Comment 43435

By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted July 16, 2010 at 00:35:00

The Federal/Provincial thing is a common cop-out when it comes to First Nations issues. Reminds me of when the province cleaned up the old contaminated uranium mine sites around Elliot Lake right up to Serpent River, because though the Reserve lands were also contaminated, they were a "Federal" responsibility. National responsibility (as in treaty requirements) isn't confined to the Federal government.

As a taxpayer, I'm not amused. This is, at it's heart, a departmental matter, not something which should be giving people radiation posioning.

I don't disagree that the Indian Act should be immediately abolished, but simply turning all First Nations people, legally, into "Canadians" is nothing but an act of forcible assimilation. Historically that kind of thing has never gone well. What we need are self-governing native communities which can exist AS First Nations, and not as some municipal sub-entity of the Federal Government. We're talking about a distinct nation of people, with a traditional governance structure (the Confederacy Council) which enjoys a lot of support - the council house is even still there. It's been extremely active on issues like Red Hill and the Caledonia Standoff. And precedent for this kind of thing clearly exists - look at the Nisga'a or Inuit.

Freedom needs to exist for communities, not just individuals. And not everyone in Canada wants a Toronto or Burlington lifesyle.

"Today, the notion of progress in a single line without goal or limit seems perhaps the most parochial notion of a very parochial century." — Lewis Mumford

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