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.
There were once a great many very small municipalities in Canada too – some 4,500, with over 1,000 of them in Ontario alone. As time passed, and the range and complexity of local service demands increased, many of these small municipalities became less viable. They often lacked the financial capacity to employ the qualified staff needed. The situation was addressed in two main ways. First, many municipalities (and not just small ones it should be acknowledged) were encouraged and/or coerced into amalgamating. In Ontario, for example, the number of municipalities was reduced by more than 50% (to only 445) over the past few decades. A second response, in my view often equally effective, has been the sharing of services across municipal boundaries. By pooling their resources, having joint servicing agreements, even sharing senior staff, small municipalities have found ways to become viable and effective.
Actions to Become Viable Not Available for Most Reserves
From my limited familiarity with Canada’s Native Reserves, neither of these responses is available to most of them. Not only are the Native communities small, but most are extremely isolated. There are not immediately adjacent communities – Native or otherwise – with whom they could share joint services much less amalgamate. Taking the case of Attawapiskat, for example, it is located in the Kenora District of Northern Ontario at the mouth of the Attawapiskat River on James Bay. The nearest urban centre, Timmins, is about 500 kilometres south and even Moosonee is 160 kilometres south. It is appreciated that these are the ancestral lands of the Natives of Attawapiskat and this is a location conducive to the continuation of the hunting and fishing that represents their traditional way of life. But do the 1,500 residents of Attawapiskat constitute a viable community. The very location that is so special for them seems also to be a major contributor to their current suffering.
Is it Time to Consider Alternatives?
We can, and will, send in counsellors in response to the suicide threats facing this community. The new federal government has promised to increase investment in basic infrastructure on Native Reserves, such as the provision of clean drinking water. These and other actions will help, at least in the short run. But perhaps it is time we started to at least consider the possibility that extremely isolated Native Reserves may in some cases simply not be viable. Instead of, or at least in addition to, directing resources to shore up such communities so that Natives can continue to live there, should we also be allocating resources to facilitate the movement and support of Natives who wish to relocate to an area where there are job prospects for the young and access to a variety of amenities and support systems?
Ask yourself if we would even contemplate, as a current policy, the location of small numbers of people – of whatever nationality or background – in isolated, inaccessible communities that are very difficult and expensive to service and lack almost all amenities and supports that we expect in a developed country in the modern world? Of course we would not consider such a strange policy, doomed to failure from the outset. In fact, past experience tells us that when local conditions are not viable, residents move on to seek to improve their lot elsewhere. This was the story, for example, when the collapse of the Newfoundland fishing industry led many to abandon the small fishing villages of that province and their traditional way of life. Because we are talking about Natives, ancient land claims, and the shameful history of the residential schools, we seem unable to have a balanced conversation about the conditions on Native Reserves and how they should be resolved. When I equate reserves with municipalities, I find it easier to gain that detachment.