the land and resources that have been stolen.

This is not merely an historical fact, it is a legal issue today. Canadians have so little knowledge of thier own history and Constitution that they easily fall for these weak arguments. Don't they think if it was that simple of a situation that simply ridding themselves of guilt and do-gooder mentality would resolve matters, their government would have done so a long time ago. That was tried for far too long. The fact is that under our common law system, one cannot simply get away with lying, cheating and stealing forever, without the victims ever having legal recourse.

What we face today is a process of the chickens coming home to roost. Its painful for all concerned, but it will not go away. The people who were here first have legal rights, whatever your personal opinion might be. Treaties are sacred agreements which cannot simply be ignored. Isn't it the Canadian people who have insisted First Nations respect the "rule of law"? Why can they not do so themselves? Would you give up your inheritance simply because others say your claim is too old?

Canadians have benefitted from thier access to First Nation land and resources for generations, while First Nations have been denied access to the capital necessary to help themselves. Unlike the hard-working immigrants referred to in his opinion, Mr. Hayes obviously has little awareness of the First Nation peoples cultural connection to thier lands and sense of place, etc. I guess this is one reason the now shelved Recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples emphasized the need for public education about the place of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. We see that the lack of historical or legal knowledge permeates even our acaedemic community.

Sincerely,

Rolland Pangowish

Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve

Wikwemikong, Ontario