Dec. 07, 2011 - Issue #842: Hroses

Vuepoint

To scrap the act?

In the wake of the media attention surrounding the ongoing tragedy at Attawapiskat and many other reserves, Shawn Atleo, head of the Assembly of First Nations has continued his call for the end of the Indian Act. It's a course of action he believes will allow for a reset of the relationship between Canada’s First Nations and the national government.
Something desperately needs to be done to improve the lives of Aboriginal people in this country. The fact that people live in conditions that make the developing world look enticing is a national disgrace—but pitching the Indian Act may not be the best way to go about it.
Such a strategy was tried once before: in 1969, the federal government delivered the "Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian policy," commonly known as the White Paper. It outlined a plan to do away with the Indian Act, transfer control of Aboriginal land held in trust by the government to Aboriginal peoples and shift the responsibilities that the federal government has for Aboriginal peoples—such as health and education—to provincial governments.
The White Paper didn't come out of a vacuum: it was a policy paper developed after a year of consultations with Aboriginal groups nationwide. It was a response to conditions that are similar to ones we see today: lack of access to running water, adequate housing and insufficient political power.
The White Paper ignited a firestorm in Canadian society. Harold Cardinal's "Citizens Plus" document, delivered as a rebuttal by the National Indian Brotherhood—the group that became the Assembly of First Nations—argued that Aboriginals already had access to the same services as other Canadians and also had other rights and privileges by virtue of the Indian Act. These historical and legal rights were not being fulfilled by the government, but Cardinal argued that solutions should be found within the context of the act—that the act itself wasn't the problem.
Atleo is certainly not suggesting the same course of action as the White Paper and there is no doubt that Canada and its First Nations desperately need to renegotiate their relationship: the land claims, treaty rights and lack of self-determination that plagued First Nations in 1969 continue to plague First Nations today. But caution should be exercised before doing away with a more-than-200-year-old law that guarantees the special relationship that Aboriginals—as the original inhabitants of Canada—have with the Crown. Solve the problems within the act—do away with the paternalistic and discriminatory provisions, settle land claims and deliver self-government—but scrapping the entire thing may not be the answer.

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