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.
Thats an important fact that should be part of any debate about how to improve the living standards of Aboriginal Canadians.
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.
The recent decision by the Assembly of First Nations to reject Ottawas 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.
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.
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).
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. Thats 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.