As one who has spent more than 50 years working with local governments, I approach this issue from a somewhat different perspective. To me, the reserves are rather like municipalities. They have their own local governing bodies (the band councils) and they exist to provide certain services to their local residents. According to Statistics Canada there are more than 600 First Nations/Indian bands in Canada and 70% of the reserves have fewer than 500 inhabitants.
Largely as a result of the suicide crisis involving the Attawapiskat First Nation, we have almost non-stop media coverage concerning the deplorable conditions found on most of our Native Reserves. Almost all coverage, including most public reaction, is very critical of Canadians and their governments for allowing this situation to develop and continue. There have been a few suggestions that perhaps Native populations might have to move, but those have been largely rejected and – as is often the reaction to any contrary points of view on this subject – criticized for being racist.
As one who has spent more than 50 years working with local governments, I approach this issue from a somewhat different perspective. To me, the reserves are rather like municipalities. They have their own local governing bodies (the band councils) and they exist to provide certain services to their local residents. According to Statistics Canada there are more than 600 First Nations/Indian bands in Canada and 70% of the reserves have fewer than 500 inhabitants.
0 Comments
I take no pleasure from chiding the federal government for the way it has shot itself in the foot over the handling of the Arms sale to Saudi Arabia. But the price you pay for raising expectations is a negative response when you fall short of the new standards you have proclaimed.
We have heard a lot about Liberal values, about Canada being back on the world stage as a leader in peaceful diplomacy, and about a more open, sensitive, responsive government. To be fair, we have witnessed these changes to a considerable extent – although that is partly because the bar was set so low during the dark years of the previous administration. I also readily acknowledge that dealing with the pending Arms sale was never going to be an easy decision. Citing Liberal values and cancelling the contract with the Saudis might seem to be the obvious answer but it would have been met with far from universal approval. There would doubtless have been strong criticism over the resulting job loss for a Canadian company. Lawsuits would presumably have ensued over the cancellation of a contract, as well as over those lost jobs. Every winter, during our time down in Myrtle Beach, there are Can-Am Appreciation Days held to thank the northern snowbirds for helping to keep the place going until warmer weather starts bringing the crowds to this area. Some 10 years back this annual event featured a panel of politicians from the U.S. and Canada. This caught my attention partly because the panel members from Canada included Peter Milliken (from my home area) and Senator Frank Mahovlich, a star player with the Maple Leafs back when Toronto had a professional hockey team. [Sorry about that] When the panel discussion turned to the cost of elections and campaigning, the American representatives indicated they were involved in fund-raising activities about every second day. The Canadians reps responded that they might be involved in such events a few times a year. They went on to explain that federal legislation limited how much they could spend during an election campaign, depending on the number of electors in their particular riding. At that time, both Peter Milliken and another member of the House of Commons from B.C, indicated that their limits were under $70,000. The Americans were astounded, given that they routinely spent a million or more. |
AuthorC. Richard Tindal, Ph.D is a retired Professor of Government. He taught for 30 years at St. Lawrence College, Kingston and was an occasional Visiting Professor at Queen's University. He has also written and consulted extensively about government. Archives
October 2023
Categories |