As Tom Mulcair, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada said in a speech to representatives of the Enoch Cree Nation and the Assembly of First Nations:
“There is a Canada where clean drinking water is simply taken for granted, it's a fact of life, and families live in the comfort of quality, affordable housing. And there's another Canada, where the basic right to clean drinking water remains out of reach and families live in homes that are overcrowded and unsafe.” (CBC News, 2015)
Indigenous society has always had a level of separation from the rest of Canada. Recently, with the release of the Truth and Reconciliation report, a government-supported inquest into the legacy of residential schools and Indigenous affairs, information on …show more content…
The earliest record of political relations between the two is when, following the reception of Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1870, Canada began negotiating the Numbered Treaties with the Indigenous tribes to enable colonization (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). However, they were often “marked by fraud and coercion”, as reported by the Truth and Reconciliation commission, and were not beneficial to the Indigenous peoples (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). Dr Jim Miller, a professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan and the Canada Research Chair in Native Newcomer Relations, agrees, saying that “in general, the [Department of Indian Affairs]’s policies from the 1880s until at least the 1960s interfered with First Nations’ culture and practices” and that “their overall impact was decidedly negative” (Miller, 2000). The First Nations were seen as a pest, as Joyce Green, a professor of political science, reported (Green, 2015). Green stated that policies such as the residential school program were solely for the benefit of the settlers and meant to “de-Indianize the youngest generations” (Green, 2015). In fact, Green reported that Duncan Campbell Scott, …show more content…
In 1969, Pierre Trudeau’s government released the White Paper, indicating plans to transfer responsibility of Aboriginal affairs to the provincial governments, dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs, repeal the Indian Act, and terminate the Numbered Treaties (Uribe, 2006). The White Paper was part of Trudeau’s “Just Society” effort to repeal legislation that discriminated against groups (First Nations Study Program, 2009). The Indigenous communities fiercely opposed the White Paper, which would serve to essentially assimilate them into Canadian society and remove their status (Uribe, 2006). As reported by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “the recently formed National Indian Brotherhood described the White Paper as a document intended to bring about ‘the destruction of a Nation of People by legislation and cultural genocide’” (2015). According to the report, the Aboriginals had signed treaties and agreements with the Canadians because they were “seeking agricultural supplies and training as well as relief during periods of epidemic or famine” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). They believed the treaties would
“There is a Canada where clean drinking water is simply taken for granted, it's a fact of life, and families live in the comfort of quality, affordable housing. And there's another Canada, where the basic right to clean drinking water remains out of reach and families live in homes that are overcrowded and unsafe.” (CBC News, 2015)
Indigenous society has always had a level of separation from the rest of Canada. Recently, with the release of the Truth and Reconciliation report, a government-supported inquest into the legacy of residential schools and Indigenous affairs, information on …show more content…
The earliest record of political relations between the two is when, following the reception of Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1870, Canada began negotiating the Numbered Treaties with the Indigenous tribes to enable colonization (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). However, they were often “marked by fraud and coercion”, as reported by the Truth and Reconciliation commission, and were not beneficial to the Indigenous peoples (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). Dr Jim Miller, a professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan and the Canada Research Chair in Native Newcomer Relations, agrees, saying that “in general, the [Department of Indian Affairs]’s policies from the 1880s until at least the 1960s interfered with First Nations’ culture and practices” and that “their overall impact was decidedly negative” (Miller, 2000). The First Nations were seen as a pest, as Joyce Green, a professor of political science, reported (Green, 2015). Green stated that policies such as the residential school program were solely for the benefit of the settlers and meant to “de-Indianize the youngest generations” (Green, 2015). In fact, Green reported that Duncan Campbell Scott, …show more content…
In 1969, Pierre Trudeau’s government released the White Paper, indicating plans to transfer responsibility of Aboriginal affairs to the provincial governments, dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs, repeal the Indian Act, and terminate the Numbered Treaties (Uribe, 2006). The White Paper was part of Trudeau’s “Just Society” effort to repeal legislation that discriminated against groups (First Nations Study Program, 2009). The Indigenous communities fiercely opposed the White Paper, which would serve to essentially assimilate them into Canadian society and remove their status (Uribe, 2006). As reported by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “the recently formed National Indian Brotherhood described the White Paper as a document intended to bring about ‘the destruction of a Nation of People by legislation and cultural genocide’” (2015). According to the report, the Aboriginals had signed treaties and agreements with the Canadians because they were “seeking agricultural supplies and training as well as relief during periods of epidemic or famine” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). They believed the treaties would