
Originally Posted by
CGM
Not to diminish the way they were treated, and yes there is a ways to go yet, but a little research on recent land claim settlements in Canada will show that many are doing rather well. And the fact is that a lot of the reservations, at least along the border, are quite wealthy due to casinos, and the way the smuggling and contraband cigarette trade is carried out with umpunity. So it ain't all bad.
I would disagree strongly with that. I've studied a fair bit of First Nations-related things in school over the years and the vast majority of indigenous Canadians live at an economic level that is far below that of other Canadians. Some Casino's end up infusing money into a band, but quite often most of the incoming wealth goes to a few rather than to many. As for land claims, a few positive, limited settlements do not eradicate the all the outstanding issues. I can't speak with any personal experience regarding Ontario groups, but the ones around here a suffering quite badly. Around here, and everywhere else I have been in Canada, racism is rampant. It's almost matter of fact that Natives are looked down upon and sneered at because of the present-day effects of the European policies of assimilation and eradication. This country should be utterly ashamed of itself that with the massive wealth it produces (often from resources culled from traditional Native lands supposedly protected by long-standing treaties which were broken at will) it allows a segment of our population to suffer in the way it does and to live in 3rd World conditions, exposed to deadly diseases and social traumas that would not be allowed to exist elsewhere.
Indigenous people deserve self-government and they deserve land rights.
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